Origins of the names of the Zodiac

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Also called "The Sheep"

Frixo and Hele are children of Atamante, king of Tesalia and of Néfele. After he remaining a widower, Atamante returns to marry Ino. Some years later the kingdom suffers a stage of famine and the queen Ino decides to sacrifice the brothers to end this pernicious epoch. Hermes saves the children delivering them to him to a sheep (ruminant sheep Mammal, macho, with big horns fluted and coiled in spiral and covered body of wool thickens in the shape of golden fleece) fast, endowed of the gift of the word. Frixo and Hele divide on him course to Asia, saving his lives. During the trip Hele it falls to the sea and suffocates. Frixo comes to the Cólquida (country in the one that was the golden fleece), whose king Eetes receives it and him grants in marriage his daughter Calcíope.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

In Egypt there is associated the god Osiris, who was represented by a god - bull, and to his sister Isis, represented by a goddess - cow. In Greece this constellation has two histories that narrate Zeus's loving adventures. 

The first one in which Ío is converted into a cow by Hera and the second one, in which Europe is seduced by Zeus in a beach, disguised as white bull. In the same moment in which Europe rises to the loin of the bull, this one crosses the ocean and the ride up to Crete, where it possesses it. 

The Romans were identifying to the bull with Baco. During the holidays, a covered bull of flowers was receiving the escort of the young ballerinas who were representing the accumulations of the Pléyades and the Híades.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21)

This constellation is represented by the twin Cástor and Pólux, children of Leda (wife of the Spartan king Tindareo and of Zeus). The twin ones were born of an egg, together with Hellene of Troy. They are known like " dioscuros or children of Zeus ". 

In the majority of the stories, only Pólux is considered to be immortal (for being a son of Zeus), since it was said that Cástor was a son of Tindareo for what he was mortal. Cástor, had reputation of roughrider and soldier's Pólux of exploits. His first exploit was to liberate his sister Helena, who from girl had been kidnapped by Teseo.

When Cástor died for the lance of Goings, Pólux, after avenging him, he asked Zeus to give the immortality to his brother, and since then both brothers form in the skies the constellation of Gemini.

CANCER (June 22-July 22)

In Greek mythology, Cancer was sent to distract Hercules when it was fighting against the monster Hidra. Hercules squashed to the crab with his foot, and in prize for his efforts, the goddess Hera put it between the stars.

LEO (July 23-August 22)

In the myth of twelve Heracles's works (Hercules in the Roman mythology), I Read he identifies with Nemea's León. In the history, Heracles must skin a monstrous lion which skin was resistant to the stones and the metal. After fighting against the lion against his nake hands and after having drowned it up to killing it, Heracles used the claws of the lion for skinned. With the skin there was done a cap that was making it invulnerable; and with the head of the animal, a hull.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22)

Also called "The Virgin''

The Virgo's description has his origin in the former culture Assyrian Babylonian. Always it has been a feminine constellation, and has been specially associated with the existing tension between the fertility and purity. The Babylonians were associating this constellation with the goddess Ishtar, also known under the name of Ashtoreth or Astarté. 

One of the myths on Ishtar tells that this goddess went down to the hell to recover his late lover, the god of the crops, Tammuz. Nevertheless, the goddess remained enclosed in the subworld and his sadness brought the misfortune to the Earth, which produced that the big gods were leaving her at liberty.

LIBRA (September 23-October 23)

The scale of pound is strongly linked to the goddess Armonía (daughter of Venus and Mars), which matrimonial reality went back with Cadmos, moment in which one competed from there the topic of gifts of wedding between the gods, these gifts were competing in a "delicacy" of jewels and majestic dresses. It is said that from the moment in which Atenea put his peplo (wide, free Vestment and without sleeves used by the women in the former Greece) and Efesto his precious necklace, Pound could not stop being tied to the lustful of the life, is thus that the words harmony, concord and good taste formed a part of this sector of the zodiac.

 SCORPIUS (October 24-November 21)

This myth is born of an old Greek legend related to the attempt of Orión's seduction towards Artemis. Orión was a giant, famous for his beauty and his enormous strength, son of the Earth and of Poseidon. His stature was allowing him to walk along the sea bed preserving the head out of the water. It is said that one day Artemis was hunting when one appeared in the middle of the forest the giant Orión. 

East she was seen young and beautiful and tried to seduce her, but Artemis was a chaste divinity and to defend itself he claimed the help of a scorpion. The scorpion punctured mortally the giant and liberated Artemis. Artemis, to reward him, placed it in the sky, in the opposite side of Orión's constellation.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 22)

Also called "The Archer"

According to the mythology, this constellation is the image of the centaur Quirón, a being who was differing from the others for his wisdom and knowledge, which it was born of the love between Stopwatches and the nymph Filira, and man had the strange form of half, half horse, because his father had to turn into horse to be able to procreate it. It is said that his mother on having seen that it had generated to a monster asked the gods to transform it, being she turned into linden (a tree).

CAPRICORNUS (December 23-January 19)

It receives the name of "goat", from the times of the Babylonians. Sometimes it is represented as a goat, but generally one adds the tail of a fish, due to the legend of the God Bread, who when he was fleeing of the monster Typhoon, threw to the Nile. The plunged part turned into tail of fish, whereas the top part continued being a goat.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18)

Also called "The water carrier"

The son of the king Tros of Troy, Ganímedes, was the most beautiful of the young persons of the Earth. For it, the gods chose it in order that always it was taking the golden glass of nectar of the gods and granted to him the gift of the eternal youth. In other versions, Zeus, the king of the gods, was wishing the young person. Disguised, Zeus kidnapped the boy and took it to the Olympus to turn it into his personal copero. This Ganímedes's kidnapping, it had many repercussions in the Olympus. Ganímedes's arrival, it was displacing Hebe, goddess of the youth and daughter of Hera (wife of Zeus). Hera felt offended by the insult to Hebe and for the shame to know that Zeus had fallen in love with a boy. The attitude of his wife enraged Zeus, which praised Ganímedes giving him a place in the stars.

PISCES (February 19-March 20)

This one is a constellation of Babylonian origin. In her they saw to two fish that were escaping for the river Euphrates, with his tails tied to a rope not to get lost. The fish were Aphrodite and his son Eros, two gods who took this form of fish to flee of Typhoon, the marine monster of multiple heads.