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In Greek mythology, Orion was possibly the son of either the king of Boeotia, Hyrieus, or of Dionysus and Demeter. Other myths mention him as the son of Poseidon and Euryale, daughter of King Minos.

Orion fell in love with Merope, one of the seven nymphs of Artemis known as the Pleiades. However, Merope rejected Orion. According to one myth, she married a mortal, Sisyphus, king of Corinth. In another version, Merope was betrothed to Orion, but her father, Oenopion, king of Chios, continuously postponed the wedding. Eventually, Orion took Merope by force, but Oenopion blinded him in revenge. Orion wandered blind until the god Hephaestus, pitying his condition, sent his servant Cedalion to assist him.

Cedalion guided Orion to the home of the Sun and Dawn gods, Helios and Eos. When Eos saw Orion, she was moved and shed tears that turned into morning dew, restoring his sight. Orion fell in love with his savior, but this angered the gods, and Artemis was ordered to kill him with her arrows. Before he died, however, Orion fulfilled his duty to Hephaestus by constructing an underground temple in his honor in Sicily. Additionally, he built high walls around the island for protection.

According to another myth, Orion and Artemis were in love and planned to marry. However, her brother, Apollo, sought to undermine their relationship as he disapproved of the union between a goddess and a mortal. Apollo pointed out a distant target on the horizon to Artemis and challenged her to hit it with her bow. Artemis, unable to resist such an opportunity to showcase her archery skills, shot an arrow that hit the distant target in the center.

The target soon disappeared beneath the waves of the sea. Shortly thereafter, the victim washed ashore and it was Orion himself, as Apollo had known from the start. In despair, Artemis asked Zeus to place her beloved among the stars.

Some stories in mythology narrate that Orion lost his life to a scorpion's sting. According to this version, Artemis, enraged because Orion had raped one of her followers, sent the poisonous creature against him. Another story states that Orion boasted about his ability to kill any animal, and so a scorpion appeared before him as a consequence. The scorpion stung him, but he fortunately survived thanks to an antidote given to him immediately by Asclepius, the god of medicine.

Regarding his place among the stars, all myths of Orion agree that after his death, Zeus fulfilled Artemis' wish and placed him among the stars. The constellation known today as Orion, the Hunter, is one of the most impressive and recognizable in the sky. The neighboring constellations of the Greater and Lesser Dog represent his two hunting dogs, Sirius and Procyon. In the same area of the sky lies the constellation of Taurus, considered Orion's hunting target, as well as the Pleiades, referencing Orion's desire to unite with Merope, and another story of him pursuing the seven sisters and their mother, Pleione, who were transformed into doves by the gods.

Another reference to Orion's story is the constellation of Scorpius, which never appears simultaneously with Orion, as according to the myth, Zeus forbade the scorpion from touching Orion in the sky.