Ursa Major

UMa star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope)

One of the 88 IAU constellations.

Etymology and History

The Greek constellation ...

Origin of Constellation

Greco-Roman

Eratosthenes

Var. 1. Hesiod says that she is the daughter of Lycaon; she lived in Arcadia and had chosen to spend her time in the mountains, in the company of Artemis, hunting wild beasts. Violated by Zeus, she stayed with the goddess, without the latter but later her secret was discovered when, shortly before secret was discovered when, shortly before giving birth, Artemis saw her taking a bath. The goddess, furious the goddess angrily changed her into a beast, and thus changed into a bear, she gave birth to Arcas. While she was in the mountains, she was chased hunted by goatherds and delivered her cub to Lycaon. Later, she was tempted to enter the inviolable sanctuary of Zeus, because she was unaware of the law concerning it. Her own son Arcas and the Arcadians pursued her there pursued her there and were on the point of executing her for breaking the law in question, when Zeus, because of the bond to her, removed her from the pursuers and placed her among the constellations. In view of her adventure, the god gave her the name ‘Bear ’. She has seven dull stars on her head, two on each of her ears, one shining star on her shoulders, one on her chest, two on her foreleg, one shining on her back, one shining on the belly, two on the hind legs, two on the tip of the leg and three on the tail. In all, twenty-four.

Var. 2: Hesiod tells us that the Great Bear is the daughter of Lycaon; she lived in Arcadia and had chosen to hunt in the mountains in the mountains, in the company of Artemis, to hunt wild beasts. Violated by Zeus, she began by her misadventure from Artemis, but when she was about to give, the goddess saw her taking a bath. The goddess was furious, changed her into a beast, and in this state she gave birth to a bear who was named Arcas. Amphis, the comic poet, says that Zeus took the guise of Artemis and went to the mountain and, during a common hunt, raped her. In time, her belly swelled up, but when she was questioned she said that the one responsible for her misfortune was none other than Artemis. The goddess was furious and turned her into a beast. While she was in the mountains, she was chased by goatherds, and handed over with her young to Lycaon. Later, she was tempted to enter the inviolable sanctuary of Zeus, because she was unaware of the law that concerned him. Her own son Arcas and the Arcadians pursued her there, and both she and her son were about to be put to death for having broken the law in question, when Zeus, on account of the bond which united him to them, placed her among the constellations, naming her ‘Bear’ because of her adventure. She has seven stars on her head, two on each of her ears, one on the shoulder ... a bright one, two on the hind leg, and three on the tail.

The tale reflects the female initiation rites led by the goddess Artemis. The bathing scene is an expression of the stripping ritual (ἐκδυσία) that marks the end of a maiden's innocence. The anecdote of blaming a goddess for fathership might stem from a comedia, just to entertain the audience.

Almagest Ἄρκτος μεγάλη.

id	Greek (Heiberg 1898)	English (Toomer 1984)	ident.
	άρκτου μεγάλης ἀστερισμός.	Constellation of Ursa Major
1	ὁ ἐπ’ ἄκρου τοῦ ῥύγχους	The star on the end of the snout	omi UMa
2	τῶν ἐν τοῦς δυσὶν ὀφθαλμοῦς ὁ προηγούμενος	The more advanced or the s.tars in the two eyes	2 UMa
3	ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν	The one to the rear	pi2 UMa
4	τῶν ἐν τῷ μετώπῳ β ὁ προηγούμευος.	The more advanced of the two stars in the forehead	rho UMa
5	ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν	The one to the rear	sig2 UMa
6	ὁ ἐπ’ ἄκρου τοῦ ἠγουμένου ὡτίου	The star on the tip of the advance ear	24 UMa
	τῶν ἐν τῷ τραχήλῳ β’ ὁ προηγούμενος	The more advanced of the two stars in the neck	tau UMa
	ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν.	The one to the rear	23 UMa
	τῶν ἐν τῷ στήθει δύο ὁ βορειότερος	The northernmost of the two stars in the chest	ups UMa
	ὁ νοτιώτερος αὐτῶν.	The southernmost of them	phi UMa
	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ γόνατος.	The star on the left knee	tet UMa
	τῶν ἐν τῷ ἐμπροσθίῳ ἀριστερῷ ἀκρόποδι ὁ βορειότερος.	The northernmost or the ( two J in the front left paw	iot UMa
	ὁ νοτιώτερος αὐτῶν.	The southernmost of them	kap UMa
	ὁ ἐπάνω τοῦ δεξιοῦ γόνατος.	The star above the right knee	18 UMa
	ὁ ὑποκάτω τοῦ δεξιοῦ γόνατόρ	The star below the right knee	15 UMa
	τῶν ἐκ τῷ τετραπλεύρῳ ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ νώτου,	The stars in the quadrilateral: the one on the back	alf UMa
	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς λαγόνος αὐτῶν.	The stars in the quadrilateral: the one on the flank	bet UMa
	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκφύσεως τῆς οὐρᾶς.	The stars in the quadrilateral: the one on the place where the tail joins [the body]	del UMa
	ὁ λοιπὸς καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ ὀπισθίου μηροῦ	The stars in the quadrilateral: the remaining one, on the left hind thigh	gam UMa
	τῶν ἐν τῷ ὀπισθίῳ ἀριστερῷ ἀκρόποδι ὁ προηγούμενος	The more advanced or the [two stars] in the left hind paw	lam UMa
	ὁ τούτῳ ἑπόμενος	The one to the rear of it	mu UMa
	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀριστερᾶς ἀγκύλης.	The star on the left knee-bend	psi UMa
	τῶν ἐν τῷ δεξιῷ ὀπισθίῳ ἀκρόποδι ὁ βορειότερος.	The northernmost of the [two stars] in the right hind paw	nu UMa
	ὁ νοτιώτερος αὐτῶν	The southernmost of them	xi UMa
	τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς οὐρᾶς γ’ ὁ μετὰ τὴν ἔκφυσιν πρῶτος	The first ofthe three stars on the tail next to the place where it joins [the body]	eps UMa
	ὁ μέσος αὐτῶν.	The middle one	eps UMa
	ὁ τρίτος καὶ ἐπ’ ἄκρας τῆς οὐρᾶς	The third, on the end of the tail	eta UMa
	ἀστέρες κξ, ὥν μεγέθους β’ς, γ ἡ, δ’ ἡ, ε ἔ-	127 stars, 6 of the second magnitude, 8 of the third, 8·of the fourth, 5 of the fifth
	Τῶν ὑπ’ αὐτὴν ἀμορφώτων.	Stars under [Ursa Major] outside the constellation
	ὁ ὑπὸ τὴν οὐρὰν ἄπωθεν εἰς νότου.	The star under the tail, at some distance towards the south	alf CVn
	ὁ τούτου προηγούμενος ἀμαυρότερος.	The rather faint star in advance of it	bet CVn
	τῶν μεταξὺ τῶν ἐμπροσθίωυ ποδῶν τῆς άρκτου καὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς τοῦ Λέουτος ὁ νοτιώτερος.	The southernmost of the [two] stars between the front legs of Ursa [Major] and the head of Leo	40 Lyn
	ὁ τούτου βορειότερος.	The one north of it	38 Lyn
	τῶν λοιπῶν καὶ ἀμαυρῶν τ’ ὁ ἐπόμενος.	The rearmost of the remaining three faint stars	10 LMi
	ὁ τούτου προηγούμενος.	The one in advance of this	HR 3809
	ὁ ἔτι τούτου προηγούμενος.	The one in advance again of the latter	HR 3612
	ὁ μεταξὺ τῶν ἐμπροσθίου ποδῶν καὶ τῶν Αιδύμωυ.	The star between the front legs [of Ursa Major] and Gemini	31 Lyn
	ἀμόρφωτοι ἤ, ὥν γ’ μεγέδους α, δ’ β, ε’α, ἀμαυροὶ δ.	8 stars outside the constellation, I of the third magnitude, 2 of the fourth, 1 of the fifth, 4 faint

Star Names

al-Ẓibā’, «°les Gazelles°» (CC BY Roland Laffitte 2024)

al-Ẓibā’, « les Gazelles » (CC BY Roland Laffitte 2024)

al-Ẓibā’ in Roland Laffitte, Le ciel des Arabes, p. 112-113.

ο2ρπ2σ2d UMa +αβ CVn + α/31 Lyn
	Arabic	French	English	Author
	al-Ẓibā’	les Gazelles	the Gazelles	Qutayba
Lyn	Ğanūbī ’l-Ḍibā’ [p/ al-Ẓibā’]	l’Australe des Gazelles	the southern one of the Gazelles	Miṣrī
31 Lyn	Mutaq. al-Ḍibā’ [p/ al-Ẓibā’]	l’Antérieure des Gazelles	the front one of the Gazelles	Miṣrī
38 Lyn	Šamālī ’l-Ḍibā’   [en fait : al-Ẓibā’]	la Boréale des Hyènes   [en fait : les Gazelles]	the northern one of of the Hyena	Miṣrī
46, 21+β LMi
	Awlād al-Ẓibā’	les Petits des Gazelles	the small one of the Gazelles	Qutayba
	Awlād al-Ġizlān	idem		Ṣūfī
τhυφθef UMa
	al-Ḥawḍ	l’Abreuvoir	the Water Trough	Qutayba
	al-ᶜUnq	l’Assemblée	the Meeting	Qutayba
ικλμνξ UMa
	Qafazāt al-Ẓibā’	les Sauts	the Jumps	Qutayba
	al-Qafazāt	les Sauts [des Gazelles]	the Jumps (of the Gazelles)	Qutayba
	Qafazāt al-Ġizlān	les Sauts des Gazelles	The Jumps of the Gazelles	Ṣūfī
	al-Qawāfiz	les Bondissantes	the Bouncings	Marzūqī
	Baqarāt al-Ẓibā’	les Gazelles femelles	the female Gazelles	Fāris
νξ UMa	al-Qafazat al-Ūlā	le 1er Saut	First Jump	Ṣūfī
λμ UMa	al-Qafazat al-Ṯāniyya	le 2nd Saut	Second Jump	Ṣūfī
ικ UMa	al-Qafazat al-Ṯāliṯa	le 3ème Saut	Third Jump	Ṣūfī
ι UMa	Šamālī ’l-Qafazat al-Ūlā   [en fait : al-Ṯāliṯa]	la Boréale du 1er Saut   [en fait : le 3ème]	the northern one of the first jump	Miṣrī
κ UMa	Ğanūbī ’l-Qafazat al-Ūlā   [en fait : al-Ṯāliṯa]	l’Australe du Premier Saut   [en fait : le 3ème]	the southern one of the first jump	Miṣrī
λ UMa	[Šamālī] ’l-Q. al-Ṯāniyya	[la Boréale] du 2nd Saut	(the northern one) of the second jump	Miṣrī
μ UMa	Ğanūbī ’l-Q al-Ṯāniyya	l’Australe du 2nd Saut	the southern one of the second jump	Miṣrī
ξ UMa	Ğanūbī ’l-Q. al-Ṯāliṯa   [en fait : al- Ūlā]	l’Australe du 3ème Saut   [en fait le 1er]	the southern one of the third jump	Miṣrī

Weblinks

• Ridpath, Ian, “Star Tales: online edition”.

References

• References (general)
• References (Babylonian)
• References (ancient Greco-Roman)
• References (medieval)