Phaeton

Abstract

Phaeton is an asterism within the constellation Eridanus that emerged late relative to the constellation’s ancient origins. Richard Hinckley Allen (1899) believed its origins were to be found in Mesopotamia and long predated the Greeks. “There is much in the Euphratean records alluding to a stellar stream that may be our Eridanus,” Allen wrote, “and its title has been derived from the Akkadian Aria-dan, the Strong River.” White (2008) holds that the River’s name descends from the Sumerian name for Canopus (α Carinae), MUL.NUN.KI, under the assertion in some ancient sources that the River’s course ended there rather than at Achernar (α Eridani). The Sumerian word means “Star of Eridu” and refers to one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia settled near the mouth of the Euphrates around 5400 bc. If the Greeks inherited Eridanus from Mesopotamia, the thinking goes, then the river it represents is the Euphrates and the whole figure becomes something like the “River of Eridu.” However, this theory hinges on the Sumerian word for Canopus and does not explain why the traditional constellation terminates at a completely different star. In any case, Eridanus probably predates both the Greeks and the mythology they attached to it.