sacred to the god Enki-Ea who ruled the cosmic domain of the Abyss - a mythical conception of the fresh-water reservoir below the Earth's surface. Eridanus is connected to the myth of Phaethon, who took over the reins of his father Helios' sky chariot (i.e., the Sun), but didn't have the strength to control it and so veered wildly in different directions, scorching both Earth and heaven. Zeus intervened by striking Phaethon dead with a thunderbolt and casting him to Earth. The constellation was supposed to be the path Phaethon drove along; in later times, it was considered a path of souls. Since Eridanos was also a Greek name for the Po (Latin Padus), in which the burning body of Phaethon is said by Ovid to have extinguished, the mythic geography of the celestial and earthly Eridanus is complex. Another association with Eridanus is a series of rivers all around the world. First conflated with the Nile River in Egypt, the constellation was also identified with the Po River in Italy. The stars of the modern constellation Fornax were formerly a part of Eridanus. Equivalents The stars that correspond to Eridanus are also depicted as a river in Indian astronomy starting close to the head of Orion just below Auriga. Eridanus is called Srotaswini in Sanskrit, srótas meaning the course of a river or stream. Specifically, it is depicted as the Ganges on the head of Dakshinamoorthy or Nataraja, a Hindu incarnation of Shiva. Dakshinamoorthy himself is represented by the constellation Orion. The stars that correspond to Eridanus cannot be fully seen from China. In Chinese astronomy, the northern part is located within the White Tiger of the West (西方白虎, Xī Fāng Bái Hǔ). The unseen southern part was classified among the Southern Asterisms (近南極星區, Jìnnánjíxīngōu) by Xu Guangqi, based on knowledge of western star charts. Namesakes USS Eridanus (AK-92) was a United States Navy Crater class cargo ship named after the constellation. See also Eridanus (Chinese astronomy) List of brightest stars Citations References Star Names, Their Lore and Legend, Richard Hinckley Allen, New York City, Dover, various dates External links The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations: Eridanus The clickable Eridanus Epsilon Eridani New 'Vulcan' Planet Tantalizes Astronomers Starry Night Photography - Eridanus Constellation Star Tales – Eridanus Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (medieval and early modern images of Eridanus) Constellations Constellations listed by Ptolemy Equatorial constellations