The Greek Myth of the Six Northern Zodiac Signs

The Greek Zodiac Signs were identified with groups of stars called Constellations. The stars would form an imaginary shape in the sky, just like an image that would form when we played the puzzle game, Connect the Dots. The Greek Zodiac is composed of Northern and Southern Signs. The Northern Signs are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo. There is a Greek Myth behind each Sign. Here are some of the interesting Myths behind the 6 Northern Zodiac Signs:

Aries - a Golden Ram represents the Aries Sign. The myth begins with two sibling children, Phrixus and Helle. The children's mother, Nephele, dies and their father, King Athamas, remarried a woman named Ino. She was very envious of the children and quickly planned to get rid of them for good. She spread disease amongst the crops of the land, so that the crops would fail. The King saw the crops and could not understand why they had failed, so he sent two messengers to ask the Gods for help. Ino bribed the messengers in telling the King that his two children, Phrixus and Helle, would have to be sacrificed in order for the gods to save the crops. Nephele was watching from the heavens and immediately sent a golden ram to rescue her children and have the golden ram take them away to a far and safe place. The children quickly mounted the golden ram and Phrixus was saved but unfortunately Helle could not hold on much longer and fell into a body of water, which is still called Hellespont.

Taurus - the Minotaur represents the Taurus Sign. In Myth, a man named Minos promised to sacrifice a beautiful white bull for the god Poseidon. Minos decides to kill another bull instead and tricks Poseidon into thinking that it was the beautiful white bull. Poseidon becomes very upset and asks Venus to catch a spell onto Minos wife. The spell made Minos wife fall madly in love with the white bull. Minotaur became the offspring of both. Minotaur had the head of a bull and the body of a man. Minotaur was very dangerous and had to be kept behind an elaborate maze. Minotaur was feed children and maidens. In order to save the children and maidens, a brave prince named Theseus tied one end of the rope onto his waist and the other end to a tree. He then killed the Minotaur with a sword and found his way out of the maze with the rope.

Gemini - a pair of twins represents the Gemini Sign. Twin brothers Castor and Pollux were inseparable. They both had the same mother but Pollux was immortal because he was son of Zeus, the king of gods. Castor was not. He was son of a mortal. When Castor died, Pollux begged his father to let him be mortal as well, that way he can die alongside his brother. Zeus did not want his son to die so he made a deal. He will bring Pollux to life as long as Castor agrees to share his brothers mortality. While one brother is alive, the other will be dead and vice versa. Zeus will also allow both brothers to spend small amounts of time together and so Castor agreed.

Cancer - a giant crab represents the Cancer Sign. In Mythology, Zeus had an affair with the queen of Tiryns, Alcmene. This affair lead to the birth of Hercules. Hera, the wife of Zeus, was so angry about the whole affair that she did everything in her power to destroy the child of Zeus and Alcmene. Hercules was a powerful man and trying to destroy him was not an easy task. In his twelve labours he encountered the nine-headed water serpent Hydra. Hera immediately sent a giant crab named Cancer, to help the water serpent destroy Hercules but they were no match. Hercules smashed the crabs shell with his foot and killed the nine-headed water serpent.

Leo - a powerful lion represents the Leo Sign. The Myth begins with a strong and fierce lion named Nemean. Nemean roamed the land of Argolis and killed anything or anyone that crossed his past. His claws were sharper than any mortal sword and his tough skin was imperious to metal, stone and wood. He was the first of Hercules twelve labours. Hercules managed to strangle the lion to death. Hercules skinned the animal with its own sharp claws and used it as a mighty cloak.

Virgo - represents the virgin goddess Artemis. In Greek Mythology, gods and humans once lived together in harmony during the golden age. Unfortunately this ended, as the gods wanted to assume the role of superiority. Pandora unleashed a box of evil demons and all the gods fled from Earth. Pandora was the first woman formed by the gods. The goddess Artemis loved being on earth and had shared her knowledge about the gods with the humans but was forced to leave because of the evil demons.