Capricorn the Sea Goat

There is confusion over how Capricorn the sea goat came to be. Some say that he represents the Shepherd-god Pan. Others say that he was quite a different god, Aegipan. 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. Capricorn history can also be traced to Babylonian times. In addition, his appearance then was as it is now, half-fish and half-goat.

In a Greek myth, Zeus appeared in his own form and prepared to do battle with Typhon, the god of darkness, but 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 was not 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. However, 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 Aegipans role in this battle against the Titans, Zeus gave him an honoured place in the sky as the constellation Capricorn, the Sea-Goat.

The Arabs, Persians, Turks, and Syrians all knew Capricorn as the Goat. 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.