A scorpion was sent to kill the hunter Orion for his arrogance.

Scorpio, the eighth astrological sign of the western zodiac governs those born between October 23 and November 22 each year.

In Ancient Egypt, Scorpio was the equivalent of the Serpent. Serpents were worshiped by ancient Egyptians. In Egypt not only are there serpents of the houses, but each quarter in Cairo had a serpent-guardian.

Before the discovery of Pluto in 1930, the planetary ruler of Scorpio was Mars, but modern astrologers tend to use Pluto as the sole ruler.

According to the ancient Greek poet Hesiod the giant huntsman Orion went away to the island of Crete to spend his time hunting in company with goddess Artemis and Leto. Orion threatened to kill every beast, which made the goddess of earth Gaia angry. To punish him for his arrogance she sent against him a huge Scorpion which stung Orion to death. At the prayer of Artemis and Leto, Zeus, the ruler of the Olympian gods, put Orion and the Scorpion among the stars as a memorial of him and what had occurred.