Auriga is one of the 48 Claudius Ptolemy constellation. It has an area of 657 square degrees and contains 154 stars that can be seen with the naked eye.

According to the Katasterismoi, the charioteer was Erichthonius, the legendary King of Athens.

Erichthonius was the son of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and Hephaestus, the god of the blacksmith.

Athena placed Erichthonius in a basket and left him with the three daughters of the half-man, half-snake Cecrops, warning them not to look inside the basket, but one of them did look inside.

It is said that there was a baby and a snake in the basket, and the three girls died as a result of Athena's anger.


[Source of the story]
New Edition of the Encyclopedia constellation, February 2011)
Encyclopedia of the Cultural History of Stars, Hakusuisha Publishing (December 2019)