Today is kind of a special day — it’s the official beginning of the Dog Days of Summer. A lot of us have heard this expression most of our lives and it traditionally refers to a period of particularly hot and humid weather occurring during the summer months of July and August.
But which days are really the “dog days,” and why are they called dog days? Well this is another one of those subjects that just begged for some of my extensive research — here’s what I found….
So why are they referred to as dog days? Some think it’s a reference to the hot, sultry days that are “not fit for a dog,” and some believe it’s the time of year when the extreme heat drives dogs mad. Of course, that’s not true…..
The phrase actually comes from the stars — specifically, Sirius, the Dog Star. During the “dog days” period, the Sun occupies the same region of the sky as Sirius, the brightest star visible from any part of the Earth. Sirius is a part of the constellation Canis Major, the Greater Dog. In the summer, Sirius rises and sets with the Sun. And on July 23rd, it is in conjunction with the Sun — because the star is so bright, the ancient Romans believed it actually gave off heat and added to the Sun’s warmth and that’s what accounted for the long stretch of sultry weather. The Romans referred to this time as diēs caniculãrēs, or “dog days.” The term came to mean the 20 days before and 20 days after the alignment of Sirius with the Sun — July 3 to August 11 each year.
Actually, the appearance of Sirius doesn’t affect the weather here on Earth, but its appearance during the hottest part of summer over time has added to the lore surrounding the star — even today.
For us today, when Sirius makes its appearance, it just mean’s it’s probably going to be hot and sultry. But to the ancient Greeks and Romans, Sirius’s appearance signaled a time when evil was brought to their lands in the form of drought, disease, or discomfort.
Virgil, the Roman poet, wrote, “…fiery Sirius, bringer of drought and plague to frail mortals, rises and saddens the sky with sinister light.” Obviously, this is a superstition, but in 2009 a Finnish study was conducted to determine if the claim that the rate of infections was higher during the Dog Days had any merit. Here’s what the report concluded — “The study was conducted in order to challenge the myth that the rate of infections is higher during the dog days. To our surprise, the myth was found to be true.”
So make of that what you want — maybe the Canadian wildfires aren’t the only thing we should be concerned about this summer.
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