ORION MYTHOLOGY
Orion, according to some of the most popular accounts, served in the court of King
Oenopion of Chios. He was a skilled hunter who served the king well. As the son of
Poseidon, he had the ability to walk across water.
Although Orion was a giant, he was handsome. He was also not as cruel as some other
giants, and worked closely with both humans and gods.
Orion fell in love with the king’s daughter, Merope. He repeatedly asked Oenopion
for permission to marry her, but each time the king put off the request.
The giant huntsman hoped to woo the girl by bringing her spoils from his hunt. He
brought her so much meat and furs that the land was soon entirely stripped of its
[Link] still would not take Orion’s proposal seriously, however.
One night after drinking too much wine, Orion forced his way into the princess’s
private rooms. The king was furious when he found out and vowed to exact revenge
on the giant.
King Oenopion called on Dionysus for assistance. The god of wine used his powers to
send Orion into a deep sleep, giving Oenopion an opportunity to blind him.
Blinded and in exile, Orion wandered Greece. Eventually, an oracle told him that he
could regain his sight if he traveled to the east and exposed his eyes to the rays of the
rising sun.
Orion was blindly working his way east when he heard the sound of a hammer
cracking on metal. He followed it to Lemnos, where he found the forge
of Hephaestus.
The smith god heard Orion’s story and, as a fellow exile, had sympathy for him. He
gave him Cadalion, his servant, to guide him to the rising son.
Cadalion rode on Orion’s shoulders and together they made their way as far east as
was possible. Helios healed him and Orion returned to Greece.
He first went to Chios, hoping to seek vengeance against the kind. Oenopion was
nowhere to be found, however. He had hidden in a bronze chamber underground to
escape the giant.
Orion next went to Crete where, some people said, his mother lived. There he met
Artemis and joined her hunting party.
As a skilled hunter, Orion was welcomed into the goddess’s retinue. For a time, he
was considered a friend to Artemis and her companions.
There are several versions of what happened to end this time.
According to Hesiod, Orion became arrogant and boisterous. He bragged that his
intention was to kill all the animals of the land and he was a skilled enough hunter to
do so.
To protect the animals, Gaia sent a giant scorpion to kill the hunter.
In another story Eos, the goddess of the dawn, fell in love with Orion when she
spotted him hunting one day. She carried him away but Artemis, unhappy at this, shot
the giant down with one of her arrows.
Another story in which Orion was killed by Artemis said that he violated one of
her nymphs, Opis. Artemis killed him for the crime, which was a common theme in
her myths.
Finally, one story claimed that it was Artemis herself who was in love with Orion.
The goddess of the hunt had taken a vow of chastity, but seemed to be tempted to
break her vow and marry her hunting companion. In this version of the
story, Apollo tricked Artemis into killing Orion.
Apollo challenged his sister to an archery contest, betting that she could not hit a point
far out at sea. Of course, the goddess of the hunt had perfect aim, but she did not
realize that the small spot her brother pointed to was Orion swimming far out from the
shore.
The many versions of Orion and Artemis’ stories generally have the same ending,
however. Orion and Artemis had been close friends, despite his crimes, so she
asked Zeus to immortalize him as a constellation.
Orion the Hunter was visible in the stars. He was portrayed as a large man wearing a
lion skin and carrying a sword and a club.