The Story of
Orion
Orion
was a great hunter and purported to be the handsomest man alive. There are
several accounts
of his parentage, but the most accepted appears to be he was the son of
Poseidon (Neptune)
and Euryale, a Gorgon. Some accounts indicate he was a giant of such size he
could walk the
seabed and keep his head above water.
He fell in love with Merope, daughter of Oenopion, who was
the son of Dionysus. He promised Orion his daughter in marriage if he would free their land of
wild beasts. This Orion did and he returned to claim Merope. Oenopion reneged on is promise
indicating that there were rumors of animals still about; he refused to give her up.
Orion knew the rumors were unfounded & wasn’t pleased.
He got into the family wine stash one evening, broke into Merope’s room and had his way with her.
Oenopion called upon his father for aid in the situation. Dionysus sent satyrs to ply Orion
with even more wine until he passed out, whereupon Oenopion put out both his eyes and flung him out
of the house onto the shore. Orion, blind and bumbling about, went to seek the aid of an
oracle to learn what to do. He was informed that he could regain his sight by traveling east and
turning his eye sockets towards Helios (Sol – the Sun or God of the Sun) at the point where the
he first rises from the ocean.
Orion accepted this information and set out in a small boat
& following the sound of a hammer welded by a Cyclops, reached Lemnos. There
he entered the smithy of Hephaestus (Vulcan) snatched up a boy and carried him off as a
guide. With the aid of the boy guide, Orion traveled over land and sea until he reached the
furthest reaches of the Ocean. Eos (Aurora – Goddess of the Dawn) saw Orion and instantly fell
in love with him. Because of this, she decided to aid him and had her brother Helios restore his
sight.