Auriga (constellation) Auriga stood for a goat-herd or shepherd. It was formed from most of the stars of the modern constellation; all of the bright stars were included except for Elnath, traditionally assigned to both Taurus and Auriga. Later, Bedouin astronomers created constellations that were groups of animals, where each star represented one animal. The stars of Auriga comprised a herd of goats, an association also present in Greek mythology. The association with goats carried into the Greek astronomical tradition, though it later became associated with a charioteer along with the shepherd. In Greek mythology, Auriga is often identified as the mythological
Capella the charioteer is carrying. In Bayer's 1603 work "Uranometria", Capella marks the charioteer's back. The three "Haedi" had been identified as a separate constellation by Pliny the Elder and Manilius, and were called "Capra", "Caper", or "Hircus", all of which relate to its status as the "goat star". Ptolemy merged the Charioteer and the Goats in the 2nd century Almagest. In Greek mythology, the star represented the goat Amalthea that suckled Zeus. It was this goat whose horn, after accidentally being broken off by Zeus, was transformed into the Cornucopia, or "horn of plenty", which would be filled with whatever