The Great Hunter
Orion was a legendary Greek hunter, and is even believed to be one of the earliest known hunters that would hunt down all manners of beasts and monsters just like the modern day hunters. There are several different stories about the birth of Orion. According to one version of the myth, Orion was the son of a poor shepherd called Hyrieus.
History[]
Background[]
Once, Zeus, Hermes, and Poseidon stopped by Hyrieus' house. Hyrieus was so generous with his guests that he killed the only animal he had-an ox. Hyrieus was not aware that his guests were gods. The gods wanted to reward Hyrieus' generosity by granting him a wish. Hyrieus' biggest desire was to have a child. The gods told him to bury the hide of the bull he had sacrificed to them and to urinate on it. After nine months, a boy was born in that place.
The child became a very handsome and strong man. Though according to one account, Orion was likely the son of the sea-god Poseidon and Euryale, daughter of Minos, King of Crete. Orion could walk on the waves because of his father; he walked to the island of Chios where he got intoxicated and attacked Merope, daughter of Oenopion, the ruler there. In vengeance, Oenopion blinded Orion and drove him away. Orion stumbled to Lemnos where Hephaestus, the lame smith-god, had his forge.
Death of Orion[]
Hephaestus told his servant, Cedalion, to guide Orion to the uttermost East where Helios, god of the sun, healed him; Orion carried Cedalion around on his shoulders. Orion returned to Chios to punish Oenopion, but the king hid away underground and escaped Orion's wrath. Orion's next journey took him to Crete where he hunted with the goddess Artemis and her mother Leto, and in the course of the hunt, threatened to kill every beast on Earth. Gaia objected and sent a giant scorpion to kill Orion. The creature succeeded, and after his death, the goddesses asked Zeus to place Orion among the constellations. Zeus consented and, as a memorial to the hero's death, added the Scorpion to the heavens as well.
Though some believe that the scorpion was sent by Apollo, the twin brother of Artemis, because of being jealous, or that he was even killed by Artemis herself by shooting a bow at him when he declared that he would hunt every last animal on Earth. This may have caused Artemis to believe that Orion was simply performing the task of hunting for pleasure seeking rather than the thrill of the hunt or to protect the inhabitants of the island of which he resides on. A last version says that Artemis sent Scorpius to kill Orion, again because he said he would kill all the animals on Earth. Artemis then placed Orion and Scrpio in the sky, Scorpio to reward him, Orion because he was Poseidon's son.