The scorpion and Orion
Scorpio is the scorpion sent to kill the hunter Orion. The two were set on opposite sides of the sky, so Orion sets as the Scorpion rises.
In the tradition
Orion offended Artemis, and the earth sent a scorpion that stung him to death, in the version Aratus gives. Ovid in the Fasti and Hyginus give other reasons for the quarrel but the same end.
Every account agrees on the sky: the hunter still flees. Orion sinks in the west as the Scorpion comes up in the east, and the two are never seen high together.
Sources
- Aratus, Phaenomena (3rd century BCE). The Greek poem on the constellations that most later star lore follows.
- Hyginus, De Astronomia (1st century BCE or later). The Latin handbook of constellation myths, often giving several versions side by side.
- Ovid, Fasti (about 8 CE). A poem on the Roman calendar that tells the star myths of the dates it reaches.
Updated October 9, 2026.
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