Page:Star Lore Of All Ages, 1911.pdf/121



original title of this constellation was in all probability "Arcturus," the present title of the lucida of the constellation, a famous star of the first magnitude. The title Boötes, pronounced Bō-õ'-tēz, appeared in the Odyssey, and according to Allen has been in use for at least three thousand years.

The stars in this region of the sky seem to have attracted the admiration of almost all the eminent writers of antiquity. Aratos pays this tribute to Boötes:

And eight hundred years later Claudian wrote:

Boötes is represented by the figure of a mighty man with uplifted hand, holding in leash two hunting dogs. He seems to be pursuing the Great Bear around the Pole, and hence Boötes is often referred to as "the Bear Driver."

Carlyle in Sartor Resartus thus mentions the constellation: "What thinks Boötes of them as he leads his Hunting Dogs over the zenith in their leash of sidereal fire?"

Böotes is also represented as a Herdsman and a