 There was a movement in the late nineteenth century to interpret all the Boeotian heroes as merely personifications of the constellations ; there has since come to be wide agreement that the myth of Orion existed before there was a constellation named for him . Homer , for example , mentions Orion , the Hunter , and Orion , the constellation , but never confuses the two . Once Orion was recognized as a constellation , astronomy in turn affected the myth . The story of Side may well be a piece of astronomical mythology . The Greek word side means pomegranate , which bears fruit while Orion , the constellation , can be seen in the night sky . Rose suggests she is connected with <unk> in Boeotia , and that the pomegranate , as a sign of the Underworld , is connected with her descent there . 
