Page:The Music of the Spheres.djvu/45

 might find the three terrible Gorgons. Transcribed to stars, he still holds the snaky ringlets of the Gorgon Medusa which he had been forced to obtain at the command of the king of the Island of Seriphus. This head now has the added attraction of a mysterious star called Algol, which every few days indulges in a slow, deliberate "wink," a performance most unusual among the wide-eyed stars.

The names of the gods and goddesses were bestowed upon the five planets then known—Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury. This plan was also followed when the two outer planets, Uranus and Neptune, were discovered in modern days. These names are Roman names but the mythology of the Greeks and Romans is so intermingled that the names of their characters are, as a general rule, used interchangeably, although the Roman names seem more popular and are used by astronomers. Many writers of mythology use the Grecian names entirely because much of the material of the Roman legends was brought into their literature by Greek poetry.

The symbols of the gods were used as signs for their planets. These signs are very familiar objects in almanacs. Thus, Uranus (Heaven) and Earth are respectively represented by &#9954; and &#128808;; Saturn, their son, has a sign which suggests his ancient scythe &#9796;; Jupiter has a hieroglyph for the eagle 	&#9795;, a bird which carried