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The Pleiades (also ), (in Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
, ??e??de? , Modern ), companions of Artemis
Artemis

In Greek mythology, Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of forests and hills, child birth/virginity/fertility, the hunt and was often depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.....
, were the seven daughters of the titan
Titan (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Titans ; were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary golden age. Their role as Elder Gods was overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Twelve Olympians, effected a mythological paradigm shift that the Greeks borrowed from the Ancient Near East....
 Atlas
Atlas (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Atlas was the primordial Titan who supported the heavens. Atlas was the son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Asia or Klym?ne :...
 and the sea-nymph Pleione
Pleione

Pleione may refer to*Pleione , a figure in Greek mythology*Pleione , a star belonging to the Pleiades star cluster*Pleione , a genus mainly of ground orchids....
 born on Mount Cyllene
Mount Kyllini

Mount Kyllini or Mount Cyllene , is a mountain on the Peloponnesus peninsula in Greece, famous for its association with the god Hermes. It rises to 2374 m above sea level, making it the second-highest on the peninsula....
. They are the sisters of Calypso
Calypso (mythology)

Sorry, no overview for this topic
, Hyas
Hyas

Hyas, in Greek mythology, was a son of the Titan Atlas by Aethra . He was a notable archer who was killed by his intended prey. Some stories have him dying after attempting to rob a lion of its cubs....
, the Hyades
Hyades (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Hyades , are a sisterhood of nymphs that bring rain. They do not appear in Roman mythology, where Pluvius is an epithet of Jupiter , as "he who sends rain"....
, and the Hesperides
Hesperides

In Greek mythology, the Hesperides are nymphs who tend a blissful garden in a far western corner of the world, located near the Atlas mountains in Ancient Libya, or on a distant blessed island at the edge of the encircling Oceanus....
. The Pleiades were nymph
Nymph

In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of mythological entities in human form. They were typically associated with a particular location or landform....
s in the train of Artemis, and together with the seven Hyades
Hyades (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Hyades , are a sisterhood of nymphs that bring rain. They do not appear in Roman mythology, where Pluvius is an epithet of Jupiter , as "he who sends rain"....
 were called the Atlantides, Dodonides, or Nysiades, nursemaids and teachers to the infant Bacchus
Dionysus

In classical mythology, Dionysus or Dionysos , is the God of wine, the inspirer of ritual madness and ecstasy, and a major figure of Greek mythology, and one of the twelve Olympians, among whom Greek mythology treated Dionysus as a late arrival....
.

There is some debate as to the origin of the name Pleiades.






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The Pleiades (also ), (in Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
, ??e??de? , Modern ), companions of Artemis
Artemis

In Greek mythology, Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of forests and hills, child birth/virginity/fertility, the hunt and was often depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.....
, were the seven daughters of the titan
Titan (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Titans ; were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary golden age. Their role as Elder Gods was overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Twelve Olympians, effected a mythological paradigm shift that the Greeks borrowed from the Ancient Near East....
 Atlas
Atlas (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Atlas was the primordial Titan who supported the heavens. Atlas was the son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Asia or Klym?ne :...
 and the sea-nymph Pleione
Pleione

Pleione may refer to*Pleione , a figure in Greek mythology*Pleione , a star belonging to the Pleiades star cluster*Pleione , a genus mainly of ground orchids....
 born on Mount Cyllene
Mount Kyllini

Mount Kyllini or Mount Cyllene , is a mountain on the Peloponnesus peninsula in Greece, famous for its association with the god Hermes. It rises to 2374 m above sea level, making it the second-highest on the peninsula....
. They are the sisters of Calypso
Calypso (mythology)

Sorry, no overview for this topic
, Hyas
Hyas

Hyas, in Greek mythology, was a son of the Titan Atlas by Aethra . He was a notable archer who was killed by his intended prey. Some stories have him dying after attempting to rob a lion of its cubs....
, the Hyades
Hyades (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Hyades , are a sisterhood of nymphs that bring rain. They do not appear in Roman mythology, where Pluvius is an epithet of Jupiter , as "he who sends rain"....
, and the Hesperides
Hesperides

In Greek mythology, the Hesperides are nymphs who tend a blissful garden in a far western corner of the world, located near the Atlas mountains in Ancient Libya, or on a distant blessed island at the edge of the encircling Oceanus....
. The Pleiades were nymph
Nymph

In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of mythological entities in human form. They were typically associated with a particular location or landform....
s in the train of Artemis, and together with the seven Hyades
Hyades (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Hyades , are a sisterhood of nymphs that bring rain. They do not appear in Roman mythology, where Pluvius is an epithet of Jupiter , as "he who sends rain"....
 were called the Atlantides, Dodonides, or Nysiades, nursemaids and teachers to the infant Bacchus
Dionysus

In classical mythology, Dionysus or Dionysos , is the God of wine, the inspirer of ritual madness and ecstasy, and a major figure of Greek mythology, and one of the twelve Olympians, among whom Greek mythology treated Dionysus as a late arrival....
.

There is some debate as to the origin of the name Pleiades. Previously, it was accepted the name is derived from the name of their mother, Pleione. However, the name Pleiades is more likely to come from (to sail), because the Pleiades star cluster is visible in the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea or Ocean off the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia....
 at night during the summer, from the middle of May until the beginning of November, which coincided with the sailing season in antiquity. This derivation was recognized by the ancients, including Virgil
Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works?the Bucolics , the Georgics and the Aeneid?although several Appendix Vergiliana are also attributed to him....
 (Georgics
Georgics

The Georgics, published in 29 BCE, is the second major work by the Latin poet Virgil. Its ostensible subject is rural life and farming. It is generally described as Didacticism....
 1.136-138).

The Seven Sisters


Several of the most prominent male Olympian gods (including Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
, Poseidon
Poseidon

In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the god Nethuns in Etruscan mythology was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon....
, and Ares
Ares

In Greek mythology, Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. Though often referred to as the Twelve Olympians God of warfare, he is more accurately the god of bloodlust, or slaughter personified: "Ares is apparently an ancient abstract noun meaning throng of battle, war."...
) engaged in affairs with the seven heavenly sisters. These relationships resulted in the birth of children.

  1. Maia
    Maia (mythology)

    Maia in Greek mythology, was the eldest of the Pleiades , the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione . She and her sisters, born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, are sometimes called mountain goddesses, oreads, for Simonides of Ceos sang of "mountain Maia" "of the lively black eyes"....
    , eldest of the seven Pleiades, was mother of Hermes
    Hermes

    Hermes is the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology. An Twelve Olympians, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of thieves and road travelers, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures, of invention, of general commerce, and of the cunni...
     by Zeus and Iris
    Iris (mythology)

    In Greek mythology, Iris is the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. As the sun unites Earth and heaven, Iris links the gods to humanity....
     by Thaumas.
  2. Electra
    Electra (Pleiad)

    The Pleiad Electra of Greek mythology was one of the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione . Electra was the wife of Corythus. She was raped by Zeus and gave birth to Dardanus, who became the founder of Troy, ancestor of Priam and his house....
     was mother of Dardanus
    Dardanus

    In Greek mythology, Dardanus was a son of Zeus and Electra , daughter of Atlas , and founder of the city of Dardania on Mount Ida in the Troad....
     and Iasion
    Iasion

    In Greek mythology, Iasion or Iasus was usually the son of Electra and Zeus and brother of Dardanus. Iasion founded the mystic rites on the island of Samothrace....
     by Zeus
    Zeus

    Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
    .
  3. Taygete
    Taygete

    In Greek mythology, Taygete was a nymph, one of the Pleiades according to Apollodorus and a companion of Artemis, in her archaic role as potnia theron, "Mistress of the animals." Taygetus in Laconia, dedicated to the Goddess, was her haunt....
     was mother of Lacedaemon, also by Zeus.
  4. Alcyone
    Alcyone (Pleiades)

    Alcyone in Greek mythology is the name of one of the Pleiades , daughters of Atlas and Pleione or, more rarely, Aethra. She attracted the attention of the god Poseidon and bore him several children, variously named in the sources: Hyrieus, Lycus, Hyperenor, and Aethusa; Hyperes and Anthas; Glaucus; and Epopeus....
     was mother of Hyrieus
    Hyrieus

    In Greek mythology, Hyrieus was the father of Nycteus and Lycus, and the son of Alcyone, one of the Pleiades, and Poseidon.Another mythological Hyreius, the eponym of Hyria in Boeotia, was childless and a widower when he became the father of Orion ....
     by Poseidon
    Poseidon

    In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the god Nethuns in Etruscan mythology was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon....
    .
  5. Celaeno
    Celaeno

    In Greek mythology, Celaeno referred to several different beings.*Celaeno was a harpy whom Aeneas encountered at Strophades. She gave him prophecies of his coming journeys....
     was mother of Lycus
    Lycus

    Lycus or Lykos...
     and Eurypylus
    Eurypylus

    In Greek mythology, Eurypylus was the name of several different people....
     by Poseidon
    Poseidon

    In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the god Nethuns in Etruscan mythology was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon....
    .
  6. Sterope
    Sterope (Pleiad)

    In Greek mythology, Sterope , also called Asterope, was one of the seven Pleiades and the wife of Oenomaus ....
     (also Asterope) was mother of Oenomaus
    Oenomaus

    In Greek mythology, King Oenomaus of Pisa was the son of Ares by Harpina and father of Hippodamia. By some accounts Sterope is considered to be his mother by Ares, instead of Harpina....
     by Ares
    Ares

    In Greek mythology, Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. Though often referred to as the Twelve Olympians God of warfare, he is more accurately the god of bloodlust, or slaughter personified: "Ares is apparently an ancient abstract noun meaning throng of battle, war."...
    .
  7. Merope
    Merope

    Merope was the name of several, probably unrelated, characters in Greek mythology.* Merope , one of the Heliades, daughter of Helios and Clymene...
    , youngest of the seven Pleiades, was wooed by Orion
    Orion (mythology)

    Orion was a giant hunting of Greek mythology whom Zeus placed among the stars as the Orion .Ancient sources tell several different stories about Orion....
    . In other mythic contexts she married Sisyphus
    Sisyphus

    In Greek mythology, Sisyphus , was a king punished in Tartarus by being cursed to roll a huge boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll down again, and to repeat this throughout eternity....
     and, becoming mortal, faded away. She bore to Sisyphus
    Sisyphus

    In Greek mythology, Sisyphus , was a king punished in Tartarus by being cursed to roll a huge boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll down again, and to repeat this throughout eternity....
     several sons.


All of the Pleiades except Merope consorted with gods.

Mythology


After Atlas was forced to carry the heavens on his shoulders, Orion
Orion (mythology)

Orion was a giant hunting of Greek mythology whom Zeus placed among the stars as the Orion .Ancient sources tell several different stories about Orion....
 began to pursue all of the Pleiades, and Zeus transformed them first into doves, and then into stars to comfort their father. The constellation of Orion is said to still pursue them across the night sky.

In the Pleiades star cluster
Pleiades (star cluster)

File:Pleiades Lanoue.pngIn astronomy, the Pleiades are an open star cluster in the constellation of Taurus . It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth, and Randall Munroe's favorite astronomical object....
 only six of the stars shine brightly, the seventh, Merope, shines dully because she is shamed for eternity for having an affair with a mortal. Some myths also say that the star that doesn't shine is Electra
Electra (star)

Electra, also cataloged as 17 Tauri, is a blue-white giant star approximately 440 light-years away in the constellation of Taurus . The star is one of the nine brightest stars in the Pleiades star cluster ....
; she is said to have left her place so that she will not have to look down upon the ruin of Troy, because the city was founded by her son Dardanus.

One of the most memorable myths involving the Pleiades is the story of how these sisters literally became stars, their catasterism
Catasterismi

Catasterismi is an Alexandrian prose retelling of the Greek mythologyic origins of stars and constellations, as they were interpreted in Hellenistic civilization....
. According to some versions of the tale, all seven sisters committed suicide because they were so saddened by either the fate of their father, Atlas, or the loss of their siblings, the Hyades
Hyades (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Hyades , are a sisterhood of nymphs that bring rain. They do not appear in Roman mythology, where Pluvius is an epithet of Jupiter , as "he who sends rain"....
. In turn Zeus, the ruler of the Greek gods, immortalized the sisters by placing them in the sky. There these seven stars formed the constellation known thereafter as the Pleiades.

The Greek poet Hesiod
Hesiod

Hesiod was a Greek language oral poet, his date is uncertain but leading scholars agree that Hesiod lived in the latter half of the Eighth-century BCE....
 mentions the Pleiades several times in his Works and Days
Works and Days

Works and Days is a Greek poem of some 800 verses written by Hesiod . The poem revolves around two general truths: labour is the universal lot of Man, but he who is willing to work will get by....
. As the Pleiades are primarily winter stars, they feature prominently in the ancient agricultural calendar. Here is a bit of advice from Hesiod:

"And if longing seizes you for sailing the stormy seas,
when the Pleiades flee mighty Orion
and plunge into the misty deep
and all the gusty winds are raging,
then do not keep your ship on the wine-dark sea
but, as I bid you, remember to work the land."
(Works and Days 618-23)

The Pleiades would "flee mighty Orion and plunge into the misty deep" as they set in the West, which they would begin to do just before dawn during October-November, a good time of the year to lay up your ship after the fine summer weather and "remember to work the land"; in Mediterranean agriculture autumn is the time to plough and sow.

The poet Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and remains one of the most popular English poets.Tennyson excelled at penning short lyrics, including "In the valley of Cauteretz", "Break, break, break", "The Charge of the Light Brigade ", "Tears, Idle Tears" and "Crossing the Bar"....
 mentions the Pleiades in his poem Locksley Hall
Locksley Hall

"Locksley Hall" is a poem written by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Poet Laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson in 1835 and published in his 1842 volume of Poems....
:

"Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising through the mellow shade,
Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid."


See also

  • Peleiades
    Peleiades

    Peleiades were the sacred women of Zeus and the Mother Goddess, Dione , at the Oracle at Dodona. Pindar made a reference to the Pleiades as the "peleiades" a flock of doves, but the connection seems witty and poetical, rather than mythic....
  • Peleiadians
  • Karthika
  • Alexandrian Pleiad
    Alexandrian Pleiad

    The Alexandrian Pleiad is the name given to a group of seven Alexandrian poets and tragedians in the 3rd century B.C. working in the court of Ptolemy II Philadelphus....