NAMING THE WORLDS

Taranaki Daily News, 9 November 1935, Page 13 (Supplement)

NAMING THE WORLDS

MERCURY TO PLUTO

the Rev. B. Dudley,

(By

F.R.A.S.)

More than one astronomer has been naively asked how the names of the planets were found out. It is not possible to explain how and when thennames were given to all these bodies. The history of astronomy, like many ether histories, so far as its earliest parts are concerned, is lost in obscurity. The stars had been studied and certain discoveries made and names adopted long ages before those to which our earliest records extend. And the men who made some of these discoveries must have been sagacious observers. ,We shall here consider one by one the several planets and their names. Perhaps they Will not seem altogether inappropriate.

Mercury is the nearest . attendant on the “King of day,” and, being the most speedy of the planets, is not unfittingly called by that name which denotes “the swift messenger of the gods.” Mercury was the patron of travellers and shepherds, and presided over orators, traders and deciaimers. But, alas, he was the god, too, of thieves, pickpockets and dishonest people in general. True to his characteristics, he robbed Neptune of his trident, Venus of her girdle, Mars of his sword, Jupiter of his sceptre and Vulcan of his mechanical instruments. All these trophies of cunning, however, strongly recommended him to the gods, and Jupiter at once claimed him as the messenger we have seen him to be. Venus, the brightest of the planets, fairest of all the stars of heaven, might well receive the name she bears. . She was among the chief of ancient deities, and renowned as the goddess of beauty, the mother of love, the queen of laughter, the mistress of graces and of all pleasures, as well as the patroness of courtesans. Her mysterious girdle was sure to impart beauty, grace and elegance to those w*ho wore it, even the most deformed.

Mars, a son of Jupiter and Juno, was the god of war. According to Ovid he was the- son of Juno alone. A noted writer on ancient mythology says: “During the Trojan war Mars interested himself on the side of the Trojans; but while defending these favourites of Venus with uncommon activity, he was wounded by Diomedes, . and hastily retreated to heaven to conceal his confusion and resentment. The Romans accorded him unbounded honours; the belligerent spirit of the people causing them to find pleasure in lavishing homage upon him. The dog-grass weed grew profusely, so it was said, on old battle-fields that had been drenched with red human blood. To us the planet is “ruddy Mars”; and certainly if legends were facts, he was gory enough. Phobos and’-; Deimos (Dread and Terror) were attendants on Mars, and for this reason the two satellites of Mars bear these respective names.

..Jupiter, in order of distance from the sun, comes next. It is doubtful whether the ancients suspected the enormous dimensions of this planet, the largest of the sun’s family. But Jupiter was the supreme god of the heathen world. And we know the planet to be more than a thousand times as large as the earth, “the mifflty Jovian world,” as we often call it. This deity was said to be the son of Saturn and Ops (or Rhea) and twin - brother of Juno, whom Jupiter su! sequently made his wife. His power was so great that he made himself sole master of the world.

Saturn was the son of Coelus (Uranus) and Terra. He .was renowned for cunning. Using his own mother for the purpose he revenged himself upon his father whose cruel treatment of his children had enraged Terra herself mightily. She armed, Saturn with a scythe which had been manufactured from metals extracted from her own interior, and. jt the moment when Coelus was unguarded, this wily son mutilated him in such manner that nevermore could he bear children only to render them unhappy by his cruelty. Saturn’s brother, Titan, v/as honoured by the ancients who named the largest of the satellites of the planet after him.

Uranus, as we have noted, was another name for Coelus, the father of Saturn. The total number of his children was I forty-five. They were known as Titans. But their fate was most unhappy, their father so provoking them that they in t etrliation wounded him severely. Out of the blood that flowed from him sprang all manner of giants, furies and nymphs. Tire foam worked up in the sea when the wounded parts were flung into it gave birth to Venus, the goddess . U--,ty. Neptune was named after the god of the sea. He was devoured by his father, Satura, on the very day of his birth. Metis, however, restored him to life by administering a wondrous potion. Nepvune received as his share of the empire of Saturn the kingdom of the sea. Not satisfied with this, Neptune dethroned his brother Jupiter, who had been given the empire of heaven, hoping to take possession of it for himself. -But the plot was forestalled, whereupon Jupiter condemned Neptune to the task of building the walls of Troy. Eventually a reconciliation between them was effected, and Neptune was given back his lost privileges and claims. As god of the sea, Neptune had a might second only to that of Jupiter himself. He had power, for instance, to cause earthquakes and to raise islands from beneath the waters by simply smiting them with his trident. In Libya he was looked upon as the greatest of all divinities. Pluto is the name given to the recently discovered planet, the outermost known of the solar series. It was added to this list in 1930, when it was discovered photographically. According to very ancient mythological lore, the dark regions of Hell were apportioned to him, and he presided over deaths and burials. No goddess would marry him because of the obscurity and gloom of his domains. Between two teeth he is represented as holding a sceptre, while the keys of his kingdom are grasped in his hand, symbolising the fact that none who enter these regions can ever return. This planet, on the outermost and darkest limits of the solar system, nearly 3666 million miles from the sun, naturally suggested such a name-, if we were to adhere to the heathen nomenclature of the sun’s other possessions.

Between Venus and Mars the earth gyrates about the sun. The classic name of the planet is Tellus, though it is not often used. Tellus was, in the old mythology, a true divinity, the most ancient of all gods, except Chaos. She was represented frequently as having many breasts, all swollen with milk, to symbolise the fertility of the earth. At her feet lay a lion, unchained and submissive, intended to hint that the entire earth can be rendered fruitful if it be but well cultivated.

These stories may not be very edifying; but they have historic value, and illustrate the thoughts of our ancestors of long ago. The children of the human race can easily be forgiven their childish fancies.