How the Zodiac Signs got their Symbols

♈ ARIES: Athamas, a king in the land of Croneus, had a son named Phrixus and a daughter named Helle by his first wife. Her name was Nephele. He eventually grew tired of Nephele and sent her away. He then married Ino, the daughter of Cadmus who was the King of Thebes. Over time, Ino grew jealous of Nephele’s children. She wanted the kingdom for her own sons and decided to use treachery and deceit to get it. Nephele was fearful for her children’s safety, and sent a protector into the castle walls to watch over them. The protector was a Ram with a fleece made of gold that was given to her as a present from Zeus. The Ram has always been loyal to Nephele ever since. When the day of sacrifice came, the ram spoke to Phrixus and Helle, told them to climb on his back and to make sure they held on tight. Once they did, the ram sprang into the air and flew across the sea. Helle, who is much weaker than her brother Phrixus, fell off the ram’s back and into the ocean where she plunged to her death. The place she fell is called Hellesponte. Phrixus survived and ended up marrying into the royal family of Colchis, thus maintaining his noble status. In thanks to Zeus, Phrixus sacrificed the golden ram that had carried out the god’s wishes on Earth. Phrixus hung the ram’s fleece in a special spot in Colchis, where it would be the theme of legends to come. Zeus hung the ram’s likeness in the sky to commemorate its bravery, and it shines there to this very day.

♉ TAURUS: Zeus was a lover of women, both mortal and immortal but it was sometimes hard to escape to be with other women being under the watchful eye of his wife Hera. He also was unable to appear in his true form, as he would strike too much fear into the hearts of mortal men and women. One of Zeus’s methods was to change himself into an animal, which allowed him to escape from Hera and get close to the woman of his choice. One day, a maiden named Europa caught Zeus’s eye as she was out playing with a group of girls by the seashore. Knowing that she and her friends would be terrified if a strange man or god approached them, he changed himself into a beautiful white bull. Once she was comfortable with the bull, she started to play with it. They got farther and farther away from her friends. Zeus laid down, and Europa climbed on his back. Then he plunged into the sea and swam away with Europa clinging to his back. Zeus took her to the island of Crete, where he changed back to his true form. He took Europa as his lover, and she bore him three sons. Zeus hung the image of the bull in the heavens, where it represents love, strength and beauty.

♊ GEMINI: Gemini represents two heroic twin brothers named Castor and Pollux. Their mother, Leda, was one of Zeus’ many love affairs. Castor and Pollux were legendary adventurers and fighters. They were members of the Argonauts, the group of brave young men who set off with Jason to find the Golden Fleece (Aries story). The two brothers are also known for their constant rivalry with Theseus of Athens. Theseus, in fact, kidnapped their sister Helen one day and locked her up in Athens. When Theseus was away, Castor and Pollux stormed the city and took Helen back. The twins died fighting while they were still relatively young. Castor was killed in a struggle with the Leucippidae. Zeus saw the struggle and the death from his place in the heavens. The twins were among his favorite mortals, and Zeus did not want to see them both go to Hades, so he hurled a thunderbolt at the Leucippidae and killed them. Then he took Pollux up to the heavens. Pollux did not want to be immortal while his brother was still in Hades so Zeus brought Castor up in the heavens with Pollux, where they were reunited and remained together forever.

♋ CANCER: This crab was the first symbol of the Zodiac to be placed in the heavens by an immortal other than Zeus. It was actually sent by his wife, Hera, to plague the Greek hero Heracles (Hercules), who she hated very much. Hera hated Heracles because he was the product of Zeus’s many affairs. The crab was not a particularly kind creature while on Earth. It was originally called Carcinus, which is Greek for ‘crayfish’. It dwelled underwater, and was huge and rather malevolent. Heracles was in the middle of the Twelve Labors, which was his punishment for crimes committed as a young man. In a fit of madness, which was actually placed on him by Hera, he killed his wife and young sons. The gods decided that even though he wasn’t fully responsible for the crime, he would need to spend many years atoning for his sins. They put him in the service of his brother, Eurystheus, who ordered him to do one thing after another, all of which seemed impossible. Heracles was no ordinary man, and in the course of his labors he gained glory and won over most of the Olympians. Hera, however, remained implacable in her hatred. At the time when Hera sent the giant crab to attack Heracles, he was fighting a much more terrible monster, the Lernean Hydra. Hera thought that Heracles would be too busy fighting the Hydra to pay attention to the giant crab, or that if the crab distracted him, the Hydra would have an opportunity to finish him. Unfortunately for the crab and Hydra, Hera was mistaken. Heracles killed Carcinus easily, then turned his attention back to the Hydra. Hera, who had watched the incident, did not forget the animal that had died at her command. She placed it in the heavens to show that she was grateful for its efforts.

♌ LEO: Leo is represented by a mythical monster fought by Heracles during his Twelve Labors. This monster was the Nemean Lion. The valley of Nemea had been terrorized by the beast, which was thought to be impossible to kill. The was actually Heracles’s First Labor. He had to find the lion in its mountain lair and destroy it before it could completely wipe out the Nemean countryside. Once he had killed the lion, his brother and taskmaster Eurystheus wanted him to bring its hide back to the city as proof that he had actually accomplished the task. Once he found the lion, he tried to kill it right away. First with his arrows, then with his giant sword, which were both unsuccessful. He ended up wrestling the lion, strangling it with his bare hands. Once it was dead, he skinned it using its own claws and carried it to Eurystheus. After showing his brother, who panicked and ran when he saw the lion’s remains, Heracles took the lion’s carcass away. He made a cloak out of the skin and a helmet out of the head. The spirit of the lion was placed in the sky, where it was no longer deadly, but beautiful.

♍ VIRGO: This constellation is said to be the figure of a goddess. According to legend, during the Golden Age, which was under the rule of the Titans at the time, the gods and goddesses lived on Earth among men. Once the Olympian era came to be, things started to change. Zeus was a harsh and strict ruler. He saw humans as rather lowly creatures who were far beneath immortals. He thought they should be treated like animals. Prometheus, a Titan, became the protector of men and sided against Zeus. He stole fire from the Olympians and give it to humans. Zeus was pissed off and chained Prometheus to the top of the Caucasus Mountains, intending to leave him there forever. However, Zeus was not finished punishing Prometheus or the human race yet. He sent down Pandora, the first woman. Ancient Greeks believed that women were the source of all evil and discomfort. The symbolic representation of women’s corruption of humanity is Pandora’s Box, which was filled with all the demons that torture humanity, from greed to spite. After Pandora unleashed these demons, the remaining immortals on Earth quickly departed for Olympus. The last one to leave was Astraea, the daughter of Zeus and Themis. Astraea was the goddess of virtue. She went to the heavens and watches from the sky every night to see when earth will be ready for her to return.

♎ LIBRA: The legend of this sign seems to originate in Egypt, where the Egyptian lord of the dead used a scale to weigh the souls of those who had died. Anubis is portrayed with the head of a jackal. He and his brother Apu-at watched over the two roads that led to the Underworld. Anubis would weigh the souls of the dead to determine their value based on what they had done on Earth. Anubis sent worthy souls to the kingdom of Osiris, the equivalent to Heaven. He could be seen as a benevolent deity but also a dark and terrible figure that you could not escape from. His attribute, the scales, was a symbol of final judgment. The Greeks allowed them to retain their place and legend in the heavens.

♏ SCORPIO: The Scorpion was a monster summoned at the will of the who at the time was a wrathful goddess, Artemis. She called upon the Scorpin to destroy Orion. Orion was a giant. He was more than mortal, but less than a god or goddess. He was the son of Poseidon and is often supposed to be the son of Gaia, as were all giants. Orion was strong and very beautiful, but he thought too highly of himself and forgot to show proper respect toward immortals. It is not clear what Orion did to anger Artemis. According to one version, he tried to rape one of her handmaidens. According to another, he may have tried to force himself on Artemis herself. Perhaps he simply boasted that he was a better archer than she was. Of all the goddesses, however, Artemis may have been the worst one to anger. She was the goddess of the hunt and the goddess of revenge, and she was ruthless and violent once angered. She became furious with Orion’s impudence and commanded a giant scorpion to attack him. The scorpion stung Orion and killed him. Artemis placed her servant in the heavens as a reward for doing her bidding. Because of Orion’s parentage, he could not go to Hades. He was placed in the heavens as well, where he continues to flee across the night sky, away from the poisonous scorpion.

♐ SAGITTARIUS: The Archer represents one of the more heroic figures of the zodiac, Chiron, the kindest and gentlest of the Centaurs. Although many of them were stupid and violent, Chiron was known for his wisdom, caring nature and his ability to teach. He was immortal. Chiron tutored the Greek heroes Achilles and Jason and many others. He was renowned among the Greeks, although he lived by himself in a cave in the countryside. Heracles shot him with an arrow by accident. He was trying to kill the other vicious centaurs who were plaguing the countryside. He had no intention of shooting Chiron, and was extremely remorseful. Although Chiron used his medical skills on the wound, it was incurable. Heracles’ arrows were tipped with the deadly venom of the Lernean Hydra, which killed any victim it touched. But Chiron was immortal so instead of dying, he remained in terrible pain and agony. Prometheus, the Titan, managed to help Chiron. It is not clear what exchange Prometheus and Chiron made, but the Titan made Chiron mortal, and enabled him to leave the Earth and go up to the heavens.

♑ CAPRICORN: This constellation has a mythological explanation that dates to before the Greeks. Capricorn, the Seagoat, is thought to be the image of a powerful Babylonian deity named Ea. He has the lower half of a fish and the head and torso of a goat. He lived in the ocean. He came out every day to watch over the land, and he returned to the sea every night. The Greek version of this legend does not match with the physical description of the Seagoat. Greeks thought that the starry figure was Pan, a Greek demigod. Pan had the upper half of a man, but he had the legs of a goat. He was the son of Hermes and a forest nymph. According to legend, when the nymph saw her strange baby, she shrieked in fear and ran away. Hermes, however, loved his strange son. He took him to Olympus, where the other gods and goddesses also took a liking to Pan. He became the god of shepherds and flocks, taking the responsibility from his father. He did not dwell on Olympus; he preferred to live among the shady trees in the mountains. He amused himself by playing his beloved reed pipes or by chasing nymphs through the woods.

♒ AQUARIUS: In many ancient cultures, there was a god known as the 'Water Bearer’ or 'Water Pourer’. Water is the bringer and sustainer of all life; therefore the force that made water rain down from the heavens was among the most revered by ancient peoples. In Greek legend, Zeus was the Water Bearer. Although he was the god of many things, one of his most important roles was as the god of storms. The constellation Aquarius could have originally been representative of Zeus as the Water Bearer. Another myth, probably of more recent origin, is the myth of Deucalion, the only man to survive the Great Flood. The story of this flood is very similar to the Judeo-Christian legend of Noah’s Ark. As the story goes, during the Iron Age, humanity had become more savage than animals. Brother fought each other, fathers were killed by their own sons, and no one was safe. Both men and women were violent, bloodthirsty and had no morals. The words of the gods meant little or nothing to them, and no one would repent for their sins. Zeus, despairing for humankind, sent a great flood upon the Earth. The flood destroyed all the people in the world – with the exception of Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha. Zeus came across them while visiting Earth and too a liking to them. They lived alone and had almost no food or material goods. Despite this, they fed Zeus, gave him shelter for the night and spoke kindly to him, even though they had no idea that he was a god. They were the last godly people on Earth, so Zeus allowed them to survive the flood. After it ended, he helped them to create a new race of men, which was supposed to be stronger and better. Deucalion is known as the 'Water Bearer’ because he not only lived through the flood, but he helped to bring life to a new generation.

♓ PISCES: This constellation is associated with a Greek legend about Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, and her son Eros, the god of love. The two were walking along a river one day when the terrible monster Typhon suddenly rose up out of the water trying to kill them. Typhon was ancient and awful. Typhon was as strong as a Titan, meaning he was also as strong as the Olympians. He was as tall as the heavens and his eyes shot flames. He had 100 dragonheads sprouting from his hands, taking the place of his fingers. None of the Olympians had the power to destroy Typhon alone, so for a time, all they did was flee from him. They did this by transforming into animals. Aphrodite and Eros transformed themselves into fish and swam away. Alternately, they dove into the river and were rescued by two friendly fish, who carried them to safety. Two fish were hung in the sky, their tails intertwined, to commemorate the day when love and beauty were saved.