Aristaeus is asteroid #2135 and also known as 1977 HA. Aristaeus’ orbit is characterized by a semi-major axis of 1.60 Astronomical Units, an eccentricity of 0.50, a period of revolution of 739 days, and an inclination of twenty-three degrees. Aristaeus is an Apollo asteroid and a Mars-orbit-crosser. Aristaeus was discovered by Schelte John “Bobby” Bus and Eleanor Francis “Glo” Helin at the Palomar Observatory.

Aristaeus is named after Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος), a half-god from Greek mythology. Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος) is one of two sons of Kyrḗnē (Κυρήνη), who was a shepherdess and huntress, and the god Apóllōn (Ἀπόλλων). The god Hermḗs (Ἑρμῆς) brought the newborn to Gaía (Γαῖα) and the Hōrai (῟Ωραι), who raised Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος) and made him immortal by feeding him with some ambrosía (ἀμβροσία). The birthplace of Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος) was Kyrḗnē (Κυρήνη), that is named after his mother and was located where now is Libya. Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος) went from there to Thebes, where he married the princess Autonóē (Αὐτονόη), a daughter of Harmonia and sister of Inṓ ( Ἰνώ), so that I describe a part of her family in my article on the asteroid Ino. Autonóē (Αὐτονόη) and Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος) had one daughter and three sons. The daughter got the name Mákris (Μάκρις) and later became the wet-nurse of Diónysos (Διόνυσος). The sons are Charmos (Χάρμος), Kallikarpos, and Aktaíōn (Ἀκταίων). The latter became famous for being killed, torn apart, and devoured by his own hounds. The former two are namesakes of frugal landscapes on the island Sardinia, that nowadays belongs to Italy. Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος) first learnt numerous rural arts from different nature spirits, then taught his skills on Sardinia, Sicily, and several other islands. Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος) has the patronage over bee-keeping and several other rural arts and got venerated on several islands. Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος) has the epithets Agreús (Ἀγρεύς), which means “hunter”, and Nómios (Νόμιος), which means “shepherd”. Among his skills are weaving baskets, making cheese, and medical therapies. Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος) was the bringer of culture. But Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος) also was involved in the tragic death of Eurydíkē (Εὐρυδίκη), after whom the asteroid Eurydike is named. Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος) met her, was impressed and chased her. While Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος) was chasing her, Eurydíkē (Εὐρυδίκη) got bitten by the venomous snake because she didn’t pay enough attention to her environment.

Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος) was teaching several skills in the furthest outposts of Greek culture. He didn’t rival with the goddesses and gods, who were known for certain skills. So Aristaíos (Ἀρισταῖος) only was helping pioneering settlers to build up their colonies. So the asteroid Aristaeus indicates that something needs to get build up from scratch. Aristaeus also represents emigrants and the necessary skills for emigration.