Why do the Ancient Greeks assume that the stars were ancient heroes?

Question

Why do the Ancient Greeks assume that the stars were ancient heroes?

Answer 1

If I hang the jersey of a basketball player from the rafters to celebrate him, am I assuming the jersey is the player?

Answer 2

Ancient Greeks did not "assume" that the stars were heroes. Some myths say that the gods turned certain humans and gods into stars. The same can be said for other cultural myths. Also, primitive cultures made up stories to explain nature's beauties. They didn't have science to explain things for them. I personally like the myths.

Answer 3

I am from China. Ancient chinese use a different set of constellations system organize stars. But those stars, were gods/heros too.

So I think maybe there is certain mysterious bond between.

I joined a tarot course in Melbourne, Aus here. The lecturer was talking about hero's "prototype" in ancient greeks. Which is:

all heros in story you can find some similar path of their story/path:
they born then start their journey. They experienced hard time from their life but they grow stronger from it. They finally successed and then fame/wealth/love come to them. They failed to realize those were sent by God then God abondaned them, then their life ended with shame.

I found similar prototype in Chinese myth as well so I think there are some links between our life and stars that people in ancient time knows more than us.

PEOPLE GAVE MEANINGS TO STARS BASED ON WHAT THEY FOUND THE STARS MEANING TO THEM IN LIFE. that's what i guess. Say:

Moon in western astrology is linked to woman (part of its meaning), in chinese link to Yin(as opposed to yang), still woman. Ancient people might have already found woman's period and emotion somehow linked to moon's face also found, in terms of phycology, even men with a strong moon (say in western astrology, a natal cancer moon), would show some "caring nature", etc. Then, ancient people, give women/yin to meanings of moon.

While moon is easier to understand, but other stars, I think we today already lost those memory about how they link together.

Answer 4

If you look into Greek Mythology all of the "Gods" were the Planets, or their Moons , or the Sea, or the Sky, or the Wind etc etc. So by the time the had got round to hero's There was nothing left of significance but the Stars. ( I think and I hope)

Answer 5

Cause they studied the stars very closely. They new a lot about their gods such as how they looked and what they did. They could see figures in the stars. They were ables to see heroes like orion or ursa major.

Answer 6

They didn't assume that. Simply put the stars and constellations just had the names of heroes and gods assigned to them.

Answer 7

Why do you assume that they aren't?

Answer 8

Cause they're mad cool.