Constellation Inspired Dog Names

Out of all the constellations in the night sky, few were as important as that of Orion and his hunting dogs, known as Canis Major and Canis Minor. While Orion is important in his own right in Greek mythology, he is often used as a directional tool in locating Sirius, better known as the Dog Star. Historically, it is one of the most prolific to date, largely because outside of the moon, Mars, Jupiter and Venus, it is the brightest object in the night sky and stands alone as the brightest star, making it a top-notch navigational tool since before it was even named.

Cataloged by Ptolemy in the 2nd century, Canis Major, known as the Great Dog, was commonly referred to as the guard dog of Orion as it was not only the larger of the two, but followed his master closely. As such, Canis Major is forever frozen in a powerful position, with Sirius clenched between his jaws, some claiming him to be “the dog with the blazing face” while others held that he belched fire from his mouth. 

Numerous mythologists have differing theories about the dog’s true identity, the most commonly prevailing of which suggest that the constellation represented Laelaps, a dog with such significant swiftness that no prey could escape it. It was said that the dog was given as a gift by Zeus to Europa and then gifted from Europa’s son Minos, King of Crete, to Procris, daughter of Erechtheus, along with a javelin with unfailing accuracy. Unfortunately, her husband Cephalus accidentally killed her with it while out hunting, thus inheriting the dog. 

Cephalus took the dog to Thebes, a town in Boeotia, in an effort to prevent a fox so swift of foot that it could not be caught, from further ravaging the countryside. As soon as the dog was set off after the fox, he thus created a paradox, the prior being inescapable and the latter being uncatchable. As there was no resolution to the never-ending chase, Zeus decided to turn them both into stone and placed the dog in the sky, the fire in his jaws (Sirius) never ceasing to burn for its prey and therefore forever guiding the way of ceaseless pursuit for all who gazed on him. 

Outside of guiding travelers during their journeys, Sirius’ heliacal rising marked the flooding of the Nile for those in Ancient Egypt, aptly enough also signaling the beginning of the “dog days” of summer to the ancient Greeks.