- Star Tales - Ophiuchus (ianridpath.com)
Ophiuchus (pronounced off-ee-YOO-cuss) represents a man grasping a huge snake with both hands, the head of the snake in his left hand and its tail in his right hand. The snake is represented by a separate constellation, Serpens, which is unique among the 88 constellations in being divided into two halves, the head on one side of Ophiuchus and the tail on the other. The mythologists such as Aratus and Hyginus described the snake as being coiled around the waist of Ophiuchus, and that is how it was shown on early illustrations, including Dürer’s hemisphere of 1515; but from Bayer’s chart onwards it was usually shown passing either across his body or between his legs.
- Tullus Hostilius (Wikipedia)
Tullus Hostilius (Classical Latin: [ˈtʊlːʊs (h)ɔsˈtiːliʊs]; r. 672–640 BC) was the legendary third king of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius. Unlike his predecessor, Tullus was known as a warlike king who, according to the Roman historian Livy, believed the more peaceful nature of his predecessor had weakened Rome. It has been attested that he sought out war and was even more warlike than the first king of Rome, Romulus. Accounts of the death of Tullus Hostilius vary. In the mythological version of events Livy describes, he had angered Jupiter who then killed him with a bolt of lightning. Non-mythological sources on the other hand describe that he died of plague after a rule of 32 years.