Pleiades

According to the Greek mythology, the Pleiades are the seven daughters of Atlas

whom Zeus transformed first into doves

and then into stars...

Why did Zeus first transform Pleiades into doves and then into stars? Why did he not transform them straight into stars? 

Cause he is Zeus. He doesn't have to explain himself to anybody 🙂 

Which reminds me of this great sketch by the Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan

But actually, there is a very good reason why Zeus turned Pleiades first into doves and then into stars: Cause Animal calendar markers predate constellations...

Let me explain what I mean:

First we have to go and talk to Hesiod about Grain...And Pleiades...

According to Hesiod, who wrote in mid 8th century BCE in Bœotia, grain harvest started: "When the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, are rising". Which in the mid 8th century BCE in Bœotia, was around the first week of May...In Taurus...I talked about this in my post "Hesiod on grain"...

Hesiod also said this about Pleiades:

The Pleiades would "flee mighty Orion and plunge into the misty deep" just before dawn during Oct/Nov, a good time of the year to lay up your ship after the fine summer weather and "remember to work the land". Meaning to plough and sow grain...

You can read about this in the article "The trice ploughed field, Cultivation Techniques in Ancient and Modern Greece"...

So Heliacal "Rising" and "Falling" of pleiades divided Greek year into two halves: grain agriculture season (Oct/Nov-Apr/May) and sailing season (Apr/May-Oct/Nov)...Kind of important...

BTW, If you want to read about Greek sailing season check my article "Three sacrifices", about sacrifices, which marked the beginning and the end of the Trojan war...

Anyway, so, you plough and sow grain when Pleiades fall with the sun and you harvest grain when Pleiades rise with the sun...

What does any of this have to do with doves...

Ah...I am glad you asked...🙂

Dove was the holy bird of Demeter, Greek goddess of grain harvest and threshing flors...I talked about this in my article "Demeter with dove"...

Dove was also the holy bird of Inanna, Ishtar, Asherah...also Mesopotamian/Levantine goddess of grain harvest and threshing floors...I talked about this in my post "Inanna and dove" about this pottery cup from Syria, dated to 1800-1600 BC. The rounded body tapering to a flat base, with 26 bird heads. Christies auction... 

Doves??? Similar objects were interpreted as votive objects dedicated to Ishtar/Inanna, whose sacred bird was dove...

And as I explained in these article, the reason why dove is associated with grain goddesses is because in this Europe and Western Asia, grain harvest starts when two most common types of doves 

collared dove

turtle dove

start mating, in Apr/May...And they mate throughout the harvest season...

This is also when Pleiades rise with sun...To announce the beginning of the harvest...Quite interesting, don't you think? 

Oh, BTW, have you seen my article "Pendant"? It talks about 11th - 12th c. AD, pendants found in kurgans of Radimichi, an early medieval Slavic tribe, who lived in Ryazan area of Russia, and about the link between Pleiades and Taurus...

Why are Pleiades linked with Taurus? Well, if we look at both Pleiades and Taurus as constellations, it's kind of obvious...

But remember, all our animal constellations were originally animal calendar markers...They marked mating or birthing season of the depicted animal...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…then check the rest of the blog posts related to animal calendar markers I still didn't add to this page, and finally check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am 9 months behind now...

Anyway, Taurus is one such animal calendar marker. It originally marked the calving season of the Wild Eurasian cattle. Which began in Apr/May. I talked about this in my post "Cow and calf ivory"...

Remember that this is also when grain harvest started in in the region where these animal calendar markers originally developed (Mesopotamia, Levant)...Hence the symbolic link between grain and bulls. I talked about this in my post "Bull carrying granary", about this amazing seal from "Die Entwicklung der Glyptik während der Akkad-Zeit" by Boehmer, R. M. published in 1965, depicting a bull carrying a building with plants growing (protruding) out of the building walls...

And so, if we look at both Pleiades and Taurus as animal calendar markers, we can see that they are also linked: 

Doves start nesting in Apr/May

Aurochs start calving in Apr/May

Oh and 

Grain harvest starts in Apr/May

That's it...Quite fascinating I think...Hope you enjoyed this article. Have a nice evening...