Orion

The Hunter; a Giant who was renowned for his hunting abilities and his lack of modesty.

The cause of Orion’s death is not clear but it is possible that his boasting irritated Artemis to the point of bloody vengeance; his most famous hunt was his relentless pursuit of the daughters of Atlas, the Pleiades, which resulted in both hunter and prey being placed in the sky as constellations.

Another story concerning Orion is told in The Astronomy (fragment 4) where he is said to be the son of Poseidon (lord of the Sea) and Minos; he was given the power to walk upon the water as if it were land; he went to the island of Khios (Chios) and outraged Merope, the daughter of Oenopion, by his drunkenness; Oenopion blinded Orion and he fled to the island of Lemnos; Hephaistos (Hephaestus) took pity on the blind hunter and gave him a servant named Kedalion (Cedalion) to act as his guide; Orion carried Kedalion on his shoulders to pointed out the roads and help him find his way around the world; while in the east, Orion was healed by Helios (the Sun) and resumed his prideful and indulgent life; when he ventured to the island of Krete (Crete) he hunted with Artemis and Leto; his zeal for hunting made him boast that he would kill every wild animal on the earth; Gaia (Earth) sent a giant scorpion to kill Orion and, after his death, Artemis and Leto persuaded Zeus to place Orion in the heavens as a constellation.