The constellation Corona Australis

The constellation Corona Australis

Corona Australis is a small and very inconspicuous constellation of the southern hemisphere. The brightest star of the constellation bears the name Alfecca Meridiana. Part of this name is probably of old Arabic origin and means roughly “the broken one”, that is, a broken ring of stars.

The constellation lies directly south of the constellation Sagittarius, near the so-called “Teapot”. In English-speaking countries, the brightest stars of the constellation Sagittarius are also called the Teapot, because they really do form this shape. Below the Teapot, the constellation Corona Australis is easy to recognise.

Mythology

No ancient legend of its own about Corona Australis has been handed down; only later was it linked with Dionysus and his mother Semele. Semele was the daughter of King Cadmus of Thebes. Zeus, the father of the gods, very much wanted to begin an affair with her, and for this purpose he took on the form of a mortal man. When his wife Hera found out about this, she changed herself into a neighbour of Semele and raised doubts about Semele's lover. By this time Semele was six months pregnant. After the conversation with the neighbour, she asked her lover to show her his true form. When Zeus refused, she sent him away from her bed. Angered by this, he showed himself in all his divine greatness. Semele was struck by lightning, fell to the ground and was burned. The unborn child was sewn into the thigh of Zeus until its birth. The child was Dionysus (among other things the god of wine, joy, fertility and madness). He is also known as the “twice-born”. When Zeus opened his thigh again after three months, the “second birth” of Dionysus took place, and this also established his divinity and immortality. During his life he defied the horrors of the underworld in order to save the soul of his mother. The gods finally agreed to release the soul of his mother and placed her in the sky as a wreath of myrtle. Her wreath became the constellation Corona Australis. The god Dionysus is also often associated with the myrtle, an evergreen shrub from the Mediterranean region. His followers always wore myrtle wreaths on their heads, and in gratitude for the rescue of his mother's soul he left myrtle in Hades.

The god Dionysus was married to Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos of Crete. At their wedding, Ariadne wore a very special crown. It had been made by Hephaestus, the god of fire, and was set with precious stones from India. After their wedding, the god Dionysus threw the crown into the sky for joy. There its jewels turned into sparkling stars and formed the constellation Corona Borealis.