The Pleiades: Seven sisters, a jewel in the night sky

The Pleiades are the seven daughters of Atlas and the sea-nymph Pleione whom they were named after. They are sisters to the Hyades, Hyas, the Hesperides and Calypso. Their names are Merope, Sterope, Celaeno, Alcyone, Taygete, Maia and Electra. It is said that Dionysus the Olympian god was raised by them during his infancy.

According to mythology when their father, Titan Atlas took the entire cosmos onto his shoulders, the legendary hunter Orion started to chase the Pleiades across the heavens.  Zeus in order to rescue them transformed them into stars and placed them high in the night sky in the protection and comfort of their father.

These seven stars formed one of the most beautiful star clusters in the night sky just next to the constellation of Orion who even today appears to be pursuing them. The Pleiades are best visible during the winter and they rise above the horizon just before their sisters, the Hyades.

More Deities

In Greek mythology the Horae were the three daughters of Zeus and Themis, Eunomia, Diké, and Eirene, who were law-and-order goddesses.

The Hyades were the daughters of Atlas and or Aethra, and sisters to the Pleiades and the Hesperides. They were a sisterhood of nine nymphs responsible for bringing rain.

The Moirae in Greek mythology are the personifications of destiny. Same as the Charites and the Hesperides, they were three, Clotho, Atropos and Laxesis. They controlled the thread of life of every mortal from birth to the end.

Morpheus is the son of Nyx, the primordial goddess of the Night. He is the god of dreams, the older and master of the Oneiroi.

The Naiads, probably daughters of sea god Poseidon, were nymphs who presided over fountains, springs and streams. The Naiads were neither river goddesses nor ancient spirits that inhabited the still waters of marshes.