Hello everyone, I’m Darrell Heath with the College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences here
at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Some of UALR’s best natural assets are the many trees and open green spaces that we have
as well as Coleman Creek, which runs the entire length of the campus.
These features help provide homes to various kinds of urban wildlife.
Over the many years that I have been affiliated with UALR I’ve had the pleasure of seeing
(at one time or another) such bird and mammal species as Brazilian free-tailed bats, groundhogs,
mink, skunks, grey fox, coyotes, great horned owls, red-breasted grosbeaks, red-tailed hawks,
Mississippi Kites, and great blue herons.
Our campus is even home to a number of different reptile species.
During the spring and summer months it’s possible to see common snapping turtles, box
turtles, broad-headed skinks, and yes, we even have a number of different snake species.
If you stroll alongside Coleman Creek you might just get the chance to see one of our
numerous water snake species like this diamondback water snake.
Water snakes, while sometimes confused for the venomous cottonmouth (or “water moccasin”)
are a bit temperamental, but otherwise a harmless, group of snakes that are often seen basking
in the sunlight as they sprawl out on the grass, rocks, logs, or overhanging tree limbs
in order to warm themselves up enough to go about their daily activities.
Female water snakes give live birth to their young (with and average litter size of 20
to 30 newborns) and pregnant females are especially fond of sunbathing in order to elevate their
body temperatures to levels that will help their babies to grow all the faster.
A water snake is going to play a starring role in this episode of The Night Sky as I
tell you the story behind the Greek constellations of Corvus the crow, Crater the Cup, and Hydra,
the water snake.
Of the 88 constellations 40 of them are animals (or 43 if you count the mythical ones).
In fact, the word “zodiac”, which refers to those 12 constellations through which the
Sun moves, means “circle of animals”.
Cultures from all around the world often incorporate animals that they are most familiar with into
their constellations and various mythologies.
The story of Corvus, Crater, and Hydra (a favorite of mine and many school kids for
whom I do night sky programs) is an ancient one that goes at least as far back as the
time of the Greek astronomer Eratosthenes who lived from 276 BC to 194 BC and also appears
in the poem Fasti by Ovid in the year 8 AD.
One day, in the long ago world, the god Apollo was making preparations for a sacrifice to
his father, Zeus.
It seems as though water is a vital part of this offering so, Apollo gives a cup (or “Krater”
in Ancient Greek) to his faithful servant, the crow, and tells him to go and fetch some
from a nearby spring.
Laden with the cup the crow flies off on his errand but he soon finds a fig tree filled
with ripe, juicy fruit.
The bird decides to take a break and stops to eat a few.
But he eats so many figs that he soon falls asleep and wakes up hours later.
Realizing that he is going to be in some serious trouble with Apollo the crow looks around
for inspiration in helping him concoct a story that will sound just plausible enough to escape
the god’s wrath.
His eyes alight upon a water snake sunbathing near the spring and the crow realizes that
he has found his scapegoat (or, scapesnake, as the case may be).
Grabbing the snake in his claws and the cup in his beak the crow flies back to Apollo
with the story that the mean old snake had prevented him from filling the cup with water.
Now, in addition to being the god of the Sun, Apollo also happens to be the god of both
prophecy and truth so he sees right through the crow’s lie.
You should also know that the crow, up until this time, was possessed of both a beautiful
silvery plumage and a lovely singing voice.
As his punishment, Apollo strips these characteristics from him.
Further, the crow, the cup, and snake are placed up in the sky for all of us to see
throughout eternity and to always remind us to never lie in order cover up our own failings.
If you watch the constellations carefully over the course of a night you will see that
the snake, with the cup upon his back, is always drifting westwards across the sky,
always out of reach of the crow and always preventing him from getting a cool refreshing
drink (which helps explain why today’s crows sound both hoarse and raucous).
The constellation of Corvus (which is the Latin word for “crow” or “raven”)
can be seen in the southern sky every spring.
During the month of April, step outside at around 10 PM to see Corvus rising above the
southeastern horizon.
But don’t expect to see a group of stars shaped like a crow; instead, Corvus looks
more like a lopsided square.
The constellations are not always meant to be accurate representations, sometimes they
were just meant to be symbolic in nature.
Corvus is rather small, coming in at number 70 among the 88 constellations in terms of
its overall size.
And while its stars are not especially bright you can see it quite easily under skies with
a moderate amount of light pollution.
To locate it, find Spica , the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo.
You can use a star chart or app to help you out with that.
Or, just locate the Big Dipper in the northern part of the sky and follow the curving arc
of its handle out to the orange-colored star Arcturus, in the constellation of Bootes the
Herdsman and then extendthat curve out about one more handle’s length until you come
to bright Spica.
Corvus is below and to the right of Spica.
Crater and Hydra are fainter still and you will need a dark sky in order to see them.
Crater borders the western edge of Corvus and its faint stars do seem to form a pattern
that looks a bit like an old fashioned chalice.
The cup and crow are often depicted as being perched upon the back of the water snake,
Hydra (not to be confused with the multi-headed monster with the same name who fought with
Hercules).
Hydra is the largest of all the 88 constellations, and occupies 1,303 square degrees as it sprawls
across the sky with its head in the north near Cancer the Crab and its tail end is located
southwards near Libra and Centaurus.
Despite its vast size Hydra only has one bright star, second magnitude Alphard (which is an
Arabic word meaning: “the solitary one”), so seeing much of the constellation will require
a star chart and some very dark skies.
Not unlike us, the Ancient Greeks abhorred the idea of chaos and disorder in their world.
Prior to the time of Socrates they looked for order, explanations of the natural world,
and guidance with such things as morality and ethics through imaginative stories like
the one I just told you.
Today, these stories are still popular, even more so with kids thanks to works like Rick
Riordan’s Percy Jackson series of books.
The myths of Ancient Greeks are not just old tales that are irrelevant in a modern world.
They are good stories that have withstood the test of time but they are also stories
with a purpose, having been written by very smart people in order to impart knowledge
and to reveal to us certain truths about morality and ethics as well as philosophical ideas.
Through these myths and through the people who wrote about them, people like Plato, Ovid,
Homer, Sophocles, and Aristophanes; they have collectively helped shape much of modern thinking.
The night sky has served as an inspiration and as the storybook for many such tales to
cultures all around the world and you can see them each night parading across the heavens
if you just take a little time to get outside and look up in both awe and wonder.