The gods of Olympus were a fickle bunch. In some tales, they placed people or animals in the heavens as a reward or a tribute. But in others, being placed in the stars was a punishment, and perhaps a warning that defying the gods wasn’t very smart.

The latter category includes the tale of Corvus the crow.

The story says that the god Apollo gave the crow a cup and sent him to fetch some water. But the crow saw a tree filled with unripe figs. He loitered for a few days while the figs ripened, then gorged himself.

Afterwards, he realized that Apollo would be a bit snippy about the delay. So he filled the cup with water, then grabbed a snake and carried both to Apollo. He told Apollo that the snake had blocked his way, preventing him from filling the cup.

Apollo knew the story was a lie. He became so angry that he cast the crow, the cup, and the snake into the night sky, where they form three constellations. The cup is just out of reach of the crow, so the crow is forever thirsty — giving it a raspy voice for which crows are known.

The constellations are in the southern sky at nightfall. Corvus, in the south-southeast, and the easiest to make out. Four of its stars form a pattern that looks like a sail. The cup stands to its upper right. Under dark skies, you really can see its stars as a cup. And the water snake, which also forms part of another myth, wriggles from below Corvus to far beyond the cup — banished to the stars by the gods.

Script by Damond Benningfield