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The Constellation of Eridanus is the sixth largest constellation in the night sky and was known in the ancient sky charts as a river, flowing from the constellation Orion across the sky past Cetus and Fornax and ending in the southern hemisphere of the stars, where the earth meets the sky. 

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One theory suggests that the Greek constellation takes its name from the Babylonian Star of Eridu (MUL.NUN.KI), which was named after the Babylonian city. Eridu was an ancient city in the south of Babylonia that was sacred to the god Enki (Ea). He was known to live in the aquifers, the fresh-water reservoirs under earth's surface, and ruled the domain of the watery Abyss.

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Later, the Greeks would adapt these stories of the stars and the Eridanus to tell their own mythos on the origins of the universe.

Eridanus was indexed by the Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy in his work Almagest in the 2nd century CE. In Greek mythology, Eridanus is the river of the underworld and its winding, twisting path is associated with two Greek myths. Eridanus was once believed to be the water that spilled from Aquarius the water bearer, and the Story of Phaëthon and his fiery ride through the sky.

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The Story of Phaëthon (Φαεθών)-

 

Once upon a Greek myth there lived Helios, who was known to Greeks as the personification and power behind the Sun. Helios drove the chariot of the sun around the sky each day, circling the earth and oceans and returning to the east at night, lead by his horses Pyrois (The Fiery One), Aeos (He who turns the sky), Aethon (Blazing), and Phlegon (Burning). 

 

Phaëthon (Shining One) was the son of Helios and the nymph Clymene, although other mythos lean to different genealogies. It was Phaëthon's quest to prove that his father was Helios that led to his ultimate demise. Bullied and teased by his peers, it was said a rival playmate Epaphus challenged Phaëthon's claims and thus sent Phaëthon to his mother Clymene for assurance. 

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Clymene assured him that Helios was indeed his father and sent him to the sky to ask the Sun God himself. Phaëthon did just that and implored Helios who swore to prove his paternity by granting him whatever he wished as proof. Phaëthon thought as the son of Helios, he could also power the great chariot, so Phaëthon asked to drive the chariot through the skys for one day. Knowing that he was bound by oath, Helios begged him to reconsider, telling Phaëthon that not even Zeus himself was powerful enough to tame the burning hot chariot with it's fire breathing steeds, but Phaëthon insisted and Helios let him make the attempt.

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When the time came for Phaëthon to take his seat in the chariot, the horses, no longer feeling the weight of a God behind them thought the chariot was empty. Phaëthon was no match for the power of these beasts and could not control the reigns, the horses galloped though the sky uncontrolled. First going too far away from earth, freezing the land and covering it with ice. Then veering too close, burning and scorching the earth, changing much of Africa into a desert, drying up rivers and lakes, bringing the blood of the people to the surface of their skin turning it black. Earth cried out to Zeus who fearing more damage was forced to strike Phaëthon with a lightning bolt, plunging his burning body from the sky into the river Eridanus. 

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Phaëthon was mourned greatly by his lover Cygnus and his seven sisters, the Heliades. His sister wept and mourned where he fell to earth until the Gods turned them into poplar trees and turned their tears into amber. Cygnus, King of the Ligyes, also mourned at the place of his death and was turned into a swan to relieve him of his grief, and then later the constellation Cygnus.

 

The Eridanus constellation is thought to also represent the path the flaming chariot took through the heavens, twisting and turning wildly as the boy fought to control the Sun chariot to no avail. It's also referenced as the Path of Souls.

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Mythos aside, the constellation Eridanus also contains deep-sky objects (nebulae, star clusters and galaxies). Like the notable Witch Head Nebula, thought to be the remains of an ancient supernova, is a faint reflection nebula light years away from earth that is enhanced by the light of Rigel from the constellation Orion. The Eridanus Cloud which is a group of around 200 galaxies also calls this constellation home.

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