The Milky Way?

Question

I used to think the "Milky Way" refers to the galaxy which our solar system is in.

What has it got to do with Greek mythology?

In fact, isn't it more of a subject on Science than mythology?

But how do the Greeks know it is a galaxy, ie, the spiral cluster of stars?

Answer 1

Greek mythology associates the Milky Way with a herd of dairy cows/cattle, where each cow is a star and whose milk gives the blue glow.

Go here for more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way_(mythology)#Greek_and_Roman

Answer 2

When Hercules was born, he was mortal. If a mortal baby is breast fed by a goddess, they will become immortal. Zues tricked Hera, his wife, into breastfeeding Hercules. When she noticed the trick, she pulled him off her breast, but in doing so, her milk sprayed across the heavens, the droplets becoming stars, hence the term "Milky Way". Also the term Galaxy comes from the Greek word Galaga (or similar) meaning milk.
That is the connection between the Milky Way, Galaxy and Greek Mythology.


EDIT: To answer your supplementary question: The Greeks did not know it was a galaxy, that is, a spiral-armed collection of stars. They called it the milk of Hera, that is Galaga (or similar) when it just looked like a milky band across the sky. The name just transferred as a tradition to refer to the whole galaxy when scientists realised what they were really looking at.
As a side note, in ancient times, with less light pollution, the skies must have looked awe inspiring on Moonless nights!

Answer 3

The term "Milky Way" was coined in antiquity because of the appearance of the band of light across the sky. They didn't know what it was, of course. The word "galaxy" has its roots in the Greek word for "milk" (which is rendered roughly in our alphabet as galaxias).

When it was discovered that the band of light was an ocean of stars, the name continued to be used. Our galaxy became (or continued to be) known as the Milky Way.

Answer 4

It does. Because our planet sits in the same plane as most of the other stars in our galaxy the high concentration of stars in the galactic plane show as a light band in the night sky (like seeing a florescent tube behind frosted glass). Greek philosophers used this band in their creation myth as a river of milk Hera spilled. Today the myth is gone, but the name still remains.

Answer 5

it has nothing to do with Greek Mythology i don't think. The greeks just named the stars after themselves.