What is the constellation Lyra's formal name?

Answer 1

Very long ago, the first civilizations of the Middle East and India saw Lyre (the stars that make up the constellation Lyre) as a vulture. Vega, the brightest star, was called the Vulture Star. Even though the Greeks saw a harp here, depictions of Lyra even centuries later often showed the harp help in the claws of a vulture.

In Asia, Vega is known as the Weaving-Princess Star. The details of the legend vary from country to country, but in all of the stories the weaving princess falls in love and marries a shepherd, represented by the star Altair. They both neglect their duties, so her father separates them, placing them on opposite sides of the river of heaven, the Milky Way. They are allowed to meet only one night a year, at midsummer.

The harp (or more properly, a kithara) was said to have been invented by the god Hermes (Roman, Mercury), who one day found an empty tortoise shell on the beach, strung seven strings through the holes, and found they made sweet music when plucked. Some time later Hermes traded this instrument with Apollo for the caduceus, the magical staff entwined with snakes, which gave Hermes the power to fly and to heal. Apollo later gave the kithara to his son, Orpheus, who played it so skillfully that stones on the mountains stopped to listen and wild beasts were charmed. Much later, when his beloved wife Eurydice died, Orpheus used his lyre to persuade the powers of Hades to release her. The gods consented but they forbade him to look at her before they reached the upper world. Orpheus, overcome with joy, forgot this order and glanced at Eurydice just before they stepped into the Sun - and within seconds she was gone. Orpheus never recovered from his grief and was later murdered by a band of maidens to whom he refused to pay attention. After his death he and Eurydice were reunited, and Orpheus's harp was placed in the sky by Zeus.