"The Lyre"
Mythology:
An examination of classical mythology finds the Lyre in many different
hands, including Orpheus, Hermes, Apollo, Arion (a mortal poet), King Arthur,
and even Christianity's David.
The most common and popular story claims that the Lyre was invented by
Hermes, the Messenger to the Olympian Gods. Hermes had found an empty
tortoise shell and, upon discovering the acoustics of the shell, he tied
strings across the open end of the shell. Hermes then gave the Lyre
to Apollo in exchange for a magic staff of wealth. (Another story
claims that Apollo took the Lyre when he discovered Hermes stealing his
cattle.)
Orpheus was the most talented musician in ancient times, and Apollo gave
the Lyre to him. Orpheus sailed with Jason and the Argonauts, and
turned out to be a tremendous asset. Orpheus and his Lyre could soothe
both people and beasts (hence the phrase "music to soothe the savage beast");
calm rivers, streams, and rocks, and even trees -- the trees growing along
the shoreline of Thrace are said to have moved there after hearing Orpheus
play.
Later, Orpheus' wife died, and he was unable to retrieve her from Hades.
Orpheus was then killed by a mob of women who were angry that he refused
them because he was still in love with his dead wife (another story says
it was the followers of Dionysius). After the angry women killed
Orpheus, they threw his Lyre into the river.
There are two endings to the story: 1) the Muses set the Lyre
onto the Celestial Sphere, or 2) a vulture sent by Zeus got the Lyre out
of the river and set it among the stars. Both endings are to offer
respect to such a beautiful sounding instrument.
Other Interesting Sights: Lyra contains the famous Ring Nebula, M57. The Ring Nebula is an example of a planetary nebula, which results from smaller stars, like our Sun, running out of nuclear fuel and ending their lives. Note that the brightest star in Lyra is Vega, part of the Summer Triangle, but more recognized as being the star that we received radio signals from in Carl Sagan's work Contact.
The Ring Nebula, M57