Transcript Myths of the Zodiac

Myths of the Heavens
Intro to Myth
Background
• The Greeks and Romans were accomplished
astronomers
• They knew of five planets and catalogued
thousands of stars
• Almost all constellations and planets were
named after the Greek’s and Roman’s
mythology
Planets
• Mercury: fastest moving planet; named after
the messenger of the gods (Hermes)
• Venus: brightest object besides sun and
moon; named after the goddess of beauty
(Aphrodite)
• Mars: red planet, the color of war; named
after the god of war (Ares)
• Jupiter: largest planet; named after the king
of the gods (Zeus)
• Saturn: most distant planet; named after the
overthrown father of the gods (Cronus)
Aries the Ram
• Poseidon rescued the princess Theophane
from her suitors by turning her into an ewe
• However, he turned into a ram and seduced
her, and their child was a ram with a golden
fleece and the ability to fly
• The golden ram went on to rescue two
children who were in danger of being
murdered
• It left its fleece with one of the children and
then went to live in the stars
Taurus the Bull
• Zeus had an affair with a priestess named Io
• One time, Hera “walked in” on Zeus and Io, so Zeus
turned Io into a cow in order to hide her
• Hera knew that the cow was Io, and so she asked
Zeus to give it to her as a present
• Zeus had to comply, and Hera set the monster Argus,
who had 100 eyes, to watch over the cow
• Zeus sent Hermes to kill Argus, but Hera continued to
punish Io by sending flies to sting her and drive her
away
• Once she reached the Nile in Egypt, Zeus turned her
back into a woman
Gemini the Twins
• Castor and Pollux (Polydeuces) were the twin
sons of Leda and either her husband, King
Tyndareus, or Zeus
• Castor and Pollux did everything together
• When Castor was killed, Pollux prayed to Zeus
that he would die as well
• Instead Zeus decreed that the Twins would live
in Hades half the time and in Olympus half the
time, always together
Cancer the Crab
• One of Heracles’ labors was to kill the Hydra
in the swamp of Lerna
• While he was fighting the Hydra, Hera sent a
crab to attack Heracles
• The crab pinched Heracles’ foot, but
Heracles stepped on the crab, killing it
• Hera put the crab in the stars to honor it for
its devotion to her
Leo the Lion
• Another of Heracles’ labors was to kill the
lion of Nemea
• The lion could not be harmed by any
weapon, so Heracles had to strangle it to
death
• Zeus put the image of the lion in the stars
to commemorate the great battle
Virgo the Virgin
• Virgo probably represents Erigone, the daughter of
the poor farmer Icarius
• Icarius once hosted Dionysus, who came in disguise
• As a reward, Dionysus taught Icarius how to make
wine and commanded him to teach the skill to others
• One group of men that he gave wine to believed that
Icarius was trying to poison them, so they beat him to
death with their tools
• Erigone searched for her father’s body, with the help
of her dog, and when she found it, she buried it and
hung herself
• Her dog stayed and watched over the bodies until it
starved to death; he was also put in the stars
Libra the Scales
• Libra was a late addition to the Zodiac
• In the Greek zodiac, Libra was Scorpio’s
claws
• The Romans changed the claws to the
scales of balance
Scorpio the Scorpion
• Artemis used a giant scorpion to kill Orion
• Orion had offended Artemis either by
killing her sacred animals or trying to
pursue her
• Zeus placed both Orion and the Scorpion
in the stars
Sagittarius the Archer
• Sagittarius probably represents Chiron, the
centaur, who taught many of the heroes
• Chiron was immortal but he was accidentally
wounded by Heracles
• Chiron begged Zeus to take away his
immortality so he could die
• Zeus agreed, and Chiron was placed among
the stars
Capricorn the Goat
• Capricorn may represent the goat-footed god
Pan
• Sometimes Capricorn is shown as half-goat
and half-fish because Pan turned into this
form to escape the monster Typhon
• Capricorn may also represent the goat that
nursed Zeus as a baby
Aquarius the Water Bearer
• The prince Ganymede was the most beautiful
boy alive
• The gods decided that they wanted
Ganymede to be their cupbearer
• They gave many gifts to King Tros in
exchange for his son
• Ganymede then became immortal and lived
on Olympus with the gods, and his image
was put in the stars
Pisces the Fish
• Aphrodite and Eros (believed to be her
son at this point) were walking by the
Euphrates River
• The monster Typhon appeared suddenly,
and the two gods changed into fish and
leaped into the river to escape