In Various Cultures
The name Pollux refers specifically to Castor and Pollux, the sons of Leda. The star also bears Arabic name Al-Ras al-Tau'am al-Mu'akhar,(الرأس التؤام المؤخر), literally, 'The Head of the Second Twin.' Castor and Pollux together correspond to the Nakshatra Punarvasu in Hindu astronomy. The star is named Punartham in Malayalam.
Castor and Pollux are the two 'heavenly twin' stars giving the constellation Gemini (Latin, 'the twins') its name. The stars, however, are quite different in detail. Castor is a complex sextuple system of hot, bluish-white A-type stars and dim red dwarfs, while Pollux is a single, cooler yellow-orange giant.
In the catalogue of stars in the Calendarium of Al Achsasi Al Mouakket, this star was designated Muekher al Dzira, which was translated into Latin as Posterior Brachii, meaning the end in the paw.
In Chinese, 北河 (Běi Hé), meaning North River, refers to an asterism consisting of Pollux, ρ Geminorum and Castor. Consequently, Pollux itself is known as 北河三 (Běi Hé sān, English: the Third Star of North River.)
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“There has never been in history another such culture as the Western civilization M a culture which has practiced the belief that the physical and social environment of man is subject to rational manipulation and that history is subject to the will and action of man; whereas central to the traditional cultures of the rivals of Western civilization, those of Africa and Asia, is a belief that it is environment that dominates man.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)