Pluto

Characteristics of Astronomic Body
Pluto is a cold, icy dwarf planet. It is the ninth "planet" from the sun. It is located 3,647,240,000 miles from the sun. It is about 2300 km or 1.15 x 106 m in diameter. It has three known moons: Charon, Nyx, and Hydra. Charon is the closest to Pluto.



[[image:symbol-pluto.gif width="102" height="84"]]Symbols and Duties of Mythological Figure
Pluto is the god of the underworld. He was also known for fortune because of the gems and metals found in the under ground. The mortals never spoke his name. Instead they called him //Dis// for fortune. He has a three headed dog named Cerberus and black horses that drove his chariot. His symbol was the scepter or the horn of plenty for his wealth.

Birth Story of Mythological Figure
He was the brother of **//__Jupiter__//** and //**Neptune**//. His father, //**Saturn**//, puked him out after Jupiter had overpowered him. And his mother was //**Rhea.**//

Popular Story of Mythological Figure
Pluto was jealous of his brothers for their beautiful wives. He begged his brother, Jupiter, to give him the Flower Maiden, Proserpina, daughter of Demeter (goddess of plant growth). Jupiter knew Demeter would never part with her daughter so he told his brother he must take her away without anyone knowing. But in another story Pluto never asked, he just took her. While Proserpina was picking flowers with the nymphs of the earth, she came across a flower she has never seen before, and was separated from the group. When Pluto distracted her with this flower the earth split open and Proserpina was forced into the darkness of the underworld. It was all so quick no one saw or heard the Flower Madien stolen. Demeter wandered all over Rome in search for her daughter. All hope was lost. While she grieved the earth also did. Nothing would grow and the world turned cold. Winter has never happened before. Jupiter could not let the world parish and die so he sent //**Mercury**//, who takes the dead to the river which leads them to the underworld, to get Proserpina and bring her back. In the underworld Proserpina would not eat anything. She did not smile or laugh. She became as depressed and silent as Pluto himself. She was lost in thought one day and ate 3 seeds of a pomegranate, the fruit of the dead. When Mercury came and brought her back Pluto smiled because he knew she must return. Jupiter could not let the world die though, so he sentenced her to stay in the underworld for one month for every seed she ate. (In another story she was also sentenced to work three months for Jupiter in labor and the rest of the year with her mother.) So every year, for three months, Demeter cries in sorrow for the absence of her daughter and there is winter.

Related Stories
A great impact on Pluto was //**Mercury**//. He lead the dead to a river were a ferryman named Charon rode them across to the underworld. The ferryman, **//Charon//**, was greedy and would not take them if they did not have any money. This explains why their family put coins under the tongue of their dead. When they got to the underworld, you would have to pass the three headed dog, Cerberus. Once passed his dog you were not allowed to turn back.

Myth or Science Connection

 * The characteristics of Pluto {the dwarf planet} are icy, cold, isolated since it is so far from the sun. Pluto {the god} lived in his icy cold realm of eternal darkness. He only came out once to steal Proserpina. So he was isolated.

Work Cited
Green, R.L. Book of Myths, Dent and Son LTD, London, 1968. Print. Daularires. Greek Myths, Double Day and Company INC, New York, 1962. Print. Hamilton, Edith. Mythology, Little Brown and Company, Boston, 1914. Print. Fuller, Edmund. Bulfinch's Mythology, Dell Publishing INC, New York, 1972. Print. n.p. download.cnet.com 2009, CBS Interactive INC, 08 Dec. 2009 n.p. www.crh.noaa.gov 6. Jan. 2006, National Weather Service, 08 Dec. 2009