As one goes north from the equator, the stars of the northern sky seem to climb higher in the sky. Eventually, the most prominent constellation of the northern sky, the "Big Dipper" or "Great Bear" would be overhead at some time of the night.

The Greeks referred to the north as the arctic, from arktos, or "bear". It was the region where the "bear" was overhead. The "Great Bear" is known to modern astronomers by the Latin name Ursa Major.