Capricorn

The story

Capricorn's mythological ancestor is most commonly Pan — the goat-legged nature god. One day, while the gods were partying on Olympus, the monster Typhon (Gaia's son, the chaos beast) attacked. All the gods escaped by transforming into different animal forms: Apollo a crow, Hermes an ibis, Aphrodite a fish, Pan — leaving the bottom half as fish and the top half as goat — escaped this way. Pan's rushed half-transformation later became the symbol of Capricornus (Latin "horned goat") — goat-fish. An older Babylonian mythology also had a goat-fish god, Enki / Ea; the Greek myth most likely echoes this older Mesopotamian culture. It marks the beginning of winter solstice — when the Sun is at its lowest and weakest.

Into the sky

Pan's half-goat-half-fish form was placed in the sky by Zeus. This odd hybrid marks the winter solstice — the year's lowest sun.

Themes

• goat-fish Pan
• escape from Typhon
• transformation
• odd hybrid