Page:Star Lore Of All Ages, 1911.pdf/370

268 man, having both hands clenched in the folds of a great serpent which is writhing in his grasp with its head close to the Crown; whence the Serpent is often said "to be licking the Crown." The constellation is of great antiquity, as the records show that it was known to the ancients twelve hundred years before the Christian era. Homer refers to it, and Aratos clearly describes the figure in the following lines:

There is something remarkable in the central position of this constellation. It is situated almost exactly in the mid-heavens, being nearly equidistant from the Poles, and mid-way between the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. The commanding location of the constellation makes the figure and its intended representation especially significant.

Manilius thus refers to the Serpent-Bearer:

In Greek mythology Ophiuchus was the great physician Æsculapius, with whose worship serpents were always associated, as symbols of prudence, wisdom, renovation, and the power of discovering herbs, and the constellation was often called "Æsculapius" or "the god of medicine."

Æsculapius was said to have been educated by his father Apollo, or by the centaur Chiron, and was the earliest