Page:Star Lore Of All Ages, 1911.pdf/155

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Homer regarded Sirius as a star of ill omen, as it was supposed to produce fevers. Pope's translation of Homer's lines indicates the baleful influence ascribed to Sirius:

The description of the rising of this star is the only indication in the Homeric poems of the use of a stellar calendar.

Manilius seems to have had two views respecting Sirius. In one place he writes:

In another we find:

The Arab name for Sirius was "Al-Shira-al-jamânija," meaning "the bright star of Yemen." Gore thinks that the word "Shira" might have been corrupted in the course of time into Sirius. Al-Shira was also interpreted "the Doorkeeper," Sirius being regarded as the star which opens or shuts. The Arabs also called this star "the Dog Star." In modern Arabia it is "Suhail," the general designation for bright stars.

The so-called "Dog Days" got their name from the fact that in the hottest days of summer Sirius, the Dog Star, blends his piercing rays with those of the god of day. This is of course metaphorical, as the heat we receive from Sirius is inappreciable.

According to Max Müller, the special Indian astronomical name of the Dog Star signified a hunter and deer-slayer.