The Story of Orion

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Orion's Constellation

 Orion was a well-trained, respected hunter when he met Artemis. He had been hunting in the woods when he had shot one of her protected deer, and she had apparated to deal with the perpetrator. 

She saw the man, geared up and successful in his hunt, and gave him many tasks to prove his prowess in hunting and avoid punishment by the goddess. Orion was successful, and soon had impressed the hunting goddess enough to join her on her stalks in the woods. However, with all her time spent at Orion's side in the woods, the virgin goddess had neglected to spend time with her brother Apollo, the sun god. He had become jealous and sought revenge on Orion for stealing Artemis away from him.

Apollo approached Artemis when she had been sat by a stream while her friend had been sleeping on the watery shore of a nearby river. He lured her away to the top of a faraway mountain and challenged her to a shooting contest. Of course, Artemis knew she would win as her bow was most true in the world. Apollo pointed to a rock on the shore of the river and said to strike it in half with her arrow, and he would do the same with a tree. 

The trick was, unfortunately, that Orion's head was the rock he pointed to. Artemis had not seen that her friend was her target and allowed her arrow to fly, splitting her friend's head in two as the challenge had been. Apollo laughed, completing his challenge and allowing Artemis to return to where she had been.

On approaching her deceased companion, she cried out in anger and pain, vowing then to return the vengeance that had torn her heart to the underworld, before escorting the departed soul of Orion to rest forever in the stars as the constellation of the archer.

Comments

  1. Angelika2 May 2023 at 12:23

    I will never look upon that constellation again without feeling a little sad. What a tragedy x

    ReplyDelete

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