The stars at one end of this CONSTELLATION form a pattern like a sickle. The sickle is the front of the lion. There is a triangle of stars at the other end that marks the hind quarters of the lion.
This constellation was called a lion because the Sun was in Leo in the summer time. Lions are associated with the tropical regions and hot climates. Lions are supposed to be very powerful. In the summertime the Sun seems hottest and most powerful. It was imagined that Leo had some effect on the heat and power of the Sun.
Another legend, from Greek mythology, tells that Leo was once a ferocious lion that stalked in the forest of Nemea. No hunter would dare to go after him. Hercules finally went and killed the lion. Jupiter placed the lion in the sky.
