"The Charioteer"
Mythology: According to
Greek mythology, Auriga was known as Erichtonius, a king of Athens.
The unwanted son of Athena (Goddess of Wisdom) after her rape by Hephaestus
(God of Fire), Athena raised Erichtonius in a chest guarded by snakes.
Erichtonius was crippled, and, after becoming king, he invented the chariot.
Although the constellation Auriga is currently accepted as a bearded man
carrying a goat, the Assyrians saw a chariot and the Greeks saw a crippled
man riding a horse.
Other stories claim that this star
group represents Hippolytus, son of Theseus (Theseus is the Athenian who
sailed to Crete and killed the Minotaur in the Labyrinth with the help
of Ariadne -- daughter of King Minos). The story claims that Hippolytus'
stepmother, Phaedra, fell in love with him and later killed herself after
being rejected by Hippolytus. As a final act of revenge, Phaedra
left a suicide note to her husband, Theseus, claiming that she had been
raped by Hippolytus. As a result, Theseus banished Hippolytus and
asked Poseidon to strike the boy down. As Hippolytus was fleeing
in a chariot, his horses were spooked by the image of a bull emerging from
the sea. The chariot crashed and Hippolytus was killed.
Still other stories claim that
Auriga represents Myrtilus, the son of Hermes and the chariot driver for
King Oenomaus of Elis. Myrtilus was in love with the king's beautiful
daughter, Hippodamia. However, the only way to win her hand in marriage
was to beat the king in a chariot race. One day, Hippodamia
met the son of Tantalus, Pelops, and fell in love with him. She convinced
Myrtilus to throw the race by sobotaging one of the chariot's wheels.
The king died as a result of the sobotaged wheel and the resulting crash,
and Pelops, to hide his involvement, had Myrtilus thrown into the sea.
To honor his drowned son, Hermes put his image among the stars.
Sometimes the Chariot Driver is shown holding a small goat. Although it is not clear how the goat became part of Auriga, it is said to be the goat that suckled the young Zeus when Rhea (Zeus' mother) hid the infant from his father Cronus on the Island of Crete. Cronus was told that one of his children would overthrow him, so he ate them! Rhea fooled Cronus into eating rocks instead of the infant Zeus while she hid Zeus on Crete. In gratitude to the goat, Zeus placed its image in the stars. Yet another depiction tells us that the goat was so ugly that even the Gods feared it. Zeus skinned the goat, which became his "aegis" that protected Zeus from his enemies.
Other Interesting Sights: Auriga
has three star clusters within it: M36 (NGC1960), M37 (NGC2099),
and M38 (NGC1912).
M36
M38
M37