<P> Other names for Betelgeuse included the Persian Bašn "the Arm", and Coptic Klaria "an Armlet". Bahu was its Sanskrit name, as part of a Hindu understanding of the constellation as a running antelope or stag . In traditional Chinese astronomy, Betelgeuse was known as 参 宿 四 (Shēnxiùsì, the Fourth Star of the constellation of Three Stars) as the Chinese constellation 参 宿 originally referred to the three stars in the girdle of Orion . This constellation was ultimately expanded to ten stars, but the earlier name stuck . In Japan, the Taira, or Heike, clan adopted Betelgeuse and its red color as its symbol, calling the star Heike - boshi, (平家 星), while the Minamoto, or Genji, clan had chosen Rigel and its white color . The two powerful families fought a legendary war in Japanese history, the stars seen as facing each other off and only kept apart by the Belt . </P> <P> In Tahitian lore, Betelgeuse was one of the pillars propping up the sky, known as Anâ - varu, the pillar to sit by . It was also called Ta'urua - nui - o - Mere "Great festivity in parental yearnings". A Hawaiian term for it was Kaulua - koko "brilliant red star". The Lacandon people of Central America knew it as chäk tulix "red butterfly". </P> <P> With the history of astronomy intimately associated with mythology and astrology before the scientific revolution, the red star, like the planet Mars that derives its name from a Roman war god, has been closely associated with the martial archetype of conquest for millennia, and by extension, the motif of death and rebirth . Other cultures have produced different myths . Stephen R. Wilk has proposed the constellation of Orion could have represented the Greek mythological figure Pelops, who had an artificial shoulder of ivory made for him, with Betelgeuse as the shoulder, its color reminiscent of the reddish yellow sheen of ivory . </P> <P> In the Americas, Betelgeuse signifies a severed limb of a man - figure (Orion)--the Taulipang of Brazil know the constellation as Zililkawai, a hero whose leg was cut off by his wife, with the variable light from Betelgeuse linked to the severing of the limb . Similarly, the Lakota people of North America see it as a chief whose arm has been severed . The Wardaman people of northern Australia knew the star as Ya - jungin "Owl Eyes Flicking", its variable light signifying its intermittent watching of ceremonies led by the Red Kangaroo Leader Rigel . In South African mythology, Betelgeuse was perceived as a lion casting a predatory gaze toward the three zebras represented by Orion's Belt . </P>

Apparent brightness of betelgeuse/apparent brightness of sirius