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Aquarius is one of the most ancient of all the constellations. For thousands of years cultures world wide have associated it in some way with water. From ancient Greece comes the story of Ganymede, son of King Tros, from whom the city of Troy was named, in the land of Phrygia (now Turkey). Ganymede was said to be a boy of exceeding beauty, and when the king of the gods, Jupiter (Jove) saw him he became immediately infatuated with him. He sent his eagle (Aquila) to snatch the lad and bring him to Olympus, where he became the personal cup-bearer of Jupiter. Historian Robert Graves tells us that this myth became highly popular in ancient Greece and Rome where it was regarded as signifying divine endorsement for homosexuality. The Latin translation of the name Ganymede gave rise to the word catamite. In the words of Statius, as he wrote in his Thebais:
The illustration above is from John Flamsteed's Atlas Coelestis, published in 1729. Below is Johann Bode's interpretation of the figure from his 1801 Uranographia.
SADAL MELIK: "Lucky star of the king." A G2 giant yellow star that is 6000 times brighter than our Sun. But since it is 1,100 light years away, it has an apparent magnitude of only 3.2.
SADAL SUND: "Luckiest of the lucky." A G0 yellow giant, 5800 times brighter than the Sun and 1,030 light years away, giving it a magnitude of 3.1.
SADACHBIA: "Lucky star of the tents." A B9 greenish colored star only 95 light years away with a magnitude of 4.1.
SKAT: "Leg." An A3 star, 85 light years away with a magnitude of 3.3.
AL BALI: "The swallower." An A1 main sequence star, 170 light years away with a magnitude of 3.77.
ANCHA: "Hip bone." A K0 class star 191 light years away with a magnitude of 4.2.
SITULA: "Water jar." A K type orange giant, 234 light years away with a magnitude of 5.04.
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