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The Dog Days of SummerThe ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman belief that July and August bring bad times
Where does the expression "the dog days of summer" come from? And why do they have such a bad reputation, one that goes beyond just sultry weather?
In many cultures the period from, roughly, the beginning of July to the beginning of September has a bad reputation. In ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and medieval societies, that time was called the "dog days". We still use that expression, but somewhat affectionately, as a time when muggy weather is an excuse for carefree nothing-doing, or for a slow time at the stock market. For ancient cultures, however, it meant pestilence and death. The expression "dog days of summer" is uncommonly common in the West. In German it translates literally to Hundestage, in Dutch hondsdagen, in Spanish la canicula. Whence the "dog" in all these dog days? The dog refers to Sirius, the largest or alpha star (actually, it is two stars) in the constellation Canis Major. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky (under the right conditions, it can even be seen by the naked eye in daylight), which it dominates in summer when it rises and sets with the sun. Ancient cultures believed therefore that the star increases the sun's heat, thus scorching the earth. For this reason, the Egyptians named the star after "Sothis", or Isis, a destructive goddess. Sothis was symbolized by feline or canine predators, hunting dogs in particular. Probably it was for this reason that the Greeks, who named the star "Sirius" after seirios, meaning 'scorching', made it the Hunter Orion's dog when they projected their mythology onto the night sky. Hence the Dog-Star. The Romans then named the constellation the "Big Dog", and pulled it all together by calling the hottest summer days the caniculares dies. In ancient and medieval times, the dog days heralded spoiled food, disease and lethargy, and failed crops. Because of the ancient association with the dog, this time was also associated with rabid dogs, as attested by Pliny the Elder (ca 23-79 A.D., the philosopher who died from curiosity, when taking a look at Pompei right after the Vesuvius eruption). Supersitions about unlucky times were not far behind. Officially, the dog days span the 20 days before to the 20 days after the conjunction of Sirius with the sun. This varies with respect to the latitude of one's location and the "precession of the equinoxes" or the drift of the constellations due to the changing tilt of the earth. According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the 2006 dog days were from July 3 to August 11. More articles on inauspicious times:
The copyright of the article The Dog Days of Summer in Holiday Entertaining is owned by Katrien Vander Straeten. Permission to republish The Dog Days of Summer in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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