”What's your sign?”
This is a question that most of us have been asked at least once in our lives. This prompts the usual response of, "I'm a Cancer", or "I'm a Virgo". Some may say, "I'm the Scales", or "I'm the Lion". Who can resist flipping to the horoscopes to see what may be in store for them that day, even if in jest?

But have you ever wondered WHO your sign is?
The legends of the zodiac are every bit as fascinating as the horoscope. We will be exploring the historical interpretations of these mythological figures as told by the ancient Greeks. That being said, there is a lot of information available but I’ll give you the basics. All cultures have their own versions of these astrological signs; a study of the Greek mythos reveals that there are variations just within the Greek legends. In this collection, we will be exploring together what I have found to be the most commonly believed.

We will also explore the 13th Sign of the Zodiac and give a chart showing how the birth-date ranges would have changed had we used the thirteen signs for the zodiac instead of the commonly recognized twelve.

Use this Chart to Skip ahead to an Individual Sign or continue below.

Aries, the Ram
Dates: March 21st - April 19th

We gain the constellation Aries from the story of Phrixus and Helle. They are twin brother and sister, and the children of Athamas, King of Orchomenos, and Nephele, Goddess of Clouds. Athamas divorced Nephele to marry Ino, the mortal Queen of Thebes, who later became the sea Goddess Leucothea. Ino plotted to have the twins killed, so Nephele sent a winged golden ram, Chrysomallos, to help her children escape. Chrysomallos flew the twins over the sea to the Kingdom of Colchis. During the journey Helle fell off the ram and drowned and only her twin brother made it to Colchis. Phrixus is taken in by King Aeetes, and as a vote of thanks, Phrixus gave the King the fleece of Chrysomallos, which was hung on an oak tree in a grove sacred to Ares, God of War. This is the same Golden Fleece that was later retrieved by the Greek hero Jason.

Taurus, the Bull
Dates: April 20th - May 20th

Taurus is the embodiment of the Cretan Bull, which has long been a symbol of the island of Crete. The first known account is when Zeus, King of the Gods and Lord of the Heavens, morphed himself into a white bull to seduce Europa, a Phoenician princess, and took her to Crete making her Queen of the island and mother of King Minos. Poseidon, God of the Sea, gave Minos a white bull to sacrifice to the Gods, validating their approval of his reign. Minos sacrificed another bull instead, keeping Poseidon's for himself. Poseidon cursed Minos' wife, Pasiphae, to fall in love and mate with the bull. This union brought about the Minotaur, a half-man half-bull creature. The seventh labor of Heracles was to capture the bull, afterwards it was released and it fled to the city of Marathon and was later killed by the Greek hero, Theseus. Bull-leaping was a religious sport in Crete as well.

Gemini, the Twins
Dates: May 21st - June 21st

Zeus turned himself into a swan and seduced the Queen of Sparta, a mortal named Leda. The same night she also slept with her husband Tyndareus. She then gave birth to twins, Polydeuces, the offspring of Zeus, an immortal, and Kastor, son of Tyndareus, a mortal. The two one day got into combat with two brothers from Messene, Idas and Lynceus, the fight resulting in the death of Kastor. Polydeuces begged Zeus to be with his brother and his request was granted by becoming the constellation Gemini; they are considered the ultimate symbol of brotherly love.

Cancer, the Crab
Dates: June 22nd - July 22nd

The Greek hero Heracles was told by the Oracle at Delphi that he would have to accomplish twelve labors for King Eurystheus to achieve immortality. The second of these was to slay the nine headed Hydra. During the battle Hera, Queen of the Gods and Goddess of Marriage, sent a giant crab to aid the Hydra. Heracles killed the crab by stepping on it. Hera, impressed by the creature's loyalty, rewarded it with a place in the sky, becoming Cancer.

Leo, the Lion
Dates: July 23rd - August 22nd

The first of Heracles' twelve labors was to slay the invulnerable Nemean Lion. This Lion was one of the children of the Titan Typhon, and was terrorizing the valley of Nemea. When none of his weapons would hurt the beast, Heracles grabbed it in a chokehold, strangling it to death. The Lion then was placed among the stars as Leo to mark Heracles' accomplishment.

Virgo, the Virgin
Dates: August 23rd - September 22nd

When the world went into the Iron Age (a time when people were extremely corrupt) all the Gods began leaving earth. The last one to leave was Astraea, Goddess of Innocence and Purity, and with her departure, her blessings left humankind. In the Heavens, she was placed in the stars as the constellation Virgo.

Libra, the Scales
Dates: September 23rd - October 22nd

Justitia, Goddess of Justice, is the mother of Astraea. She is depicted as holding a pair of scales, which she uses to weigh the sides of opposing arguments. Her scales were placed next to her daughter in the sky as Libra. It is believed that these two goddesses will one day bring back to humanity the utopian Golden Age.

Scorpio, the Scorpion
Dates: October 23rd - November 21st

Orion was one of the greatest hunters in all of Greece, and was favored by Artemis, Goddess of the Moon and of the Hunt. In one version of the story of his death, Orion boasted that he could kill every beast upon the Earth. Offended by these claims, the great Titan Earth-Mother Gaia sent a giant scorpion to kill Orion. After the scorpion killed him, Artemis beseeched Zeus to place Orion in the sky. Zeus complied and placed Orion and the scorpion in the sky, but at opposite ends so that as one is rising, the other will be setting, thus preventing any more combat between the two.

Sagittarius, the Archer
Dates: November 22nd - December 21st

Of the race of centaurs, creatures that were half-man and half-horse, the most intelligent, gentle, and noble of them all was Chiron. He was tutor and trainer of some of Greece's most famous heroes, and was also immortal since he was the son of the Titan Cronos. During Heracles' fourth labor, the hero fell into combat with a herd of centaurs and accidentally shot Chiron with a poison arrow. Chiron became known as "the Wounded Healer" by giving up his immortality in exchange for the freedom of the Titan Prometheus, the Titan of Forethought. Zeus then honored Chiron with a place in the sky for all his good works. Chiron is doubly honored, not only as the constellation Sagittarius, but also as the constellation Centaurus.

Capricorn, the Goat
Dates: December 22nd - January 19th

The Titan Cronos, in fear of a prophecy saying that one of his children would one day overthrow him, began swallowing his children whole after they were born. His wife, the Titan Ops, tired of losing her children, wrapped a stone in a blanket and gave that to Cronos instead of their youngest child, Zeus. She hid Zeus in a cave in Mount Ida where he was fed on the milk of the divine goat, Amaltheia. After he had grown and defeated his father, he placed Amaltheia in the sky as Capricorn. One of her horns became the Horn of Plenty, or Cornucopia, and her hide was used to make Zeus' shield, Aegis.

Aquarius, the Water Bearer
Dates: January 20th - February 18th

The Gods were served nectar by Hebe, Goddess of Youth, who was the cup-bearer of Olympus. She stepped down from her position to become the wife of Heracles. In Troy lived a young man of exquisite beauty named Ganymede. Zeus was so taken by his beauty that he transformed into an eagle and swooped down and carried him away to be the new cup-bearer. Zeus, wanting to share Ganymede's beauty with the world, placed him in the sky as Aquarius.

Pisces, the Fish
Dates: February 19th - March 20th

Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty, was bathing in the Euphrates River with her son Eros, God of Desire. While they were bathing, the Titan Typhon attacked them. To escape from Typhon, Aphrodite bound her son to herself with a cord and turned the two of them into fish. This made navigating the river easier and ensured that they would not be parted. Their clever flight was then depicted in the sky as this constellation.

The Thirteenth Zodiac

Before we used the solar calendar that we know today, consisting of twelve months, the world went by the lunar calendar, which had thirteen months. A lunar revolution is the time it takes for the moon to complete a full orbit around the earth, of which there were thirteen orbits. Today we measure our months in lunations, a time frame of a little over twenty-nine days from new moon to new moon, that number twelve. If we had kept the original system, we would have had the zodiac sign of the Serpent Bearer, Ophiuchus. He appears in the sky between Scorpio and Sagittarius, and is depicted as a man holding a snake. This is now considered to be two separate constellations, the man, Ophiuchus, which is dividing the snake constellation, Serpens, into two halves.

Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer

Asclepius is the greatest healer in all of Ancient Greece. He is the son of Apollo, God of the Sun, Music, and Truth. He was trained in the healing arts by Chiron, and carried a rod with a single serpent, Rod of Asclepius, which is a symbol for the medical profession today. Asclepius became such an accomplished healer that he was able to resurrect the dead. Hades, God of the Underworld, was angered by this and wanted Zeus to kill Asclepius. Zeus struck Asclepius down with a thunder bolt but because of Asclepius' service to the Greeks, made him the God of Healing then placed him in the sky as the constellation Ophiuchus.

What might have been your sign?

Use this chart to see if your zodiac sign would have changed or stayed the same if Ophiuchus had remained one of the zodiacs: