in fabulous history, was the son of Jupiter, Neptune, and Mercury. For as these gods were visiting the earth, they entered the house of Hyrieus, a native of Tanagra, in Boeotia, under the character of benighted travellers, on account of his being famed for hospitality to strangers. Hyrieus treated them in the best manner in his power; and even killed an ox, the only one he had, for their entertainment. At which the gods were so pleased, that they offered the old man whatever he would ask; who letting them know that he desired nothing so much as a son, they, to gratify his wish, caused the ox's hide to be brought before them, in which, having deposited their urine, they bad him keep it underground for nine months. He then dug for the skin, and found in it a beautiful child, whom he called Orion ab urina. The name was afterwards changed into Orion by the corruption of one letter, as Ovid observes: Perdidit antiquum litera prima forum. Orion soon became conspicuous; and Diana took him among her attendants, and even became deeply enamoured of him. His gigantic stature, however, disfitted Cænopion king of Chios, whose daughter Hero or Merope he requested in marriage. The king, not willing to deny him openly, promised to make him his son-in-law as soon as he delivered his island from wild beasts. This task, which Cænopion supposed to be impracticable, was soon performed by Orion, who eagerly demanded his reward. Cænopion, on pretence of complying, intoxicated his illustrious guest, and put out his eyes on the sea shore, where he had laid himself down to sleep. Orion found himself blind when he awoke. He went, directed by the sound, to a neighbouring forge, where he placed one of the workmen on his back, and by his directions went to a place where the rising sun was seen with the greatest advantage. Here he turned his face towards the luminary; and, according to report, he immediately recovered his eye-sight, and hastened to punish the perfidious cruelty of Cænopion. Orion was reported to be an excellent workman in iron, and to have fabricated a subterraneous palace for Vulcan.

Aurora, whom Venus had inspired with love, carried him away into the island of Delos, that she might enjoy his company with greater security; but Diana, who was jealous of this, destroyed him with her arrows. Some say, that Orion had provoked Diana's resentment, by offering violence to Opis, one of her female attendants; or, as others say, because he had attempted the virtue of the goddess herself. According to Ovid, Orion died of the bite of a scorpion, which the earth produced to punish his vanity, in boasting that no animal on earth could conquer him. Some say that Orion was son of Neptune and Euryale, and that he had received from his father the privilege and power of walking over the sea without wetting his feet. Others assert, that he was a son of Terra, like the rest of the giants. He had married a nymph called Sida, before his connection with the family of Cænopion; but Sida was the cause of her own death, by boasting herself fairer than Juno. Diodorus says, that Orion was a celebrated hunter, superior to the rest of mankind, by his strength and uncommon stature. He built the port of Zancle, and fortified the coast of Sicily against the frequent inundations of the sea, by heaping a mound of earth called Pelorum, on which he built a temple to the gods of the sea. After death Orion was placed in heaven, where one of the constellations still bears his name. The constellation of Orion was placed near the feet of the bull. It was composed of 17 stars in the form of a man holding a sword; for which reason the poets often speak of Orion's sword.

As the constellation of Orion, which rises about the 9th day of March, and sets about the 21st of June, is generally supposed to be accompanied at its rising with great rains and storms, it has acquired the epithet of aquifus given it by Virgil. Orion was buried in the island of Delos; and the monument which the people of Tanagra in Boeotia showed, as containing his remains, was nothing but a Cenotaph. The daughters of Orion distinguished themselves as much as their father; and when the oracle had declared that Boeotia should not be delivered from a dreadful pestilence before two of Jupiter's children were immolated on the altars, they joyfully accepted the offer, and voluntarily sacrificed themselves for the good of their country. Their names were Menippe and Metioche. They had been carefully educated by Diana; and Venus and Minerva had made them very rich and valuable presents. The deities of hell were struck at the patriotism of these two females; and instantly two stars were observed to arise from the earth, which still smoked with their blood, and they were placed in the heavens in the form of a crown. According to Ovid, their bodies were burned by the Thebans, and from their ashes arose two persons, whom the gods soon after changed into constellations.

Orion, in astronomy, one of the constellations of the southern hemisphere. The word is formed from the Greek νέρον, "to make water;" the ancients supposing that it raised tempests at its rising and setting.

The stars in the constellation Orion, in Ptolemy's catalogue are 37; in Tycho's 62; in the Britannic catalogue 80.