Discover the Origins of the Zodiac!

Share

Tweet

Share

Share

Email

Comments

We all come from somewhere. We all have a history and story that has been passed down from one generation to the next. The Zodiac isn’t any different. Each zodiac sign has a story behind it as well. While some may say that the zodiac came from Egypt and was adopted by the Greeks and Romans, each sign has an interesting story indeed from both countries. Here are the stories behind each of the animals of the zodiac.

Aries: Ram
It was the tale of Greek mythology that brings Aries to life. The story of the Golden Fleece is known by many thanks to Jason and his Argonauts who stole the fleece from the sacred tomb. The Greeks may have made the story immortal and legendary, but it is fact adapted from the Egyptian story that predates Zeus by nearly 1,000 years. The Egyptians associated the Ram with their god Amon- Ra, who represents fertility. In Hebrew, Aries is represented by a Lamb and known as “The Lamb of the World.”

Taurus: Bull
Taurus is known for being the bull constellation, and not just any bull, but a white one according to Egyptian mythology. Horus was considered the “Bull of Heaven” and white bulls were once sacrificed in Babylonia at New Year to placate Ramman, the god of thunder and lightning. It is not a coincidence that the Greek and Romans also had a god that was said to have such powers. In Greek mythology, Taurus is stemmed from the tale of Europa and the Bull. In the Greek version, Zeus transformed into a mighty white bull and seduced Europa. To commemorate the event of wooing Europa, Zeus put a Bull into the night sky that we know today as Taurus.

Gemini: Twins
Castor and Pollux were known to the Egyptians as the “Two Stars” while in Greek mythology 1,000 years later, the Gemini twins took on a different story. In the Greek version, Castor and Pollux were half-brothers. Pollux was born of the affair between Zeus and Leda. The brothers grew inseparable as time progressed until one day Castor was killed. Pollux, grief-stricken took his life. To honor his son, he put him in the sky along with his half-brother to forever be side by side.

Cancer: Crab
Cancer is represented as a Crab thanks to Greek mythology and for many all they know is that it had something to do with one of Hydra’s attempts at thwarting Heracles. The truth is, the crab originated in Babylonia. But it was twin turtles that were associated with Cancer as far as the Egyptians were considered. The Egyptian god Thoth was known as the god of astronomy and ruled over the constellations.

Leo: Lion
The constellation of Leo was born in 3,000 BC in Egypt and is possibly linked to the mystery of the Sphinx, but it is only speculation. Greek mythology paints a different picture. To the Greeks, Leo stems from one of twelve trials of Hercules. The lion by the name of Nemea was Hercules’ first trial and battled the lion with only his bare hands. In remembrance of the fight, Zeus placed the Lion of Nemea in the stars as a trophy to Hercules.

Virgo: Virgin
Nidaba was the Egyptian goddess of grain and was the first original “virgin.” However, once the Greeks and Romans got a hold of the story, they manipulated the Egyptian version to the one we know. According to the Greeks, Virgo stems from the tale of Pandora. Virgo is the representation of the goddess of purity and innocence, Astraea. Once Pandora opened the box, the gods who lived on the earth fled back to the heavens. Astraea was the very last god to return to the skies. As a remembrance of innocence lost, Astraea was placed in the heavens as the constellation Virgo.

Libra: Scales
Libra isn’t represented by any living creature, but a set of measuring scales. Themis, the goddess of divine justice balances the scales. Astraea is Themis’s daughter who is also in the stars right next to each other. The Egyptians simply saw Libra as a scale for measuring grain during the famine, and to the Babylonians, the scales are associated with weighing vices versus virtues after death.

Scorpio: Scorpion
The Scorpion comes from the compelling tale of Orion, who was, according to the Greeks, the son of Poseidon and Euryale. Orion was favored by Artemis, which made her brother Apollo jealous. Apollo requested Gaea to create a giant scorpion to kill Orion, which it did. To remember the great battle, bot Orion and the Scorpion are in the stars forever fighting one another. But that is the Greek and Roman version of Scorpio. The Egyptians and Babylonians have a different history of Scorpio. This is a Scorpio-man in the Babylonian epic tale of Gilgamesh that was written around 2,000 BC. The Scorpio-man symbol is again seen in Mesopotamia and 1,000 years later in Egypt.

Sagittarius: Centaur
While it would seem the Greeks made the constellation of Sagittarius a bit more pieced together than the Babylonians. According to the Babylonians, the Centaur figures had scorpion tails. Luckily, though, the Greeks version depicts Sagittarius as the knowledgeable centaur Chiron, who was later shot by his pupil, Heracles. But Chiron was immortal and was in constant pain due to the poison in Hercules’s arrow. To end his suffering, Chiron switched placed with Prometheus and was able to die. To honor Chiron’s death, Zeus put him up into the stars.

Capricorn: Goat
Every wonder why the symbol of Capricorn is a goat with a fish tail? According to the Babylonians, god Ea wore a cloak designed from fish skin, complete with head and tail. He was known as the “Antelope of the Sea.” While the Greek describe the constellation of Capricorn as the goat that fed Zeus when he was younger. The Greek story doesn’t explain why the Capricorn sign has a tail, but the Babylonian myth explains it quite well, don’t you think?

Aquarius: Water Jugs
Aquarius comes from the Egyptian god Hapi who watered the earth from two jugs. The Greek version, however, has Zeus pouring water from the heavens onto the earth to wash away all the evil beings.

Pisces:
Pisces for the Greeks represent the goddess of love Aphrodite and her son Eros. In the Greek myth, Eros and Aphrodite were attacked by a vicious Typhon. To get away, they turned themselves into fish and swam away. In remembrance of their quick and clever thinking, Athena placed twin fishes in the stars. However, in the Egyptian myth, Pisces is associated with goddesses Anunitum and Simmah and each one represented one of the two distinct rivers that flowed through Egypt, the Euphrates, and the Tigris. Both versions do however keep true to the symbol of fish for Pisces.

So, there you have it, your history and the origins of each of the twelve signs of the Zodiac as seen by those who created the tales and those who adapted them into their society.