Zodiac Mythology

Everything about the mythos of the constellations that make up the twelve zodiacs

A black outlined glyph against a blue background with each sign of the zodiac in an individual section around the center of the glyph.
"Zodia Signs." Courtesy of Quique on Pixabay.

What are the Zodiacs?

In astronomy, the Zodiac is an area of the sky where the sun, moon, and planets move through from Earth's perspective. In this area, twelve constellations roughly align with path, well technically thirteen but Ophiuchus is overshadowed by Sagittarius and Scorpius, even though it is larger than either. Each constellation is assigned their own segment of the zodiac. The twelve zodiacs are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pisces.

Woodcut illustations of the twelve zodiacs, includes name, symbol, and illustration of their depictions.
Woodcut illustrations of the twelve zodiacs from Wikimedia Commons

History of the Zodiacs

The zodiacs were first recorded in Babylon, except theirs had either seventeen or eighteen. The Babylonians assigned twelve of the zodiacs to their calender, and later on in history the Greeks recieve this calender. The Greeks implemented these constellations to their own, forming what the twelve constellations known today. Each constellation has their own associated stories, taken from famous Greek myths and legends.

Note: Each constellation has multiple versions of the myths they derive from, the ones discussed are the most well-known.

Illustartion of the zodiacs in the form of a starchart
Starchart of the twelve Greek Zodiacs from Wikimedia

Stories behind the Zodiacs: Aries

Aries is Chrysomallus, the golden ram whose golden fleece was sought after by the Greek heroes Jason and Argonauts from the story "Argonautica.""

Illustration of Aries constellation
Aries Illustration, edited photo from Wikimedia

Stories behind the Zodiacs: Taurus

Taurus is associated with the myths of Zeus, either when he transformed himself into a bull to abduct Europa or when he turned Io into a bull after taking advantage of Io and trying to hide the fact from Hera (Taurus has some of the worst myths associated with them).

Illustration of Taurus constellation
Taurus Illustration, edited photo from Wikimedia

Stories behind the Zodiacs: Gemini

Gemini are said to be the twin brothers of Helen of Troy Castor and Pollux. In a story Castor, who is immortal, sacrifices half of their immortality to save a fatally wounded Pollux. This caused them to spend half the year in the heavens as a constellation and the other half in the Underworld.

Illustration of Gemini constellation
Gemini Illustration, edited photo from Wikimedia

Stories behind the Zodiacs: Cancer

Cancer is a crab Hera summoned in order to distract Heracles while he was fighting the Hydra as part of one of his twelve labors. The crab fails to get Heracles killed by the Hydra, and is stepped on by Heracles, later immortalized as a constellation.

Illustration of Cancer constellation
Cancer Illustration, edited photo from Wikimedia

Stories behind the Zodiacs: Leo

Leo is associated with the Nemean Lion with impenetrable hide who Heracles had to defeat as one of his twelve labors. He managed to kill the lion by strangling it with his own hands.

Illustration of Leo constellation
Leo Illustration, edited photo from Wikimedia

Stories behind the Zodiacs: Virgo

Virgo is either Demeter, goddess of agriculture and harvest, or Persephone, queen of the Underworld and wife of Hades.

Illustration of Virgo constellation
Virgo Illustration, edited photo from Wikimedia

Stories behind the Zodiacs: Libra

A representation of the importance of justice. This was in honor of Julius Caesar, with Libra before being either combined with Virgo to represent Lady Justice or Scorpius to signify their claws.

Illustration of Libra constellation
Libra Illustration, edited photo from Wikimedia

Stories behind the Zodiacs: Scorpius

The immortal scorpion summoned by Demeter to kill the hunter Orion. After accomplishing their task, the gods made him a constellation to chase Orion.

Illustration of Scorpius constellation
Scorpius Illustration, edited photo from Wikimedia

Stories behind the Zodiacs: Sagittarius

Sagittarius is most commonly considered to be a centaur, sometimes specifically Chiron, the eternal mentor to heroes like Achilles.

Illustration of Sagittarius constellation
Sagittarius Illustration, edited photo from Wikimedia

Stories behind the Zodiacs: Capricornus

Capricornus: Capricorn is either the goat that cared for Zeus when he was a baby and cast to Earth so Kronos would not eat him or Pan, a goat who gave himself a fish tail to escape the monster Typhon. The latter is meant to explain the goat fish association with Capricorn that originated from Babylon.

Illustration of Capricornus constellation
Capricornus Illustration, edited photo from Wikimedia

Stories behind the Zodiacs: Aquarius

Aquarius is either just a water jug or Ganymede, a trojan prince who was kidnapped by Zeus to act as his own cup-bearer.

Illustration of Aquarius constellation
Aquarius Illustration, edited photo from Wikimedia

Stories behind the Zodiacs: Pisces

Pisces are two fishes that were tied together. They are commonly associated with the goddess of love Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and love. This comes from two possible stories, one were her and Eros, also god of love, shapeshift to fishes to escape the monster Typhon or a story were Aphrodite was born from an egg and brought to shore by two fishes.

Illustration of Pisces constellation
Pisces Illustration, edited photo from Wikimedia

Dates for each Zodiac:

Which Zodiac are you