Coma Berenices Mythology
Bernice's Hair, is the hair of Queen Berenice of Egypt, which became a constellation around 230 BC. When her husband (and brother) Ptolemy Euergetes went off to war, she offered her hair as a sacrifice to the gods, if they would grant him a safe return. He did and she cut off her hair and placed it on the Altar in the temple of Venus. The locks were stolen and placed among the stars, some say Venus herself was the thief, while other think it was just an astronomer named Conon, who made up the whole story in order to comfort Berenice when she heard of the theft. Some other versions of the story said that the hair was turned into a hair-star, or comet. The origins of the constellations actual position in ancient times are actually unknown, some controversy surrounded the location, until Tyco in 1602 settled the matter by recording its present position. The ancients had the constellation overlapping with either Leo's tail or Virgo.