Naming The Constellations

 

         In reading about the naming of the 12 Greek constellations (which comprise today's 12 Signs of the Zodiac), there are likely to be a few surprises.     This holds true even for those who "think" they already know the mythology behind their naming. And I hate to be the one to break it to you, but    there is no one definitive, absolute, "this is it" answer for the Greek/Roman mythology behind the naming of the 12 constellations contained in the zodiac. Like anything concerning ancient Greek/Roman mythology, there will be differing versions, stories, and/or legends.

      The naming of the constellations by the ancient Greeks most likely occurred sometime between the 6th - 5th centuries B.C. The ancient Greeks originally gave us 48             "classical" constellations. Since then, more and more constellations have been added - and today there are now a total of 88. (See Related Links for information on more of the other constellations.)

By all accounts, the ancient Greeks appear to have appropriated the cosmological idea of naming the constellations from their even more ancient     neighbors, the Babylonians and the Egyptians. Upon the Greeks "borrowing" this idea (and utilizing a few of the same figures and symbols) - they, then, went about devising their own unique names and explanations as to how all the different animals and people had gotten into the sky.

The Babylonians and the Egyptians had also previously founded the cosmological concept that each year the Sun passed through divisions or sectors in the sky              which were located on an imaginary circle called the "ecliptic." It is believed that the ancient, imaginal, and archetypal concept of a "world soul" ruled by divisions or sectors came first - then, later, (based on these preexisting imaginal divisions) came the naming of the actual constellations in the sky. The Greeks also borrowed this idea from their neighbors.

The imaginary "ecliptic" 12 sector circle of the Sun's path through the sky - constructed by the Greeks (and later adopted by the Romans) - is today commonly known as the 12 Signs of the Zodiac. The word "zodiac" is originally from the Greek - zodiakos kyrklos - meaning "circle of little animals."