Orione
by Ignazio Caloggero
Messina – Orione Fountain – https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Messina,_Fontana_di_Orione_04.JPG
Reference page: Repertory of Cults and Myths
According to Greek mythology, Orion is a gigantic hunter and a great builder of works. His cult must have very ancient origins, characters with the same characteristics, in fact, are found in many peoples. Furthermore, the legend of Orion is very rich in variations, and this testifies to the many influences that its cult underwent, according to the peoples and the period.
Orion is generally believed to be the son of Poseidon and Euryale , daughter of Minos . Another version of his birth exists, according to which Zeus , Poseidon , and Hermes requested and received hospitality from a certain Hyrieus . To thank him, they agreed to grant his wish: to have a son, since his advanced age prevented it. The gods then filled a skin made from the hide of a sacrificed bull with their urine and asked Hyrieus to bury it; ten months later, Orion, the giant hunter, was born from the skin.
As with his birth, there are several variations on the life and death of Orion. Generally, the goddess Artemis is considered the architect of Orion's death. According to some, Artemis killed Orion to save the Pleiades , his companions, who were being pursued by Orion, who wanted to rape them. According to others, Orion attempted to rape Artemis herself, who then directed a scorpion at him, killing him by stinging his heel. For having rendered this service to the goddess, the scorpion was transformed into a constellation, and the same happened to Orion: this is why the constellation of Orion is eternally pursued by that of Scorpius. According to another version, however, Artemis was actually in love with Orion, who shared her passion for hunting, but Apollo, Artemis's twin brother, wanted to end their relationship by deception: seeing in the distance on the sea a tiny dot that was none other than Orion's head, he challenged Artemis to a shooting contest. Artemis, unerring with her arrow, won the contest, accidentally killing her beloved. According to Diodorus Siculus (lib. IV.85), the myth of Orion was widespread in the Strait of Messina; our hero built the port for Zancle, king of the city that bore his name (modern Messina). Another of his labors was the formation of the promontory of Pelorus and the erection of a temple dedicated to the sea god Poseidon. No further information is available on the cult of Orion in Sicily, but the detail recounted by Diodorus suggests that this myth was imported from Euboea, from which the colonizers of Messina came, and that the cult subsequently failed to spread across the island. This was not the case with the cult of Artemis, the female personification of hunting. In any case, it must be kept in mind that, even in Greek mythology, Orion, as a mortal, was considered less worthy of attention than the immortal goddess Artemis and that the killing of Orion by Artemis could, in a certain sense, idealize the suppression of the cult of Orion and the survival of that of Artemis.
The Myth in the IWB Register of the Sicily Region
The Sicily Region has entered the Myth of Orion in the LIM register (Places of identity and memory) – Places of minor gods and divinities.
Place indicated in the IWB:
- Port of Messina
Excerpt from the book “ Myths of Ancient Sicily” by Ignazio Caloggero ISBN:9788832060157 © 2022 Centro Studi Helios srl
