William Tyler Olcott

“ He comes richly dight in many colours, twinkling fast, and changing with each motion from tints of ruby to sapphire and emerald and amethyst. As he rises higher and higher in the sky he gains composure and his beams now sparkle like the most brilliant diamond, not pure white but slightly tinged with iridescence. ”

“ See, the eminent astronomer of the present day, asserts that eighteen hundred years ago Sirius was red. There is a reference in Festus to the effect that the Roman farmers sacrificed ruddy or fawn-coloured dogs to save the fruits on account of the Dog Star, and Dr. See says there is no reason why the Romans should sacrifice red dogs except that Sirius was red, and dogs of the same colour must be offered up to the Dog in the sky. There can be no doubt that many of the ancients looked upon red stars as angry deities. ”

“ Prof. Young describes "the Greater Dog" as one "who sits up watching his master Orion, but with an eye out for Lepus."
Aratos referring to Canis Major writes: "His body is dark but a star on his jaw sparkles with more life than any other star." This is of course a reference to Sirius, the brightest of all the fixed stars, and probably the star which has attracted the most universal attention of all the heavenly hosts.
In the early histories and inscriptions we find many astronomical references to "the Dog," but it is uncertain whether the constellation or the star Sirius is intended. ”

“ We know now that the brightness of a star is no indication of its distance from us, but Sirius which is 91⁄2 times brighter than a standard first magnitude star is only 81⁄2 light years away, and only four other stars are known to be nearer. ”

“ Whom men the dog star of Orion call.
Homer regarded Sirius as a star of ill omen, as it was supposed to produce fevers. Pope's translation of Homer's lines indicates the baleful influence ascribed to Sirius:
A star whose burning breath
Taints the red air with fevers, plagues, and death.
The description of the rising of this star is the only indication in the Homeric poems of the use of a stellar calendar.
Manilius seems to have had two views respecting Sirius. In one place he writes:
All others he excels, no fairer light
Ascends the skies, none sits so clear and bright. ”

“ Although mythology connects this star group with the dog of Orion, Sirius, the brightest star in the constellation, seems to have been associated with the idea of a dog even among nations unacquainted with the myth of Orion. ”