Talk:Pleiades (Greek mythology)

Pronunciations based on the OED, the glossary of Robert Fagles' translation of the Odyssey, and The Zimmerman's Dictionary of Classical Mythology (Harper & Row, 1964).

--kwami


 * Is there a reason that the Greek says 'Pleiones', rather than 'Pleiades'.

Shouldn't the pronunciations be transcribed in IPA?

Pages to be renamed
I think there'd be little objection to the following moves:
 * The "In Folklore" section of Pleiades (star cluster) should be at Pleiades (mythology), with a synopsis of this page with a "Main article..." heading added to the text.
 * This page should be Pleiades (Greek mythology) retaining its relevant hatnotes.
 * Pleiades (star cluster) should have a brief "Folklore" synopsis pointing to the two mythology pages.

I don't know how to make the changes without snafu of the various page histories. What are your thoughts, folks? --Wetman 23:31, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

I think the contents of this page should include ancient references. [User: KearnsAK] 11:33, 18 January 2010 (Alaska STD Time). —Preceding unsigned comment added by KearnsAK (talk • contribs)

Merope not the dimmest sister star
In the mythology section it says

"In the Pleiades star cluster only six of the stars shine brightly, the seventh, Merope, shines dully because she is shamed for eternity for having an affair with a mortal."

but Merope is the forth brightest "sister" star in the cluster, refer Pleiades_(star_cluster)

Because of connectivity, I removed the entire paragraph. I placed it below for easy reference. Someone knowledgeable needs to look into this. Dave3457 (talk) 19:02, 11 August 2010 (UTC)


 * In the Pleiades star cluster only six of the stars shine brightly, the seventh, Merope, shines dully because she is shamed for eternity for having an affair with a mortal. Some myths also say that the star that doesn't shine is Electra; she is said to have left her place so that she will not have to look down upon the ruin of Troy, because the city was founded by her son Dardanus.

There's a lot more to this. In ancient times, Merope was a lot brighter than it is now. It is a very long term variable star, that has faded. This is consistent with a Greek legend that she got sick. I don't have this reference any more, but it is in the famous (if now very dated) Burham's Celestial Handbook. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:8003:E414:3A01:7C7C:5DD7:8D20:72D1 (talk) 08:39, 25 March 2020 (UTC)

Pleiades winter or summer - and Virgil
It says earlier in the article that the Pleides are winter stars, which agrees with my planisphere, which I've just checked, so I'm changing the later claim that they are summer stars.

Also, the Virgil cited does not seem to back up any etymological claim:

"Then first did rivers feel upon their backs boats of hollowed alder, then the mariner grouped and named the stars, Pleiads and Hyads and Lycaon’s daughter, the radiant Bear."

http://www.theoi.com/Text/VirgilGeorgics1.html