Pleiades

Merope married Sisyphus, son of Aeolus and king of Corinth. She was a daughter of Atlas and Pleione, the daughter of Oceanos, and she belonged to the seven sisters born at Cyllene in Arcadia. Her sisters were Alcyone, Celaino, Electra, Sterope, Taygete, and Maia. Merope was the only Pleiad who married a mortal.

Merope and Sisyphus had several sons. One telling named them Glaucus, Ornytion, and Sinon. Another gave particular attention to Glaucus. He lived at Potniae near Thebes and became the father of Bellerophon. Merope’s family therefore continued through both the Corinthian line and the later line of Bellerophon.

After Sisyphus died, he was taken to the Underworld. There he was forced to push a great stone up a slope. Each time he brought it close to the summit, its weight drove it back down. The stone rolled to the bottom, and Sisyphus had to retrieve it and begin the labour again.

Merope felt shame because she alone among the Pleiades had a husband in the Underworld. Her husband was also a criminal. During the night, she left her six starry sisters in the sky and disappeared from their company. She was never seen there again.

Orion pursued the seven Pleiades and their mother, Pleione, across the meadows of Boeotia. The sisters were daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Orion continued after them as they fled through the countryside, and the pursuit gave the story its central action.

The gods took pity on the sisters while Orion followed them. In one account, Zeus himself changed the seven daughters into doves. After their transformation, they were taken up into the heavens. Their images were placed among the stars, where they became the star cluster known as the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus.

Orion was also placed among the constellations after the pursuit. From there, he continued to follow the Pleiades across the sky. The account links the movements of the two groups in the heavens. The appearance of the Pleiades above the horizon comes just before the return of Orion. This preserves the pattern of the pursuit, with the sisters appearing ahead of the hunter as they move through the night sky.

The story therefore presents the stars as the transformed figures of an earlier flight. It retains the identity of the sisters as the daughters of Atlas and Pleione, while explaining their place among the stars and Orion’s continuing presence behind them.

Zeus rescued the infant Dionysus from Hera’s anger and entrusted him to the Pleiades. They nursed and protected the child. In recognition of their service, Zeus placed them among the stars, where they became the star cluster called the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus.

The Pleiades were daughters of Atlas and Pleione. A usual account says that Orion pursued them and their mother through Boeotia. The gods, or Zeus, took pity on them and transferred them to the heavens. Another account says that the gods changed them into doves before setting their images among the stars. The seven were not all treated alike in every tradition. Three were said to have lain with Zeus, two with Poseidon, one with Ares, and the seventh to have married Sisyphus of Corinth. Since Sisyphus was mortal, she was said to have been left out of the constellation.

Other accounts give Dionysus different nurses. Zeus turned the child into a kid to save him from Hera, and Hermes carried him to nymphs living at Nysa in Asia. These nymphs were later placed among the stars as the Hyades. Another tradition says that the Hyades delivered Dionysus safely to Ino, and that Zeus placed them in the heavens for this service. The sources therefore preserve a version in which the Pleiades nurse Dionysus, alongside accounts that assign his care to the nymphs of Nysa or to the Hyades.

Merope withdrew from the night sky and concealed her light. She was the daughter of Atlas and Pleione, and one of the Pleiades, the starry sisters who appeared together above the earth. Her absence was explained by her shame. She alone among the Pleiades had married a mortal, Sisyphus, and he was a criminal as well as a man.

Sisyphus, son of Aeolus, ruled at Corinth and owned a fine herd of cattle. He was known as a great knave. Before his death, he instructed Merope not to bury him. After he was taken to the Underworld, he tried to escape his fate by deceiving Persephone. He told her that an unburied man had no proper place among the dead. He asked to return to the upper world so that he could arrange his burial, promising to come back within three days.

Persephone believed him and allowed him to leave. Once he felt the sunlight again, Sisyphus rejected his promise and remained in the upper world. Hermes was eventually summoned and dragged him back by force. Sisyphus was then condemned to roll a shameless stone up a hill in Tartarus. Each time he reached the summit, the stone was forced back by its own weight and bounced to the bottom. He had to retrieve it and begin again, while sweat covered him and dust rose around his head.

Merope was ashamed that her husband was both mortal and condemned to the Underworld. She deserted her six starry sisters during the night and was never seen there again. Her disappearance explains why the Pleiades are often said to contain only six visible stars.