LP0030 The Herculean Zodiac w/ extras

Legendary Passages #0030 - The Herculean Zodiac - Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer and Leo from Hyginus' Astronomica.     This is the sixth and final episode reviewing the early adventures of Hercules. Next will be his adventures with the Argonauts, which brings us to our first constellation.     The Ram, or Aries, carried Phrixus to King Aeetes, and gave the king it's golden fleece, the objective of the Argonauts.     The second constellation is the Bull, or Taurus, that carried off Europa, mother of Minos. Nearby star clusters are the Hyades and the Pleiades.     The third constellation is the twins, or Gemini,  known as Castor and Pollux.     The fourth the constellation is the Crab, or Cancer, the same one that Hercules encounters when he was fighting the Learnean Hydra.         Lastly is the constellation called the Lion, or Leo, representing the Nemean Lion. The Herculean Zodiac, a Legendary Passage, from Hyginius' Astronomica, trans. by Mary Grant. II.20 RAM     This is thought to be the ram which carried Phrixus and Helle thought the Hellespont. Hesiod and Pherecydes say that it had a fleece of gold; about his we shall speak at greater length elsewhere. Many have said that Helle fell into the Hellespont, was embraced by Neptune, and bore Paeon, or, as some say, Edonus.     They say, too, that Phrixus, on coming safely to Aeetes, sacrificed the ram to Jove, and hung the fleece up in the temple. The image of the ram itself, put among the constellations by Nubes, marks the time of year when grain is sown, because Ino earlier sowed it parched - the chief reason for the flight. Eratosthenes says that the ram itself removed its golden fleece, and gave it Phrixus as a memorial, and then came of its own accord to the stars; for this reason it seems somewhat dim, as we said before.     Phrixus was born, some say, in the town of Orchomenus, which is in Boeotia; others say, in the district of the Salones of Thessaly. Still others make Cretheus and Athamas with many others, sons of Aeolus; some, again, say that Salmoneus, son of Athamas, was a grandson of Aeolus. Cretheus had Demodice as wife; others name her Biadice. Moved by the beauty of Phrixus, son of Athamas, she fell in love with him, and could not obtain from him favour in return; so, driven by necessity, she accused him to Cretheus, saying that he had attacked her, and many similar things that women say.     Stirred by this report, Cretheus, as was fitting for one who deeply loved his wife and was a king, persuaded Athamas to put Phrixus to death. However, Nubes intervened, and rescuing Phrixus and Helle his sister, put them on the ram, and bade them flee as far as they could through the Hellespont. Helle fell off and paid the debt to nature, and the Hellespont was named from her name. Phrixus came to the Colchians, and, as we have said, hung up the fleece of the slain ram in a temple. He himself was brought back to Athamas by Mercury, who proved to his father that, relying on innocence, he had fled.     Hermippus says that at the time when Liber was attacking Africa he came with his army to the place called Ammodes from the great quantities of sand. He was in great danger, since he saw he had to advance, and an added difficulty was the great scarcity of water. The army were almost at the point of exhaustion, and the men were wondering what to do, when a certain ram, wandering apart, came by chance near the soldiers. When it saw them it took safety in flight.     The soldiers, however, who had seen it, though they were advancing with difficulty oppressed by the sand and heat, gave chase, as if seeking booty from the flames, and followed it to that place which was named from the temple of Jove Hammon later founded there. When they had come there, the ram which they had followed w