Miscellaneous Myths: The Zodiac

Thanks to longtime patron Volt for requesting this topic!

We know their names! We know their symbols! We know there's a truly staggering number of websites dedicated to their stereotypical personality traits! But what do we know about their stories? Let's discuss!

FUN FACT I GLOSSED OVER IN THE VIDEO: like I said, it's REALLY hard to determine when these constellations entered Greece. Most people set the date at 300ish, when Eudoxus codified the Greek calendar based on the Babylonian one - but that clashes with the fact that Heracles's labors predate that by at least three centuries, and they've had those zodiacal themes since that lost epic poem was initially written. We know, therefore, that the babylonian zodiac entered greece between Homer's time (when he conspicuously didn't mention them - and neither did Hesiod in his Astronomia) and Peisander's time (author of the lost Heracleia), basically the interval between 800 and 600 CE. The phoenician traders carrying that info is a reasonable assumption, especially considering how important the stars are to sailors navigating at night. But it is WILD to me how hard this is to research and how nobody seems to have really explored the timeline here!

Three Zodiac merch designs are available on our redbubble!

Our content is intended for teenage audiences and up.

[italucenaz]

"There is no Easter Bunny, there is no Tooth Fairy, and there is no time travelling Goatman and goatfish"

[Forwantofaname]

Red losing her mind over the time travelling goatfish was a blessing.

[TheSpencermacdougall]

When you were a child stargazing, did you happen to see

[sailordarty]

"There is no time-traveling goat fish in Greek mythology."

Well, my evening is ruined.

[intalcu]

Plot twist: The time-traveling goat-fish removed itself from Greek Mythology so it can time travel without anyone realizing.
We’re on to you, goat-fish. We’re on to you.

[beedoesthings]

Little Red staring up at the stars looks like a child discovering their magical protagonist powers

[aaravos]

Red is basically the headstrong curious shounen anime main character.


Red: "Agh! My Hubris!"

[paradoxlaboratories]

I love the fact that “the infamous boob incident” is actually an important part of a real myth involving infant Heracles.

[taylor_green_]

I love how Red's horoscope is just a bunch of warnings against tropes

[royalpayn]

"Thats such a Gemini thing to say"
"I will cut you"

So damn relatable

[cthulhufhtagn]

"The _Mayan_ zodiac made Pisces a skeleton. Why can't you be more like the Mayans?"
Red is the disapproving parent of world mythology and I love it.

[mikkosimonen]

Twins having different fathers is one of those things you'd think was just mythological nonsense, but apparently it's entirely possible for fraternal twins.

[kortmann]

"...and there was no goat-man. There was never any goat-man."
-Red

[Eramiserasmus]

Little Red seeing the stars away from city lights is so pure.

[PhoenixofRuin]

Random person: "wow, that's such a Gemini thing to say."
Red: "I will cut you!"
Also Red: "Gemini cut people up on their way to the underworld"

[thatoneweirdasexual]

> The constellation Leo was seen as a cat by the Babylonians
> Cats loaf
> Lions loaf
> The Babylonians saw a cat-loaf thing in the stars and went “yep, that’s a cat in the sky”

[thisisasupersayin]

Sometimes I forget that Red used to be a child who didn't know shit, and wasn't always a spirit of knowledge drifting infinitely through existence telling stories to wayward travelers

[fruitcakemtdew]

All horoscopes:
“Some people like you, and some people don’t. You’re probably living right now. You need to do work.”

[shadedway]

Red: "There was no Goatman..."

Shane Madej "I'VE BEEN TELLING PEOPLE THAT FOR *YEARS*"

[keyboardegg]

"I am 85% sure that there is no time travelling goatfish in Greek mythology" is probably my favorite OSP quote yet.