Zodiac

The Greek Myths Behind the Zodiac Signs in Astrology

The zodiac is the band of twelve signs through which the sun appears to travel in the course of a year. The Roman writer Hyginus lists them in this order: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces, and starts his description of the signs with Aries (Hyginus, Astronomica, preface to book 2). Each of the twelve is a constellation, and Greek writers told a myth to explain how most of them came to be in the sky. Those stories are the part of the zodiac that belongs to Greek mythology. The personalities and dates attached to the signs belong to astrology, which is a separate tradition.

Zodiac Signs and Greek mythology

Hyginus, in the second book of his Astronomica, gives a myth for each sign (Astronomica 2.20–30). In summary:

• Aries is the golden ram that carried Phrixus and Helle away from Boeotia, and Phrixus sacrificed it in Colchis (Astronomica 2.20).
• Taurus is the bull that carried Europa safely to Crete; others say it is the bull into which Io was changed (Astronomica 2.21).
• Gemini are Castor and Pollux, and others say Heracles and Apollo (Astronomica 2.22).
• Cancer is the crab that seized Heracles’ foot when he fought the Lernaean Hydra, and that Hera placed among the stars (Astronomica 2.23).
• Leo is the lion that Heracles killed without weapons as his first labour, the Nemean Lion; Zeus placed it in the sky because it was thought to be the chief of all wild beasts (Astronomica 2.24).
• Virgo is the daughter of Zeus and Themis according to Hesiod; according to Aratus she is the daughter of Astraeus and Dawn, called Justice, who left the earth for the stars when men grew greedy (Astronomica 2.25).
• Libra, the Scales, is for Hyginus the front part of the great Scorpion, called the Claws (Chelae) by the Greeks and Libra by the Romans (Astronomica 2.26 and book 4).
• Scorpio is the scorpion that Earth sent against Orion, which Zeus set among the stars (Astronomica 2.26).
• Sagittarius is a centaur, or, as some say, Crotus, the son of Eupheme, the nurse of the Muses (Astronomica 2.27).
• Capricorn has the form of Aegipan, who was raised with Zeus (Astronomica 2.28).
• Aquarius is Ganymede, taken from his parents by Zeus to serve the gods (Astronomica 2.29).
• Pisces are Aphrodite and Eros, who turned into fish and escaped when the monster Typhon appeared by the Euphrates (Astronomica 2.30).

Orion, the hunter, is a separate constellation that sets as Scorpio rises (Astronomica 2.26); it is not one of the twelve signs of the zodiac.

Which Greek god aligns with your zodiac?

The ancient accounts above do not assign each sign to a god or tell what kind of person is born under it. The pairing of signs with gods, or of a sign with a type of person, is part of later astrology, and not of the Greek myths of the constellations. For the myth of one sign, see the page for that sign.

Personalities for Zodiac Signs

The descriptions of character given to each sign belong to astrology and not to mythology. They are collected on the individual pages for Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces, next to the Greek story of each constellation.

Zodiac Sources

The myths of the twelve constellations are told in Hyginus, Astronomica 2.20–30, with the list of the signs in the preface to book 2 of the same work.

See Also: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio