Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky
On summer nights, star of stars,
Orion's Dog they call it, brightest
Of all, but an evil portent, bringing heat
And fevers to suffering humanity.
–The Iliad, Homer
From The Essential Homer, translated and edited by Stanley Lombardo
Back in June, I groused in this space about my neighbor’s annoying dogs. I’m going to talk about hounds today, too, but please don’t think this feature is going to the dogs (though some might say it went there a long time ago). Just take a moment and think about how many expressions refer to our canine friends. If you stay out too late, you could end up in the doghouse. If you’re very ill, you’re sick as a dog. If you’re important, you’re a big dog. We’ll have more about big dogs momentarily, but first a little something about the weather. The weather? Yes, we are in that time traditionally known as the Dog Days of Summer.
I know this period all too well. For years, I worked in downtown Little Rock, and there were August afternoons, while trudging across the capital city’s vast expanses of asphalt to my car parked somewhere over near Interstate 30, when I felt my body was about to behave like some overheated thermometer and my head was just going to pop right off my shoulders. Now, you might ask, we associate the term “dog days” with oppressive heat, but isn’t there more to it than that? Why dog days? Why not hog days? Or some other domesticated animal days? Ever seen cows when they get really hot? Disgusting! Thank you, Dear Reader, I’m glad you asked. Those were some very thoughtful questions.
Yes, the term goes beyond mere hot dogs. Way beyond, in fact, far into the cosmos.
Let’s start with Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. It’s also known as the Dog Star, part of the constellation Canis Major, or Big Dog (I told you we’d get back to that expression). According to mythology, the constellation is one of two dogs belonging to Orion the Hunter; the other dog, just in case you hadn’t guessed by now, is Canis Minor.
My Webster’s says Sirius comes from the Greek word Seirios, meaning, “glowing.” Another interpretation of the word, aptly enough, is “scorcher.”
For 40 days each year — historically in summer in the Northern Hemisphere — Sirius rises about the same time as the sun. The dog days tie-in comes from the ancient Romans, who, when seeing the Dog Star rising just before the sun, considered the two to be conspiring to bring about great heat. Prone to sacrifices for just about every occasion, the Romans sacrificed dogs to try to beat the heat — it didn’t work.
Traditionally, the official dog days have been July 3 to Aug. 11. Our galaxy is not much on tradition, though. It’s ever-changing, and nowadays Sirius and the sun’s actual get-together has shifted to later in the summer, early August to mid-September. One could argue, therefore, the dog days dates should be moved, but most sources I checked still favored the traditional dates.
In any case, anyone who has to walk very far in the heat these days is likely to be left dog tired and panting like a pooch.
A few tidbits: To the naked eye, Sirius might look like one star, but it is actually two, the smaller one being what’s known as a white dwarf. It’s sometimes referred to as “the pup.” Sirius Satellite Radio pays homage to the star with its corporate symbol, a white dog with a blue, star-shaped eye.
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Another thing I did in June was produce an article for this magazine about the Little Rock Rugby Club and one of its coaches, Dr. Julie McCoy.
One thing that struck me about McCoy and her players was the importance they placed on respect. In a couple of trips to the club’s complex off 145th Street, I encountered some of the most-respectful young people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. One player, who in the heat of a grueling practice let slip a bad word, apologized to me when it slipped out, then came up to me after practice, apologized again, and offered his hand, which I happily shook.
As one who works with young people, I’ve been troubled by the lack of positive role models for many of our youth. Seeing McCoy and those rugby players boosted my optimism considerably.
