Myths and Stories

    Saturn is one of the five planets visible without a telescope.  Many cultures have developed myths to explain its presence in the night sky.

Greeks and Romans
    The ancient Romans named the planet Saturn after a powerful god.  According to their legends, Saturn's mother was Gaia.  Gaia is the Greek word for Mother Earth.  She gave birth to six children.  Saturn was the youngest.  Their father Chronos was cruel.  Saturn chased him away with a long blade called a scythe.  Then Saturn became the king of the universe.

    Saturn and his wife, Rhea, had a son named Jupiter.  Just as Saturn had chased away his father, Jupiter