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PiscesStar Lore |
Pisces is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. Its name is the Latin plural for "fish". |
Ancient Babylon
Early Babylonian star tables (1200 BC) divided the constellation later known as
Pisces into two asterisms. The northern fish was seen as Šinunutu4, "the Great Swallow." The inofficial name Kullat Nūnu for |
Anunitum; Source: G. White. |
The southwestern fish was called Anunitum, the
"Lady of the Heaven."
G. White connects Anunitum to the theme of solar rebirth after the winter solstice and writes: |
"The same theme of solar rebirth is expressed in a somewhat
different form in the adjacent constellations known as Anunitum, the Swallow and the Field. These star figures together constitute a vivid depiction
of the "myth of the Syrian goddess", which can be thought of as the master-myth of this season. The myth runs as follows – two fish found an enormous
egg floating in the depths of the river Euphrates, the fish guided the egg up from the watery depths of the river and rolled it onto dry land, where
a dove appeared and started to brood it. In due time, the Syrian goddess herself was born from the egg. On account of this myth, fish and birds were
held to be particularly sacred to the Syrian goddess."
The "Syrian Goddess" referred to in the myth is Atargatis, chief goddess of northern Syria in Classical antiquity. She was also known under the name Derceto, and was later in Greek Mythology fused with Aphrodite, closing the circle to the Greek Pisces legend involving Aphrodite and Eros. |
Fish-bodied Atargatis, holding the egg |
In some versions, the creatures guarding the egg were epic beings, half-fish, half-men named Aphros and Bythos.
Later in the Babylonian Astronomical Diaries (600 BC), there was a notion of Rikis-nu.mi, "the fish cord or ribbon," which was the first fish-related reference to the later Zodiac constellation. Sources: J.H. Rogers: Origins of the ancient constellations, R.H. Allen:Star Names, Their Lore and Meaning, brickthology.com, G. White: Babylonian Star Lore |
Ancient Greece
The Greek myth of the fishes goes back to the end of the Gigantomachy,
the decisive battle the fought between the Giants and the Olympian gods for supremacy of the cosmos. In a last attempt to defeat the Olympians,
Gaia, Mother Earth and mother of the Giants went to the lowest region of the Underworld where Zeus had imprisoned
the Titans, coupled with Tartarus and gave birth to Typhon.
Ian Ridpath tells us that Typhon was : "... the most awful monster the world had ever seen.
According to Hesiod in the Theogony, Typhon had a
hundred dragon’s heads from which black tongues flicked out. Fire blazed from the eyes in each of these heads, and from them came a cacophony of
sound: sometimes ethereal voices which only the gods could understand, while at other times Typhon bellowed like a bull, roared like a lion, yelped
like puppies, or hissed like a nest of snakes.
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Zeus and Typhon, ca. 540 BC,
Pisces in Urania's Mirror
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In another version, the two refugees were themselves changed into fish. The mythologists said that because of this story the Syrians would not eat
fish, regarding them as gods or the protectors of gods."
In an alternative story in the Fabulae, Hyginus picks up on the Mesopotamian story of the Syrian goddess. Ian Ridpath writes that "... an egg fell into the Euphrates and was rolled to the shore by two fish. Doves sat on the egg and from it hatched Aphrodite who, in gratitude, put the fish in the sky. Eratosthenes had yet another explanation: he wrote that the two fish represented by Pisces were offspring of the much larger fish that is represented by the constellation Piscis Austrinus. When the goddess Derceto fell into a lake near Bambyce in northern Syria, she was rescued by the large fish; she placed this fish and its two youngsters in the sky as Piscis Austrinus and Pisces, respectively." Source: Ian Ridpath, Wikipedia, underluckystars.com |
Pisces in Poeticon Astronomicon Sources: fineartamerica.com
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Another legend, unrelated to all the stories above uses the fishes as a symbol for Dictys, the brave and
kind fisherman who recused princess Danaë and her infant son
Perseus, after Danaë's father, king Acrisius of Argos
abandoned them at sea in a wooden box.
The story links the constellation Pisces to its celestial neighbors Perseus and Andromeda. Sources: Wikipedia, crowbarmassage.com X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Dictys rescues Danaë and Perseus; Source: pinterest.fr |
Ancient Egypt
The ancient Egyptian knew of Pisces, seeing in it a creation story and the "fish of the Nile." The symbol of Pisces’ two fish has been found on the
lid to an Egyptian sarcophagus dating back to 2300 BCE.
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Egyptian sarcophagus (from Aegyptische Urkunden; koenigliche Museen zu Berlin) © alamy.com |
Medieval Islamic Astronomy
In Arab, Pisces is called Al Samakatain, "the Two Fishes."
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1607 copy of Pisces in Al-Sufi's Book of Fixed Stars Source: Princeton University Library Catalog |
Grimms' Fairy Tales
Several authors see a connection between the constellation Pisces and the North German fairy tale of a fisherman named Antenteh. The tale was part of
North German oral folklore for centuries until it was recorded twice in 1812; first by
Philipp Otto Runge and then by the
Brothers Grimm, who published it under the title
The Fisherman and His Wife.
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"The Fisherman and His Wife" by Alexander Zick Source: Wikipedia
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Brickthology.com tells the story:
Antenteh, who was very poor and his wife lived in a small cabin by the sea. The only possessions they had were the cabin and a tub that they filled with feathers to at least have somewhere to rest and sleep. |
One day, Antenteh caught a fish that struggled to get free as he pulled it up in his fishing nets. To Antenteh's amazement, the fish spoke to him,
telling Antenteh that he is actually an enchanted prince. The fish told Antenteh that if he released him, he could have anything that he wanted. In
the story I read back in school, the fish gives Antenteh three wishes.
Antenteh whose needs are simple and feeling honored at having rescued such an important person refused to accept anything from the enchanted prince. On getting home, Antenteh found that wasn’t to be the case. His wife became very angry for not taking advantage of the opportunity and Antenteh found himself returning to the seashore and called for the fish. Luckily for Antenteh, the fish came and an embarrassed Antenteh told the fish how the wife wanted a house and furniture for it. The fish told him not to worry and that he would take care of everything. Returning home, Antenteh found that his cabin was now a fine house. Now if Antenteh's wife hadn’t been so greedy, everything probably would have been fine. |
"The Fisherman and His Wife" by Alexander Zick Source: sh-kunst.de
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As time progressed, Antenteh's wife demanded more. She wanted to be a queen and to have a palace and this wish was granted. Still not satisfied, she
demanded to become a goddess.
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back in this case and the fish now angry at the increasing demands, made everything that Antenteh had been given and wished for vanish and he and his wife were back to having their old cabin and tub full of feathers to sleep in. Sources: Wikipedia, brickthology.com, americanliterature.com |
"The Fisherman and His Wife" Source: americanliterature.com |
Ancient India
In Hindu Astronomy, the rather faint (magnitude 4.9) star system
Zeta Piscium is the center of the 28th
Nakashtra, called Revati, "the prosperous."
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Meena (Fish) |
Zeta Piscium is a quintuple star system, consisting of a binary star (ζ Piscium A) and a triple star system (ζ Piscium BC). ζ Piscium A's two components are designated as ζ Piscium Aa and ζ Piscium Ab. ζ Piscium BC consists of a spectroscopic binary (ζ Piscium B) and a single star (ζ Piscium C). In 2017, the IAU's Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) attributed the Indian name Revati to Zeta Piscium A. The WGSN attributes proper names to individual stars rather than entire multiple systems, which is why the name Revati technically only applies to Zeta Piscium A. Sources: Wikipedia: Revati, Wikipedia: Zeta Piscium |
Ancient China
In Chinese, Pisces is written
雙魚座.
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Chinese asterisms in Pisces Map based on seasky.org |
Wàipíng is part of the 15th Lunar Mansion, called Kuí (Legs).
The 15th Mansion is named after an the loop-shaped figure called Kuí in the north of the constellation, consisting of seven stars including χ, φ, υ and τ Piscium. The largest part of Kuí is located in Andromeda. The 16th Lunar Mansion is called Lóu (bond). The formation of the same name is represented in Pisces only by two faint stars, 107 piscium and VY piscium. Also located in the 16th Mansion is Yòugèng, a formation of five stars including ρ, η, π and ο Piscium representing a livestock manager. |
The 15th and 16th
Lunar Mansions are in the quadrant of the White Tiger of the West.
With one small exception, all other asterisms (see below) are located in the Azure Dragon of the East. The very faint star 20 Piscium in the southwesternmost part of the constellation is part of an asterism called Chuánshì, the Guest House, which is part of the Purple Forbidden Enclosure. |
A group of stars in southernmost Pisces , including
27, 29,
30 and 33 Piscium
mark the eastern end of the constellation Lìibìzhèn, a chain of fortifications, which crossed
Aquarius into
Capricornus.
Lìibìzhèn is part of the 13th Lunar Mansion, called Shì, the "Encampment." |
A zig-zagging chain of five stars from Beta to Iota or Omega Piscium formed Pili, a thunderclap or thunderbolt; to its south, four stars including Lambda and Kappa Piscium formed Yunyu, cloud and rain (Leidian, representing thunder and lightning, lay over the border to the north in Pegasus, completing the stormy scene).
Sources: Wikipedia and Ian Ridpath |
Rain and Lightning Source: amazon.com
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Maya - Central America
Maya constellations are widely disputed, but
Susan Milbrath: Star Gods of the Ancient Maya
sees evidence that the Maya may have seen a skeleton in the constellation Pisces.
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