The Constellation
Capricornus |
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Mythology and History |
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The Sea-Goat. |
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There is confusion over how Capricornus came to be.
Some say that he represents the Shepherd-god Pan. Others say that
he was quite a different god, Aegipan. Now so terrible was the sight
of Typhon that Zeus himself is said to have changed himself into the form
of the ram, Aries, and remained that way for a while. The other gods
also changed themselves into animal forms. Aphrodite and Eros, for
example transformed themselves into the two fishes Pisces. |
Zeus reappeared in his own form and
prepared to do battle with Typhon, Zeus was defeated. Typhon cut
out the tendons of Zeus' hands and feet. This made him helpless to
move. He then hid the tendons in a cave in the land of Cilicia.
To guard the tendons, Typhon selected the dragon-woman Delphyne, half-serpent
and half-woman. Now Delphyne wasn't a very good guard and permitted
the tendons to be stolen by the gods Hermes and Aegipan. Aegipan,
like the other gods, had transformed himself into an animal to escape detection
by Typhon. He had jumped into the river when Typhon approached.
But he was already halfway submerged before he thought of what form of
animal he would wear. He decided to be a goat. So a goat he
became, but only from the waist up. From the waist down he took the
form of a fish.
Aegipan and Hermes managed to steal
the tendons of Zeus and return them, making Zeus once again as fit as ever.
His strength regained, Zeus unleashed all his fury and killed the monster
Typhon by hurling thunderbolts at him. For Aegipan's role in this
battle against the Titans, Zeus gave him an honored place in the sky as
the constellation Capricornus.
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Capricornus' history can also be traced to Babylonian times.
And his appearance then was as it is now, half-fish and half-goat. |
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The Arabs, Persians, Turks, and Syrians all knew Capricornus
as the Goat. |
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In certain parts of the Orient, the constellation was known
as the Southern Gate of the Sun, indicating that it is in this constellation
that the Sun reaches its lowest point on the ecliptic and thereafter begins
to appear higher and higher each day. |
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