The music of the spheres : $b A nature lover's astronomy — John Shaqi
The music of the spheres : $b A nature lover's astronomyGrondal, Florence Armstrong
Science
The music of the spheres : $b A nature lover's astronomy
Grondal, Florence Armstrong
Astronomy
A good meteor shower appears in the vicinity of the constellation of
Perseus about the 10th of August. These meteors are best seen around
three o'clock in the morning and have been recorded as appearing as far
back as 811 A.D. This would seem to reasonably assure the annual
reappearance of the spectacle but since the number of meteors is
steadily decreasing there is a time in the future when it will cease to
be. These meteors are popularly known as the "Tears of Saint Lawrence,"
mentioned as the "fiery tears" in ancient legends because Saint
Lawrence was burned at the stake upon the 10th of August in the "sad old
days" of religious intolerance. Every year, like ghosts, his tears
return and rain down from the sky in drops of fire. They fall at the
rate of about one a minute. Miss Proctor, in "Half Hours with the Summer
Stars," mentions a quaint old oriental legend in which the meteors are
supposed to be darts which are thrown by the angels at the evil ones who
are barred from heaven and eavesdrop at its gates.
The myth which is woven about the hero Perseus is a very beautiful one
and a few words as to why the Greeks so loved this gallant lad might be
well appreciated by those who are not familiar with the story.
Acrisius, King of Argos, was so selfish and quarrelsome that finally
Jupiter, who watched over the affairs of mankind, determined to give him
something real to worry about, so Acrisius was informed through an
oracle that he would lose his crown and die by the hand of his own
grandson. Soon after this Perseus was born, and the King was indeed
terrified. His fear increased daily, finally bringing him to such a
state of madness that he placed the Princess Danae, his own daughter,
and her little son in a large chest and threw it into the sea.
The gods, however, watched the chest and held it steady among the
roughest waves, finally stranding it in the sea-weed on the little
Island of Seriphus where the wanderers were rescued and given a home.
Years passed, and the King of Seriphus grew to love Danae, but he feared
Perseus who looked like a golden-haired god. One day this king planned a
great feast and informed his guests that each must bring a gift as proof
of his loyalty, and the gift must be either costly or rare. Since
Perseus had no wealth, the king suggested that he bring to court the
head of the Gorgon Medusa who lived across the sea in the wilds of a
strange and distant land.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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