AQUARIUS: The Water Bearer
Once, there lived a mortal prince named Ganymede, son of King Tros, the founder of Troy. Ganymede was the most handsome man that had ever lived. Zeus, who was especially fond of the handsome prince, captured the young man and brought him back to Olympus. Zeus then enslaved Ganymede making him his personal cupbearer. One day Ganymede, having had enough and refusing to be Zeus’s servant any longer, decided to pour out all of the wine (the nectar of the Gods that bestowed them with eternal youth). The legend goes that the wine fell to Earth as rain, for days upon days,
flooding the entire world. At first Zeus wanted to punish Ganymede but then realized that he had been unfair in making him his slave. And so Zeus honoured Ganymede by giving him a prominent position in the sky as Aquarius, the Water Bearer.
CAPRICORNUS: The Sea-Goat
Once, there lived a cruel god named
Cronus. Cronus was told by an oracle
that one of his sons would become
more powerful than him and would one
day defeat him in battle. Cronus, afraid
this would happen, had every one of his
sons killed. Knowing the curse, Rhea,
wife of Cronus and mother of Zeus,
gave him to some sea nymphs with the
instruction to care for him in a place far
away from Cronus. However, since the
sea nymphs could not produce milk to
feed baby Zeus, they brought along a
goat named Amalthea, to nurse him.
One day, when they were playing
together, Zeus accidentally broke off
one of Amalthea’s horns. Zeus took this
as a sign that he needed to break off his
relationship with Amalthea and the sea
nymphs and fight his father Cronus. As
Zeus left, he gave the horn to the sea
nymphs and told them that the horn,
being magical, would provide them
with all the food and drink they ever
desired. This horn is now known as the
Horn of Plenty. Zeus found, fought and
defeated Cronus, resurrecting his
missing brothers at the same time.
Since Zeus was now King of the Gods,
his first act was to place the
constellation of Capricornus in the sky
to honour Amalthea and the sea
nymphs who had cared for him. This is
why Capricorn is represented as a
creature bearing the head of a goat and
the tail of a fish.