Editing Lupus (constellation) (section)

==History and mythology==
[[File:Sidney Hall - Urania's Mirror - Noctua, Corvus, Crater, Sextans Uraniæ, Hydra, Felis, Lupus, Centaurus, Antlia Pneumatica, Argo Navis, and Pyxis Nautica.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.2|Lupus is located in the bottom-left corner of card 32 in ''[[Urania's Mirror]]'' (1825)]]
In ancient times, the constellation was considered an [[Asterism (astronomy)|asterism]] within [[Centaurus]], and was considered to have been an arbitrary animal, killed, or about to be killed, on behalf of, or for, Centaurus.<ref>Mark R. Chartrand III (1983) Skyguide: A Field Guide for Amateur Astronomers, p. 160 ({{ISBN|0-307-13667-1}}).</ref> An alternative visualization, attested by [[Eratosthenes]], saw this constellation as a wineskin held by Centaurus.<ref>Chartrand, p. 172.</ref> It was not separated from Centaurus until [[Hipparchus|Hipparchus of Bithynia]] named it {{lang|grc-Latn|Therion}} ({{Langx|la-x-medieval|Fera}} meaning "beast") in the 2nd century BC. 

The Greek constellation is probably based on the Babylonian figure known as the [[Uridimmu|Mad Dog (UR.IDIM)]]. This was a strange hybrid creature that combined the head and torso of a man with the legs and tail of a lion (the cuneiform sign 'UR' simply refers to a large carnivore; lions, wolves and dogs are all included). It is often found in association with the sun god and another mythical being called [[kusarikku|the Bison-man]], which is supposedly related to the Greek constellation of Centaurus.<ref>''Babylonian Star-lore'' by Gavin White, Solaria Pubs, 2008, page 145 & 59ff</ref>

In Arab folk astronomy, Lupus, together with Centaurus were collectively called الشماريخ {{lang|ar-Latn|al-Shamareekh}}, meaning the dense branches of the [[date palm]]'s fruit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wdl.org/en/item/18412/view/1/330/|title=Book Of Fixed Stars|last=Al-Sufi|website=World Digital Library}}</ref>

Later, in [[Astronomy in the medieval Islamic world|Islamic Medieval astronomy]], it was named السبع {{lang|ar-Latn|al-Sab'}},<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wdl.org/en/item/18412/view/1/326/|title=Book Of Fixed Stars|last=Al-Sufi|website=World Digital Library}}</ref> which is a term used for any predatory wild beast (same as the Greek {{lang|grc-Latn|therion}}), as a separate constellation, but drawn together with Centaurus. In some manuscripts of [[Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi|Al-Sufi]]'s [[Book of Fixed Stars]] and [[Celestial globe|celestial globes]], it was drawn as a lion;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wdl.org/en/item/18412/view/1/332/|title=Book Of Fixed Stars|last=Al-Sufi|website=World Digital Library}}</ref> in others, it is drawn as a wolf,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wdl.org/en/item/2484/view/1/344/|title=Book Of Fixed Stars|last=Al-Sufi|website=World Digital Library}}</ref> both conforming to the ''Sab''' name.

In Europe, no particular animal was associated with it until the Latin translation of Ptolemy's work identified it with the wolf.