Altair

In classical mythology Aquila, and by extension Altair as well, was an eagle favored by Zeus. He played a part in numerous myths, including the abduction of Ganymede in which a young boy (Ganymede) is carried off to Mount Olympus on Zeus’ command to become the cupbearer to the gods. In another myth Aquila is the eagle that torments Prometheus, and is shot with a poisoned arrow by Hercules.

In India, Altair with its two flanking stars, Beta and Gamma (Tarazed and Alshain), are sometimes thought to be the celestial footprints of the god Vishnu.

Altair is separated from the similar-looking (but brighter) star Vega in the constellation Lyra by the great starlit band of the Milky Way. In Asia, this hazy band across our sky is known as the Celestial River. One story common in China, Japan and Korea a young herdsman (Altair) who falls in love with a celestial princess (Vega), who weaves the fabric of heaven.

The princess became so enamored of the herdsman that she neglects her weaving duties. This acts enrages the princess’s father, the Celestial Emperor, who decrees that the herdsman must stay away from his daughter, on the opposite side of the River. The Emperor finally listened to the princess’s pleas, however, and allowed the herdsman to cross the Celestial River once per year, on the seventh day of the seventh month.

In Japan, Altair is Hikoboshi, and Vega is Orihime (or Tanabata). If it rains on the day of the festival of Tanabata, it is said to be Orihime’s tears because Hikoboshi could not navigate the treacherous waters of the Celestial River.