Aquila the Eagle

Aquila the Eagle

In Greek mythology Aquila the Eagle was the celestial bird of Zeus and was the carrier of his mighty thunder. Aquila served Zeus during the battle with Cronus and the war with the Titans. During the wars he faithfully provided Zeus with food, drinks, and weapons. This allowed Zeus to be successful in his quest for absolute power. When Hebe, goddess of youth was married to Hercules she gave up her position as official wine bearer. Zeus enrolled the Trojan prince Ganymede as next bearer. Aquila was sent down to fetch him. He was also the official torturer to Prometheus who disobeyed the gods and was sentence to be chained to a rock forever. Aquila was the eagle that would descend down every day and devour his liver. The liver would reheal but then Aquila would eat it again and this torment would persist for all infinity. Zeus was so pleased with Aquila's devotion that he put The Eagle in the stars so he can soar enternally through the sky. (Corny I know but it was the best I could do)

The constellation Aquila can be seen in the northern hemisphere throughout the summer and well into the fall. It can be distinctively seen during the summer solstice. It is one of the three constellations forming the summer triangle, Vega of Lyra, Deneb of Cygnus and Altair of Aquila. Altair is the brightest of the three. The 4 or 5 fairly bright stars under Aquila is the boy Ganymede. After a while Zeus gave him his own constellation and became Aquarius, the water bearer. The star Altair is 16.7 light-years away from our sun. The named stars are Altair, Alshain, Tarazed, Denebel Okab, Denb el Okab. Cygnus the swan and Hercules are close neighbors to Aquila. Aquila has 10 stars that can be specifically seen. If you look up to the Stars you can see the shape of the boy Ganymede below Aquila. Aquila the Eagle has a fixed place in the heavens between constellations.

Aquila is a valuable symbol to the Greeks because it stands for the god's displeasure and gratification. It was a symbol to the Romans and it was the constellation for messengers. It stands for displeasure because it was often the god's messenger of bad tidings and punisher to people whom the gods deem unworthy. It also stood for gratification because Zeus sent him to the heavens as thank you when he died. The moral of Aquila's myth is that if you serve the gods well they will reward you during your lifetime or after