The Sumerian moongod Suen was supposed to herd his cattle, which is identified with the stars. From the cows he
was getting the milk that he was used to pour in the churn. It is believed that this legend constitutes the background
of the myth of the Milky Way, which is of Greek origin. The infant Hercules was approached to the breast of Juno
to receive the milk generating immortality. The spilled milk formed the stars of the Milky Way in the sky and the
lilyflowers on the ground. Alternatively Saturn gave to Rhea a stone to be nourished and the milk coming out from
her breast filled the sky and formed a white circle.
The moon, the stars and the milk characterize the images of the Egyptian goddess Isis, who is portrayed nursing
Horus dressed with a mantle decorated with the moon and the stars. The attributes of Isis and Juno were inherited
by the Virgin Mary, often depicted nursing Jesus with the moon at her feet and the stars as background. This imagery
has his roots also in the description of the Woman of the Revelation "robed with sun, beneath her feet the
moon and on her head a crown of twelve stars".
The moon, the stars, the lactation and the Milky Way are all represented in the famous painting (1609-1610) by
Adam Elsheimer "The Flight into Egypt", where the rendering of the Milky Way was inspired by the then
recently discovery of Galileo on the stellar nature of this celestial phenomenon.