The Legend of Taurus Taurus: the bright star within the constellation, Aldebaran, means the Follower in Arabic. It is believed to follow the Pleiades cluster across the sky. Aldebaran marks the position of the other star cluster of Taurus, the Hyades. Taurus is another constellation that was, like Scorpius, cut to produce two smaller groups. Early representations of the constellation in stellar catalogs show the entire body of the animal. The bull was a sacred animal in several cultures from the Sumerians to the Egyptians. The Israelites even made a golden calf after Moses climbed Mount Sinai. The bull was divided into the front half of the animal with the back portion used to construct the constellation of Aries. See the Greek legend of the Pleiades.
Mesopotamia: the mythical Bull of Heaven who was called up by Anu for his daughter, Istar, to destroy the city of Uruk after she made amorous advances toward Gilgamesh. Istar was a goddess associated with extramarital sex, sexual behavior, prostitution and war, although not necessarily in that order. Unimpressed with Istar's treatment of her several former lovers, Gilgamesh refused her attempts to add him to her stable. The Bull caused wide-spread destruction and was slain by Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu. According to legend, Enkidu threw the thigh of the bull at Istar after the bull was killed. This explains the lack of the thigh in the constellation of the bull in the sky. See the legend of Orion.
Egypt: worshipped as the living symbol of Apis, the bull was a revered animal placed in the sky out of deference. Apis, a white animal with sacred black markings, was born of a virginal cow at Memphis. In its 25th year it was ritualistically killed, mummified and entombed, similar to the mummification rites of the pharaohs. Similar animals were sought and deified when found. The pharaoh Ptolemy I sought to unite the cultures of Egypt and Greece by combining the symbol of Apis with Osiris in the identity of Serapis or Hermes.
Greece: the Hyades cluster forms a V-shape of six stars within the forehead of the bull. They are daughters of Atlas, sisters of the Pleiades and the boy Hyad, hence their name. They were said to have died of grief after their brother was killed by a boar during a hunt. Zeus placed them in the sky in honor of sisterly love. The rising of the cluster signaled the coming of the autumnal rainy season as caused by their ceaseless weeping.
Taurus represents at least two bulls and one cow in classical mythology. Zeus in his incarnation of the splendid white bull that abducted the maiden Europa, taking her to the island kingdom of Crete. There she bore him several children including King Minos. The skin of the ox from which Orion was born to the childless, widower shepherd, Irieus, is also represented by Taurus. The unfortunate Io, who dallied with Zeus in the guise of a bull, was changed by Hera into a cow following her liaison with the jealous goddess' husband. Hera then sent a stinging fly to chase the unfortunate creature over the entire known world. Io did bear one child to Zeus. His son, born in Egypt, became the pharaoh Epaphus and identified by many as the reincarnation of Apis. See the Greek legend of Orion and Sagittarius.Back to the Constellations
