Orion
From Cassiopedia
From www.onlinemythology.com we have the following synopsis of the legend of Orion:
Orion was the son of Neptune. He was a handsome giant and a mighty hunter. His father gave him the power of wading through the depths of the sea, or as others say, of walking on its surface.
Orion loved Merope, the daughter of Oenopion, king of Chios, and sought her in marriage. He cleared the island of wild beasts, and brought the spoils of the chase as presents to his beloved; but as Oenopion constantly deferred his consent, Orion attempted to gain possession of the maiden by violence. Her father, incensed at this conduct, having made Orion drunk, deprived him of his sight, and cast him out on the sea shore. The blinded hero followed the sound of the Cyclops' hammer till he reached Lemnos, and came to the forge of Vulcan, who, taking pity on him, gave him Kedalion, one of his men, to be his guide to the abode of the sun. Placing Kedalion on his shoulders, Orion proceeded to the east, and there meeting the sun-god, was restored to sight by his beam.
After this he dwelt as a hunter with Diana, with whom he was a favorite, and it is even said she was about to marry him. Her brother was highly displeased and often chid her, but to no purpose. One day, observing Orion wading though the sea with his head just above the water, Apollo pointed it out to his sister and maintained that she could not hit that black thing on the sea. The archer-goddess discharged a shaft with fatal aim. The waves rolled the dead body of Orion to the land, and bewailing her fatal error with many tears, Diana placed him among the stars, where he appears as a giant, with a girdle, sword, lion's skin, and club. Sirius, his dog, follows him, and the Pleiads fly before him. [End quote]
In other versions, Orion is killed by a scorpion sent by Apollo. Either the scorpion bites Orion or chases him into the sea, where Orion dies of Diana's unwitting arrow.
The orion constellation is in Taurus, which faces Scorpio across the zodiac, so that when one rises the other sets. Thus do the hunter and his enemy eternally chase each other.
Orion is an important constellation with many more legends associated to it. The oldest known is the Gilgamesh epic, where Orion represents Gilgamesh. There too, he is a puissant hunter and a ladies' man. Here however he ends up in trouble for denying the advances of the goddess Ishtar, not for himself making such.
In Egyptian mythology, the constellation of Orion corresponds to Osiris and nearby Sirius to Isis. Modern alternative Egyptologists have suggested that the layout of the Giza pyramid complex be a ground reflection of the three brightest stars of Orion's belt, with the Nile representing the milky way. The correspondences have been analyzed and critiqued by many.
The Cassiopaea material discusses Orion in different places. It is suggested that the name itself and the legend be of an off-planet origin. We can compare Orion's story to the history of man as presented by the C's: Orion's first trouble is being blinded as a result of either himself desiring or being desired. We may see an echo of the archetypal story of the Fall here.