How and why was the constellation Leo given its name?
Have you even considered doing any research for yourself? Its amazing what you can find online if you just look. The constellation Leo was known by many civilizations for thousands of years, almost always portrayed as a lion. One explanation is that the sun was among its stars in midsummer, and during summer the lions of Egypt would leave the desert and find relief from the heat in waters of the Nile River. Pliny wrote that the Egyptians worshipped Leo because the flooding of the Nile would occur around the time the sun entered that constellation. The Persians called Leo Ser or Shir; the Turks, Artan; the Syrians, Aryo; the Jewish, Arye; the Indians, “Sher”; and the Babylonians, Aru. All of these mean “lion”. In Greek mythology, it was identified as the Nemean Lion killed by Hercules during one of his twelve labours, and subsequently put into the sky. Early Hindu astronomers knew it as Asleha and as Sinha (both mean lion). The Tamil called it Simham – but under the influence of Greece
