Page:Star Lore Of All Ages, 1911.pdf/438

318 of this sign. In the Indian zodiac the name of the constellation simply means "arrow."

It is thought that the Egyptians made use of the figure of Hercules to represent this constellation, and that the Greeks chose to substitute the centaur in compliment to Chiron.

The centaur Chiron was sometimes called "the Bull Killer." The astronomical significance of this appellation is as follows: When the constellation Sagittarius rises in the east, it always seems to drive below the western horizon the last stars in the constellation Taurus, the Bull. Thus the Archer, metaphorically speaking, slays the Bull.

Chiron was reputed to be a wonderful archer, and taught the Grecian youths the use of the bow and arrow. He is always represented with bow drawn, aiming a shaft at the heart of the Scorpion. As Manilius puts it:

According to Brown this constellation is a solar variant, and we have represented here the rising sun shooting out his shafts across the morning skies. From a fragment of the Euphratean Planisphere it is indicated that the Akkadian name for Sagittarius signified "Light of the White Face," or "Smiting Sun Face." Cuneiform inscriptions designate Sagittarius as "the Strong One," "the Giant of War," and "the Illuminator of the Great City."

There are few constellations in which the figures of the monuments and the descriptions in the tablets show a closer connection between Euphratean and classical forms than in the case of Sagittarius.

The constellation is identified with the Assyrian god Assur and the Median god Ahura. Ahura is generally represented as holding in his hand a ring or crown, and Assur in some examples is also thus depicted. Close to the hand of the Archer we see the ancient Ptolemaic