General Uses of Rigel
Rigel may be referred to in fictional works for its metaphorical (meta) or mythological (myth) associations, or else as a bright point of light in the sky of the Earth, but not as a location in space or the center of a planetary system:
- Mardi, and a Voyage Thither (1849), novel by Herman Melville. In this, his third novel, Melville is comparing archipelagoes of stars to the scatterings of islands he has visited on his exploration of the south seas: And as in Orion, to some old king-astronomer, — say, King of Rigel, or Betelguese, — this Earth's four quarters show but four points afar'; so, seem they to terrestrial eyes, that broadly sweep the spheres. / And, as the sun, by influence divine, wheels through the Ecliptic; threading Cancer, Leo, Pisces, and Aquarius; so, by some mystic impulse am I moved, to this fleet progress, through the groups in white-reefed Mardi's zone. (meta)
- Clarel (1876), epic poem written by Herman Melville. In this 18,000 line poem, the longest in American Literature, Melville describes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land: When, afterward, in nature frank / Upon the terrace thrown at ease / Like magi of the old Chalda-a / Viewing Rigel and Betelguese / We breathed the balm-wind from Saba-a. (sky)
- Ben-Hur (1880), novel by General Lew Wallace. Judah Ben-Hur returns to Jerusalem as the adopted "young Quintus Arrius," and has the chance to revenge himself against his erstwhile friend-turned-enemy, the tribune Messala, by defeating him in a great chariot race. He will race the four eager white Arabians of Sheik Ilderim, who are named after stars: Ha, Antares — Aldebaran! Shall he not, O honest Rigel? and thou, Atair, king among coursers, shall he not beware of us? Ha, ha! good hearts. (myth)
- The Old Man and the Sea (1952), novel by Ernest Hemingway. The Old Man Santiago sees Rigel at sunset off the coast of Cuba: It was dark now as it becomes dark quickly after the sun sets in September … The first stars were out. He did not know the name of Rigel but he saw it and knew soon they would all be out and he would have all his distant friends. (sky)
There follow references to Rigel as a location in space or the center of a planetary system, categorized by genre:
Read more about this topic: Rigel In Fiction
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