The 12 Zodiac Signs and Their Legends. Have you ever wondered where the charming symbols representing your zodiac sign come from? Understanding the secrets of the constellations is a way to know more about yourself and those around you.
Legends of the Constellations and Their Meanings
Unique Symbols of the 12 Zodiac Signs
Legends of the 12 Zodiac Signs
Aries (March 21 – April 19)
Athamas, king of Croneus, had a son named Phrixus and a daughter named Helle with his first wife, Nephele. Like many kings enamored with beauty, Athamas grew tired of Nephele and cast her aside to marry Ino, the daughter of Cadmus, king of Thebes. Ino, having two children with the king, grew jealous of Nephele’s children and plotted for her own children to inherit the throne. At that time, barley was the primary crop in Croneus for both people and livestock.
Ino sabotaged the barley crops by secretly persuading the women of the kingdom to roast the seeds before planting, while also bribing the prophet sent by the king to consult the gods about this phenomenon to lie, claiming that Nephele’s children were the source of the disaster. The king was compelled to sacrifice them to the gods for the crops to return. Heartbroken for his children, but wanting to save the kingdom, the king followed this advice. Luckily, to ensure her children’s safety, Nephele sent a guardian in the form of a golden-fleeced ram named Aries.
On the day of the sacrifice, the ram urged Phrixus and Helle to ride on its back and fled across the ocean, but unfortunately, Helle fell and perished in the sea (the place where she died is called Hellespont). Phrixus survived and married the daughter of the Colchis dynasty. To thank Zeus, he sacrificed the ram and hung its fleece in a special place in Colchis.
The ram’s golden fleece later became a coveted treasure of the Colchis kingdom, where the siblings were hidden for life to escape Ino. Because of this fleece, Jason, the hero of Greek mythology, sought it out during his famous quest, extensively detailed in the story of the Argonauts’ expedition.
Out of gratitude, Zeus placed the ram with the golden fleece into the sky as a constellation, thus creating Aries as we know it today.
Taurus (April 20 – May 20)
Zeus, the king of the gods, had a weakness for women, both mortal and divine. However, due to his wife Hera’s intense jealousy, he often transformed into animals to approach the women he desired more easily. One day, Zeus took notice of the beautiful maiden Europa while she was playing with her friends by the beach. To avoid frightening the girls, he transformed into a white bull (Taurus) and used the animal’s beauty to enchant Europa. As she became captivated by the bull and wandered away from her friends, Zeus lay down for her to ride, plunging into the sea despite her cries for help. Upon reaching the island of Crete, Zeus revealed his true form and took Europa as his lover, and she bore him three sons. Zeus placed the image of the bull in the heavens, representing love, strength, and beauty.
Gemini (May 21 – June 20)
The twin brothers Castor and Pollux were the sons of Zeus, the ruler among the twelve gods of Olympus, and the queen of Sparta. They were known for their bravery and camaraderie, gaining fame for their many heroic deeds during the great voyage of the Argonauts and in numerous other adventures.
Whenever possible, the brothers always found ways to help each other. In a battle, Castor was mortally wounded. In his infinite sorrow, Pollux attempted to take his own life to join him. However, unlike Castor, Pollux inherited Zeus’s blood, making him an immortal warrior. In despair, he cried out, “Let me die in place of Castor, father!”
Zeus, deeply moved, allowed them to alternate between living one day at a time and brought them up to the sky. The two brothers transformed into the Gemini constellation, with one brother shining as a star each day while the other remained dim, as he was on Earth. Since then, the Gemini constellation has been regarded as a symbol of friendship and brotherhood.
Cancer (June 21 – July 22)
The crab in the Cancer constellation was a friend of the sea monster Hydra. This story appears in the legends of the twelve labors of Hercules during his servitude to Eurystheus, after he had killed his wife and children in a rage induced by the goddess Hera. Hercules was tasked with eradicating the Hydra from Lerna. When the multi-headed Hydra attacked and ensnared Hercules, he gradually cut off each terrifying head, leaving the creature in a dire predicament.
Seeing his friend struggle in despair, the crab cried, “My friend Hydra is suffering too much!” and bravely attacked Hercules with its claws. But against the greatest hero of Greek mythology, the crab stood no chance and was subdued immediately. The gods, moved by this friendship, immortalized the scene of the three characters as a constellation in the sky.
Not all constellations are represented by animals; they can also be symbols of goddesses or heroes in mythology.
Leo (July 23 – August 22)
The Leo constellation represents a monster known as the Nemean Lion. In Greek mythology, Hercules, the hero featured in many legends, was ordered by King Eurystheus of Tiryns to complete a series of twelve perilous tasks, which later became known as the Twelve Labors of Heracles. The first task was to subdue a man-eating lion in the forests of Nemea.
Eurystheus wanted Hercules to bring back the lion’s skin as proof that he had completed the task. Hercules sought out the lion and initially tried to kill it with arrows, then with a sword, but the arrows were deflected by the lion’s skin, and the sword broke. Being a supernatural lion, it was invulnerable to weapons. Hercules was eventually embraced by the lion in a powerful grip. In desperation, he had to use his own strength to kill it.
Afterward, he skinned the lion and presented the pelt to Eurystheus. The king was so frightened upon seeing the lion’s body that he fled. Eurystheus ordered Hercules to leave it outside the city gates. Hercules wore the lion’s skin as a cloak and used its head as a helmet. The lion’s spirit was placed in the sky, forming the Leo constellation. The Egyptians worshiped the lion because the sun resided in this constellation during the flooding season of the Nile River.
Virgo (August 23 – September 22)
The Virgo constellation symbolizes a goddess. Virgo represents purity, innocence, and fertility.
According to Greek mythology, during the “Golden Age“, the male and female gods lived on Earth alongside humans (all men). Everything changed when the Olympian era began. Zeus, king of the gods, regarded humans as inferior beings. Prometheus, a Titan who protected humanity, defied Zeus. He stole fire from Olympus and gave it to humans.
Furious, Zeus chained Prometheus to the peak of the Caucasus. In retaliation, Zeus sent Pandora, the first woman, to Earth. Ancient Greeks believed that women were the source of evil and trouble. Pandora’s box symbolizes the corruption of humanity caused by women, containing seeds of greed, hatred, jealousy, and more.
After humanity had fully embraced these vices, the remaining divine beings on Earth immediately moved to heaven. Astraea was the last goddess to depart. She is the daughter of Zeus and Themis, and the sister of Pudicitia, the goddess of modesty. Astraea is the goddess of virtue and justice; although she resides in heaven, she hopes to return to Earth one day. The constellation Virgo symbolizes her.
Libra (September 23 – October 22)
The constellation Libra truly depicts the golden chariot of Pluto. The story of Pluto abducting Persephone is widely known in Greek mythology. Hades (another name for Pluto – the Rich One) is the brother of Zeus and Poseidon, and he is often unaware of what occurs in Heaven, standing out only in the dark world of his brother.
His golden chariot is drawn by four jet-black horses. While he occasionally uses the chariot to visit Heaven and flirt with a nymph, he never expects to have a relationship that lasts a lifetime. Until he meets Persephone, the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. When he abducts Persephone to bring her to Tartarus, the deepest part of Hades’ kingdom, Heaven will change forever.
Deep underground, he owns rich mineral mines. But his most cherished possession is a gift from the Cyclopes: an invisibility helmet.
Demeter is the sister of Zeus and Hades, and one of the most important goddesses as she oversees food and agriculture. Hades is infatuated with Persephone’s beauty, bestowing upon her the title of Queen of the Underworld. Demeter, grieving over her lost daughter, pleads with the other gods for help. Consequently, Theseus and Pirithous descend into Hades’ realm to find Persephone but fail. Moreover, they are imprisoned by Hades, and Heracles is sent down to rescue them. He can only bring Theseus back, while Pirithous remains forever in Hades.
Demeter, distraught over her daughter’s loss, neglects her duties, forgetting to cultivate the land. A severe drought spreads across Heaven. Zeus grows frustrated, as he is the creditor of several tribes, and soon he will not receive offerings if the drought continues. This gives Zeus a great reason to act in his sister’s interest: he sympathizes with her and hopes to comfort her loss. By all means, Zeus persuades his brother Hades to relinquish Persephone so that Heaven may flourish once more.
Zeus decrees that she must divide her time between Heaven and the Underworld, spending four months with her husband and the remaining time visiting her mother in Heaven. Thus, every year the world experiences a season of darkness and cold, lasting until March 21, when Persephone returns from the Underworld, bringing spring with her.
Scorpio (October 23 – November 21)
The most famous story about the Scorpio constellation is that this Scorpion emerged from the ground at the command of Hera for the sake of vengeance. Specifically, she ordered the Scorpion to attack Orion, stinging him until he died. Both Orion and the Scorpion are honored with constellation names, but they are positioned opposite each other so that they cannot meet. Therefore, when the Scorpio constellation rises, Orion sets, as if this giant of the sky still fears the Scorpion.
Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21)
The Sagittarius constellation (Archer) is a tribute to the mythological figure Chiron, the kindest and most gentle of the Centaur clan, who is depicted as half man, half horse. While most members of this clan are violent and foolish, Chiron is quite wise, compassionate, and capable of teaching others. He is a demigod, as his mother is the daughter of the sea god Oceanus and his father is Kronos.
Chiron once taught the Greek heroes Achilles and Jason. Although famous, Chiron lived in a cave in the countryside. Unfortunately, Heracles accidentally shot Chiron while he was on a quest to eliminate cruel half-human beasts that ravaged the mountains, and he deeply regretted his actions. Chiron used all his medical skills to heal the wound, but he failed because the arrow was dipped in the poison of the Lernean Hydra, the many-headed serpent. Being a god, Chiron only felt pain but did not die, even though he wished to. Prometheus witnessed this tragedy and sought to help him by transforming Chiron from a god into a human so that he could leave Earth and ascend to heaven, symbolized by the Sagittarius constellation.
Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)
Capricorn or Sea Goat represents the Babylonian god Ea, a powerful deity with a lower body of a fish and the head and torso of a goat. By night, the god dwells in the ocean, but each day he surfaces to keep watch over the land.
However, Greek mythology does not mention the Sea Goat but instead speaks of Pan, a demigod with the upper half of a man and the lower half of a goat. He is the son of Hermes and a nymph. When Pan was born, the nymph screamed in terror and fled, while Hermes lovingly embraced his deformed child, taking him to Olympus where the other gods also adored him. From then on, Pan became the god of shepherds and livestock, taking on his father’s responsibilities. He did not stay in Olympus but preferred to live among the trees on the mountains. It was Pan who granted King Midas the ability to turn everything he touched into gold.
Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)
In many ancient cultures, including Babylon, Egypt, and Greece, there was a deity known as the “Water Bearer” or “Water Pourer”. Water has nurtured and sustained life, thus the power to pour water from heaven is among the most revered abilities of ancient civilizations.
According to Greek mythology, Zeus is the “Water Bearer.” As the lord of the gods, one of his most important duties is to create storms. The constellation Aquarius symbolizes “Water Bearer Zeus.”
Another myth speaks of Deucalion, the sole survivor of the Great Flood and the “Age of Iron” in Greek mythology. During this era, humans were as brutal as wild beasts, slaughtering each other regardless of kinship. The divine teachings held no value for them. Frustrated, Zeus unleashed a great flood upon the earth, killing everyone except Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha (On his final visit to Earth, Zeus saw this couple living in a humble hut without enough food or supplies, yet still managing to provide for him, so he allowed them to survive the flood) and assisted them in creating a new, stronger, and more virtuous race of humans. Deucalion is the “Water Bearer,” represented by the constellation Aquarius.
Pisces (February 19 – March 20)
This constellation is associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, and her son Eros, the god of love in Greek mythology.
One day, the two were walking along the riverbank when the monster Typhon suddenly emerged from the waters to destroy them. Old Typhon is a descendant of Gaia and Tartarus, or of Kronos and Hera. Regardless of his parentage, Typhon is as powerful as a Titan or an Olympian. With fiery eyes that reach the heavens, Typhon lacks fingers but has 100 dragon heads sprouting from his hands. No Olympian god is strong enough to defeat Typhon. The only way to escape him is to transform into animals like fish to swim away. Eros and Aphrodite also turned into fish, swimming into the river and leading their friends to safety. The two fish are the Pisces constellation, with their tails intertwined to commemorate the day they saved the goddess of beauty and love.
