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Orion the Hunter
Orion, the Hunter, comes to us from greek times and is often depicted as a bearded man dressed in a toga holding a shield in front of him in his right hand while holding a club aloft in his left, a sword hangs from his belt... whenever I look at the constellation this is what I "see". Orion holds the shield as protection as he confronts Taurus, the Bull.
Orion was the son of the god of the sea, Poseidon, and never a greater hunter lived in those times, and while he was a great hunter, humility was not his strong suit. He often bragged that there was never man or beast that could better him, his great popularity and stature gained him many enemies, none so great as Hera, Queen of the gods, sister /wife of Zeus. Hera believed Orion posed a threat to the gods and sought a way to destroy that threat. She sent a scorpion to attack him, stinging him on the foot. Orion died soon after .
Poseidon loved his son greatly and begged Zeus to save him, to ask Hades (god of the underworld) to return him to the living. This Zeus could not do, as Hades was ruler of his realm and would not let the barrier between the dead and the living be broken (Disney not withstanding), however he could immortalise him in the sky and so created the constellation.
To this day, the Hunter can be seen battling Taurus, the Bull, a creature often associated with Hera. The Scorpion also has been placed in the sky (about which we will talk another time), but lies opposite to Orion... the Hunter never emerges above the horizon until after the Scorpion leaves, and when the Scorpion rises, Orion soon departs.
In the Southern Hemisphere, the constellation appears to rise upside down, the reason for this is quite simple: Orion was named in the Northern Hemisphere, which as we know is the bottom of the world. It is not until that you are up south that we see the sky in the correct orientation. As a result many northern constellations hard to recognise, and many cultures and societies see different constellations.
One such as this is the Saucepan. Northerners cannot see the Saucepan because they are at the bottom of the world, up south it becomes very apparent. Click on the image to view some interesting objects.
To find Orion in January, face to the east, and the constellation will be 60 degrees above the horizon(about 2 hands spread from little finger to thumb held at arms lenght) at 8:00 pm mid month, add one hour for Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, and 30 minutes for South Australia and the Northern Territory.