Curious George Co-Creator Hans Rey Saw Leo the Lion as a Walking Lion

Summary: Curious George co-creator Hans Rey saw Leo the Lion as a walking lion rather than as the pouncing lion in traditional visualizations.

Curious George co-creator H.A. Rey’s redrawn Leo the Lion constellation: AugPi at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Curious George co-creator Hans Rey saw Leo the Lion constellation as a walking lion, not as the pouncing lion depicted in traditional visualizations.

German-born American author and illustrator Hans Augusto Rey (Sept. 16, 1898-Aug. 26, 1977) created the Curious George series of children’s picture books with his wife, Margret (May 16, 1906-Dec. 21, 1996). The husband-and-wife team produced seven Curious George stories between 1941 and 1966.

Hans Rey’s illustrating and writing also extended to his interest in astronomy. His astronomical observations led him to revise traditional constellation visualizations. Rey’s redrawn constellation diagrams were intended to be more intuitive than traditional outlines. He presented his alternatively represented constellations in 1952 in The Stars: A New Way to See Them and in 1954 in Find the Constellations.

Traditional visualizations connect the stars in Leo the Lion constellation to yield a depiction that captures the defeat of the Nemean Lion, the first of the Twelve Labours of Heracles (Hercules) order by King Eurystheus (Ancient Greek: Εὐρυσθεύς "broad strength"), according to Greek mythology. The lion lived in a cave near Nemea, a village in northeastern Peloponnese in southern Greece. Greek mythological hero Heracles slayed the rearing lion by choking him.

Rey’s alternatively designed Leo the Lion generally preserves the figure's traditionally perceived star connections outlining the body. His matchstick figure eliminates the triangle that identified Leo’s hind quarters and tail. Rey disconnects the line between third magnitude Chertan (Theta Leonis, θ Leonis; Theta Leo, θ Leo) and second magnitude Denebola (Beta Leonis, β Leonis; Beta Leo, β Leo) that served as the triangle’s east-west side.

Traditional visualizations extend all four of Leo the Lion’s legs south of the ecliptic, the sun’s apparent path across the sky. Only Leo’s right front leg extends south of the ecliptic in Rey’s matchstick lion. The right leg begins at the body, north of the ecliptic, with fourth magnitude Eta Leonis (η Leonis; Eta Leo, η Leo) and ends south of the ecliptic with fourth magnitude Subra (Omicron Leonis, ο Leonis; Omicron Leo, ο Leo) as Leo’s right front foot.

A line connecting Eta Leonis with first magnitude Regulus (Alpha Leonis, α Leonis; Alpha Leo, α Leo) represents the left front leg in Rey’s matchstick Leo. A gremlin guide in Rey’s Find the Constellations (1954) exclaims: “There’s a big star in his foot!”

Traditional visualizations place Regulus in the front upper body below the front mane. The placement recognizes the association of the constellation’s brightest star with the Lion’s heart. Another traditional name for Regulus is Cor Leonis, Latin for “lion’s heart.” The Latin phrase translates Alpha Leonis’ Arabic name, Qalb al-Asad (قلب الأسد).

Rey’s reimagined Leo the Lion does not disturb the constellation’s Sickle asterism, which is also seen as a backward question mark. The six-star asterism (Ancient Greek: ἀστερισμός, asterismós, “group of stars”) contains Leo the Lion’s two brightest stars, first place Regulus and second brightest, second magnitude Algieba (Gamma Leonis, γ Leonis; Gamma Leo, γ Leo). The recognizable pattern of stars begins with third magnitude Algenubi (Epsilon Leonis, ε Leonis; Epsilon Leo, ε Leo) at the tip of the asterism’s semi-circular blade and ends with Regulus as the end of the Sickle’s handle. When seen as a question mark, Algenubi represents the tip of the glyph’s curving stroke and Regulus depicts the glyph’s dot.

Rey’s interest in astronomy and Margret’s passion for gardening led them to purchase land in 1957 for a summer home in Waterville Valley, Grafton County, west central New Hampshire. Surrounded by the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF), the town offered perfect stargazing for H.A. Rey.

The takeaway for Curious George Co-Creator Hans Rey’s seeing Leo the Lion constellation as a walking lion instead of as the traditionally visualized pouncing lion is that Rey’s intuitive matchstick lion refashions Regulus, the constellation’s brightest star, from a heart into a foot.

traditional visualization of Leo the Lion constellation, as depicted by British cartographer and engraver Sidney Hall (1788-1831) in Urania’s Mirror (1825), a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards: U.S. Library of Congress, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Curious George co-creator H.A. Rey’s redrawn Leo the Lion constellation: AugPi at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leo_constellation_map_visualization.PNG

traditional visualization of Leo the Lion constellation, as depicted by British cartographer and engraver Sidney Hall (1788-1831) in Urania’s Mirror (1825), a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards: U.S. Library of Congress, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sidney_Hall_-_Urania's_Mirror_-_Leo_Major_and_Leo_Minor.jpg;,br /> No known restrictions on publication in the U.S., via Library of Congress (LOC) Prints & Photographs Catalog (PPOC) @ https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2011645257/

For further information:

Marriner, Derdriu. “Alternative Spring Triangle Replaces Denebola With Regulus.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 10, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/04/alternative-spring-triangle-asterism.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Curious George Co-Creator Hans Rey Drew Gemini as Hand Holding Twins." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/curious-george-co-creator-hans-rey-drew.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Curious George Co-Creator Hans Rey Drew Keystone as Head of Hercules." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 9, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/07/curious-george-co-creator-hans-rey-drew.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Curious George Co-Creator Hans Rey Redrew Virgo as a Reclining Woman.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 7, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/05/curious-george-co-creator-hans-rey.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Sickle Asterism in Leo the Lion Also Suggests Backward Question Mark.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 17, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/04/sickle-asterism-in-leo-lion-also.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Star Hopping From the Big Dipper’s Pointer Stars Leads to Leo the Lion.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, April 24, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/04/star-hopping-from-big-dippers-pointer.html

Rey, H.A. Find the Constellations. Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1954.

Rey, H.A. The Stars: A New Way to See Them. Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1952.

Ridpath, Ian. “Leo the Lion.” Ian Ridpath > Star Tales.
Available @ http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/leo.htm