The Dog Star
One
of the many names for Sirius is the 'Dog Star'. Of course Sirius is the primary star of the constellation Canis
Major, the large dog, but this is
far from the entire story. Sirius
seems to have a very ancient and a very wide spread association with dogs and
wolves. The most familiar of these
traditions come from ancient Rome and Greece. For example, the familiar term 'Dog Days of Summer' has a
Roman origin that refers to the long hot days of late summer which the Romans
associated with the arrival of Sirius in the morning sky at that time of
year. The Greeks also had numerous
beliefs and legends which linked dogs and Sirius. For example, on the Greek island of Ceos coins were
imprinted with the image of a dog surrounded by radiant spikes, again
commemorating the late summer arrival of Sirius in the morning sky.
A
3rd Century BC coin from Ceos showing a canine Sirius (Sear 3079,
Michael Molnar Collection)
There
are other much older traditions of Sirius and dogs which originate in places
seeming unrelated to Greece and Rome.
For example, the ancient Chinese called Sirius Tsien Lang, the 'Heavenly Wolf'. It was associated with an old constellation called the
Bow and Arrow, with the arrow pointed at Sirius, the wolf. This same constellation, with
virtually the same stars, was also known in ancient Mesopotamia, where Sirius
had names associated with dogs.
Perhaps most intriguing of all such traditions is found among many of
the native peoples of North America. Here there exist a remarkable number of occurrences of
names for Sirius and legends about the star having to do with dogs and
wolves. A few examples
include: 'Moon Dog' (Alaskan Inuit); 'dog-face' (Blackfoot); 'Wolf Star' (Pawnee);
and 'Wolf that hangs by the side of Heaven' (Northern Osage). Such appellations are not universal,
many counter examples exist from other Native American groups. Nevertheless, it is intriguing to
wonder if perhaps many of these canine-related names and stories involving
Sirius could have a common origin from some long forgotten source on the
Eurasian Continent, perhaps as long ago as the last Ice Age. Then again it could all be coincidence,
we will probably never know.
Further Reading:
Chapter
2 Dog Star in Sirius: The Brightest Diamond in the Night
Sky
Miller, Dorcus, S. 1997, Stars
of the First People; Native American star myths
and constellations, Pruett
Allen, Richard Hinckley,
1963, Star Names Their Lore and Meaning, Dover Publications,
117-129