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* Rainy Ones (''hyô, hyetos'')
* Rainy Ones (''hyô, hyetos'')
* Regengestirn (German)
* Regengestirn (German)
* ‘jaws of Taurus’ ([[Is le10|''is-lê'']])
* [[AGA A-nim]], the Crown of the sky god Anu


===Origin of Constellation===
===Origin of Constellation===
[[File:Fig1 taurus tablet 150dpi sciLogs.jpg|thumb|Taurus sign with drawings of Pleiades (Bristle), Hyades (Chariot), Bull, and the Moon during a total lunar eclipse in the Moon's hypsoma; drawing by Hoffmann (2025)<ref name=":0">Hoffmann, S.M. (2025). Image Analysis of VAT 7851, [https://orientalistik.univie.ac.at/publikationen/afo/ Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO)] 56, 45-53</ref>.]]
[[File:Fig1 taurus tablet 150dpi sciLogs.jpg|thumb|Taurus sign with drawings of Pleiades (Bristle), Hyades (Chariot), Bull, and the Moon during a total lunar eclipse in the Moon's hypsoma; drawing by Hoffmann (2025)<ref name=":0">Hoffmann, S.M. (2025). Image Analysis of VAT 7851, [https://orientalistik.univie.ac.at/publikationen/afo/ Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO)] 56, 45-53</ref>.]]
[[File:Hyaden+plejaden_smh2025_isle.JPG|thumb|Hyades (photograph) and The Jaw of the Bull from a claytablet (CC BY SMH 2024).]]
[[File:Hyaden+plejaden_smh2025_isle.JPG|thumb|Hyades (photograph) and The Jaw of the Bull from a claytablet (CC BY SMH 2024).]]
The V-shaped Hyades appear more scattered in the sky; in Mesopotamia they were regarded as the ‘jaws of Taurus’ ([[Is le10|''is-lê'']]) and are interpreted in Greek as its face. The bright star [[Aldebaran]], which physically does not belong to the star cluster but is (coincidentally) seen standing in the foreground in the same direction in the sky, had no proper name - neither in Mesopotamia nor in mathematical Greek astronomy. Only in his astrological work Tetrabiblos does Ptolemy give a name for the star: the torch. The modern name, Aldebaran, is Arabic and alludes to its position in the sky. The Pleiades rise first, followed by Aldebaran and the Hyades. Ad-Dabaran means ‘the following one’.
The V-shaped Hyades appear more scattered in the sky; in Mesopotamia they were regarded as [[AGA A-nim]], the Crown of the sky god Anu, or the ‘Jaw of The Bull’ ([[Is le10|''is-lê'']]) and are interpreted in Greek as its face. The bright star [[Aldebaran]], which physically does not belong to the star cluster but is (coincidentally) seen standing in the foreground in the same direction in the sky, had no proper name - neither in Mesopotamia nor in mathematical Greek astronomy. Only in his astrological work Tetrabiblos does Ptolemy give a name for the star: the torch. The modern name, Aldebaran, is Arabic and alludes to its position in the sky. The Pleiades rise first, followed by Aldebaran and the Hyades. Ad-Dabaran means ‘the following one’.


The star cluster seems to be also part of Late Babylonian constellation of The Chariot, GIGIR.<ref name=":0" />
The star cluster seems to be also part of Late Babylonian constellation of The Chariot, GIGIR.<ref name=":0" />

Latest revision as of 18:17, 12 April 2026

Pleiades and Hyades in Stellarium (date -300 but this view is independent of the historical epoch on human scales).
Hyades and Pleiades as observed in central Europe (photo and animation SMH)

The Hyades (Ὑας, Ὑαδες) are a significant pattern of stars in the sky that has been recognized as an asterism or constellation by almost all cultures. They form part of the modern constellation of Taurus.

Etymology and History

Name Variants:

  • Suculae (Latin)
  • Rainy Ones (hyô, hyetos)
  • Regengestirn (German)
  • ‘jaws of Taurus’ (is-lê)
  • AGA A-nim, the Crown of the sky god Anu

Origin of Constellation

Taurus sign with drawings of Pleiades (Bristle), Hyades (Chariot), Bull, and the Moon during a total lunar eclipse in the Moon's hypsoma; drawing by Hoffmann (2025)[1].
Hyades (photograph) and The Jaw of the Bull from a claytablet (CC BY SMH 2024).

The V-shaped Hyades appear more scattered in the sky; in Mesopotamia they were regarded as AGA A-nim, the Crown of the sky god Anu, or the ‘Jaw of The Bull’ (is-lê) and are interpreted in Greek as its face. The bright star Aldebaran, which physically does not belong to the star cluster but is (coincidentally) seen standing in the foreground in the same direction in the sky, had no proper name - neither in Mesopotamia nor in mathematical Greek astronomy. Only in his astrological work Tetrabiblos does Ptolemy give a name for the star: the torch. The modern name, Aldebaran, is Arabic and alludes to its position in the sky. The Pleiades rise first, followed by Aldebaran and the Hyades. Ad-Dabaran means ‘the following one’.

The star cluster seems to be also part of Late Babylonian constellation of The Chariot, GIGIR.[1]

Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

Mythology

In Greek mythology, both the names of the sisters and their parents vary.[2]

parents sisters
  • ATLAS & PLEIONE (Hyginus Fabulae 192)
  • ATLAS & AITHRA (Musaeus Frag, Hyginus Astronomica 2.21, Ovid Fasti 5.164)
  • HYAS & BOIOTIA (Hyginus Astronomica 2.21)
  • PHAISYLE, KORONIS, KLEEIA, PHAIO, EUDORE (Hesiod Astronomy 2)
  • PHAESYLA, KORONIS, AMBROSIA, POLYXO, EUDORA (Hyginus Fabulae 192)
  • AMBROSIA, EUDORA, AESYLE (Eustathius on Homer's Iliad 1156)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hoffmann, S.M. (2025). Image Analysis of VAT 7851, Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO) 56, 45-53
  2. ↑ Hyades in THEOI online
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