黃道十二星座The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac

夜空中的公羊、公牛和雙魚，不少形象早在美索不達米亞已見雛形，希臘人後來才為它們配上神話。黃道是太陽在一年中於天球上看似經過的路徑，把黃道分成十二等分、每分 30 度，就是占星術所用的十二星座（十二宮）。本頁整理各星座的日期、元素與守護星，並追溯它們的神話與歷史來源。The ram, the bull and the fishes of the night sky: many of these figures were already taking shape in Mesopotamia, and the Greeks only later attached their own myths to them. The ecliptic is the path the Sun appears to trace across the celestial sphere over a year; divide it into twelve equal parts of 30 degrees each and you have the twelve signs (houses) used in astrology. This page sets out each sign’s dates, element and ruling planet, and traces their mythological and historical sources.

先弄清幾個概念A Few Concepts First

「星座」與「黃道宮」“Constellation” and “sign”

中文「星座」一詞同時指兩樣東西：一是天文學上的星座（constellation），即天空中一群恆星組成的區域，大小不一；二是占星術上的黃道宮（sign），即黃道上等分的 30 度區段。兩者名字相同，但不是同一回事。The Chinese word xingzuo (星座) refers to two different things: an astronomical constellation, a region of the sky formed by a group of stars, varying in size; and an astrological sign, an equal 30-degree segment of the ecliptic. The two share names but are not the same thing.

回歸黃道與歲差The tropical zodiac and precession

西方占星今天多用「回歸黃道」（tropical zodiac）：以春分點作為白羊宮 0 度。由於地球自轉軸的「歲差」，春分點約每 72 年沿黃道後退 1 度。兩千多年前希臘化時期定下這套體系時，春分點大致位於白羊座星群附近；今天則已移到雙魚座星群。因此，太陽「在白羊宮」的日子，它背後的星空其實多屬雙魚座。印度占星多採用「恆星黃道」（sidereal zodiac），會就歲差作出修正，所以同一個人的星座在兩種系統中可能不同。Western astrology today mostly uses the “tropical zodiac”, which takes the vernal equinox point as 0° Aries. Because of the “precession” of the Earth’s axis, the equinox point moves backwards along the ecliptic by about 1 degree every 72 years. When the system was fixed in the Hellenistic period over two thousand years ago, the equinox point lay roughly near the stars of Aries; today it has moved into the stars of Pisces. So on the days when the Sun is “in Aries”, the stars behind it mostly belong to the constellation Pisces. Indian astrology mostly uses the “sidereal zodiac”, which corrects for precession, so the same person’s sign may differ between the two systems.

蛇夫座Ophiuchus

按國際天文學聯合會（IAU）1930 年代確定的星座邊界，太陽每年 11 月底至 12 月中會經過蛇夫座（Ophiuchus）。但占星術的十二宮是等分的數學區段，並非按天文星座邊界劃分，所以傳統占星並無「第十三星座」。媒體偶爾出現的「蛇夫座是第十三星座」之說，正是把兩個概念混為一談。Under the constellation boundaries fixed by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in the 1930s, the Sun passes through Ophiuchus each year from late November to mid-December. But the twelve astrological signs are equal mathematical segments, not divided according to astronomical constellation boundaries, so traditional astrology has no “thirteenth sign”. The occasional media claim that “Ophiuchus is the thirteenth sign” is precisely a confusion of the two concepts.

元素與模式Elements and modalities

十二星座按四元素（火、土、風、水）各分三個，按三模式（本位／基本 cardinal、固定 fixed、變動 mutable）各分四個，兩者交叉，每個星座剛好得到一個獨特組合。四元素說源自古希臘哲學（恩培多克勒）；至於把它系統地配到黃道宮上，則見於希臘化時期的占星著作，例如二世紀托勒密的《四書》（Tetrabiblos）已有「三方」（triplicity）的觀念。The twelve signs are divided three to each of the four elements (fire, earth, air, water) and four to each of the three modalities (cardinal, fixed, mutable); crossing the two gives every sign a unique combination. The theory of four elements comes from ancient Greek philosophy (Empedocles); its systematic assignment to the signs is found in Hellenistic astrological works — Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos in the second century, for example, already has the concept of the “triplicity”.

守護星Ruling planets

傳統占星只用肉眼可見的七顆「行星」（日、月、水、金、火、木、土）。太陽守護獅子，月亮守護巨蟹，其餘五星各守護兩個星座，形成對稱結構。十八世紀以後陸續發現天王星、海王星和冥王星，近代占星家把它們分別配給水瓶、雙魚和天蠍，作為「現代守護星」；傳統派則仍沿用古法。下表兩者並列。Traditional astrology used only the seven “planets” visible to the naked eye (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn). The Sun rules Leo, the Moon rules Cancer, and the other five each rule two signs, forming a symmetrical structure. After Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were discovered from the eighteenth century onwards, modern astrologers assigned them to Aquarius, Pisces and Scorpio respectively as “modern rulers”, while traditionalists still follow the old scheme. The table below shows both.

十二星座總表Table of the Twelve Signs

日期為回歸黃道下的大約範圍。太陽進入每個星座的確切時刻每年略有不同，前後可差一天，交界日出生者的星座，須按出生年份與時刻查對星曆。Dates are approximate ranges in the tropical zodiac. The exact moment the Sun enters each sign varies slightly from year to year, by up to a day; for people born on a cusp, the sign must be checked in an ephemeris for the year and time of birth.

逐一介紹The Signs One by One

以下「神話來源」以希臘羅馬的星座神話為主，主要見於托名埃拉托斯特尼（Eratosthenes）的《星座變形記》（Catasterismi）和許吉努斯（Hyginus）的《天文詩》（De astronomia）等古代彙編。同一星座常有多個版本，以下只列較常見者。不少星座形象其實早見於美索不達米亞，希臘人是後來才配上自己的神話。The “myths” below are mainly Greco-Roman constellation myths, found chiefly in ancient compilations such as the Catasterismi attributed to Eratosthenes and the De astronomia of Hyginus. A single constellation often has several versions; only the more common ones are given here (see the detailed section below). Many constellation figures in fact appeared earlier in Mesopotamia, and the Greeks attached their own myths to them later.

十二星座神話詳說The Myths of the Twelve Signs in Detail

上面卡片只作簡介。以下逐一介紹各星座在希臘羅馬文獻中的神話，並註明主要出處和不同版本。主要古代文獻有四類：公元前三世紀阿拉托斯（Aratus）的天文長詩《現象》（Phaenomena）；托名埃拉托斯特尼的《星座變形記》（Catasterismi，今存為後人節本，故常稱「偽埃拉托斯特尼」）；許吉努斯（Hyginus）的《天文詩》（De astronomia，第二卷逐一講述星座神話）；以及奧維德（Ovid）的《變形記》（Metamorphoses）和《歲時記》（Fasti）。古代作者本身已常列出多種說法，因此下文的「異說」並非後人誤傳，而是古典傳統本來就不統一。The cards above give only brief summaries. Below, the myths of each sign in Greco-Roman literature are introduced one by one, with the main sources and variant versions noted. The principal ancient sources are of four kinds: the astronomical poem Phaenomena by Aratus (third century BCE); the Catasterismi (“Placings among the Stars”) attributed to Eratosthenes (surviving only as a later epitome, hence often called “Pseudo-Eratosthenes”); the De astronomia of Hyginus (whose second book recounts the constellation myths one by one); and Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Fasti. Ancient authors themselves often listed several versions, so the “variants” below are not later corruptions: the classical tradition was never uniform.

白羊座：金羊毛的公羊Aries: the ram with the golden fleece

玻俄提亞國王阿塔馬斯（Athamas）與雲之女神涅斐勒（Nephele）生下佛里克索斯和赫勒。後母伊諾（Ino）設計使莊稼失收，再收買使者假傳神諭，要求以佛里克索斯獻祭。涅斐勒送來一頭會飛的金毛公羊（一說得自赫爾墨斯），載兄妹逃走。途中赫勒墜海，那片海峽因而得名「赫勒之海」（Hellespont，即今達達尼爾海峽）。佛里克索斯抵達黑海東岸的科爾基斯，把公羊獻祭給宙斯，羊毛交給國王埃厄忒斯（Aeëtes），掛在戰神阿瑞斯的聖林中由巨龍看守，後來成為伊阿宋與阿爾戈英雄遠征奪取的「金羊毛」。Athamas, king of Boeotia, and the cloud goddess Nephele had two children, Phrixus and Helle. Their stepmother Ino contrived a crop failure and then bribed messengers to bring a false oracle demanding the sacrifice of Phrixus. Nephele sent a flying ram with a golden fleece (in one version obtained from Hermes), which carried the siblings away. On the way Helle fell into the sea, and the strait was named after her — the Hellespont (“Sea of Helle”, today’s Dardanelles). Phrixus reached Colchis on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, sacrificed the ram to Zeus and gave its fleece to King Aeëtes, who hung it in the sacred grove of Ares guarded by a dragon; it became the “Golden Fleece” later seized by Jason and the Argonauts.

出處與異說：見《星座變形記》第 19 則、許吉努斯《天文詩》2.20、奧維德《歲時記》3.851–876。偽埃拉托斯特尼解釋說，公羊脫下金毛後才升天，所以這個星座的星都很暗；也有版本說公羊能說人話，親自提醒佛里克索斯逃走。Sources and variants: See Catasterismi 19, Hyginus, De astronomia 2.20, and Ovid, Fasti 3.851–876. Pseudo-Eratosthenes explains that the ram shed its golden fleece before ascending, which is why the stars of this constellation are faint; other versions say the ram could speak and itself warned Phrixus to flee.

金牛座：宙斯與歐羅巴Taurus: Zeus and Europa

宙斯愛上腓尼基公主歐羅巴，化身為一頭溫馴的白色公牛混入她父親的牛群。歐羅巴在海邊與牛嬉戲，騎上牛背，公牛隨即躍入大海，把她載到克里特島。她在島上生下米諾斯（Minos）等三子，「歐羅巴」之名後來也成了歐洲（Europe）的名稱來源之一。天上的金牛只有前半身，古人解釋為牠正從海中冒出。Zeus fell in love with the Phoenician princess Europa, transformed himself into a gentle white bull and mingled with her father’s herd. Europa played with the bull by the shore and climbed onto its back, whereupon it plunged into the sea and carried her to Crete. There she bore Minos and two other sons, and her name later became one of the sources of the name “Europe”. The celestial bull has only a front half, which the ancients explained as the bull emerging from the sea.

出處與異說：奧維德《變形記》2.833–875 有生動描寫；《星座變形記》第 14 則和許吉努斯 2.21 亦採此說，但許吉努斯同時提到另一說：這是被宙斯變成母牛的伊俄（Io）。座中的昴星團（Pleiades）和畢星團（Hyades）各自另有神話。Sources and variants: Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.833–875 gives a vivid account; Catasterismi 14 and Hyginus 2.21 also adopt this version, but Hyginus mentions another: that this is Io, whom Zeus turned into a heifer. The Pleiades and Hyades clusters in Taurus each have their own myths.

雙子座：卡斯托耳與波呂丟刻斯Gemini: Castor and Polydeuces

斯巴達王后勒達（Leda）生下兩兄弟：卡斯托耳是國王廷達瑞俄斯之子，是凡人；波呂丟刻斯（拉丁名 Pollux）是宙斯之子，生而不朽。兩人形影不離，曾參加阿爾戈英雄的遠征。後來卡斯托耳在與堂兄弟伊達斯、林叩斯的爭鬥中被殺，波呂丟刻斯懇求宙斯讓他與兄長共享不朽；宙斯答應，兄弟二人從此一日在天上、一日在冥界輪流度過。古希臘羅馬的水手視他們為航海守護神。Leda, queen of Sparta, bore two brothers: Castor, son of King Tyndareus, was mortal; Polydeuces (Latin Pollux), son of Zeus, was born immortal. Inseparable, they took part in the voyage of the Argonauts. Later Castor was killed in a quarrel with their cousins Idas and Lynceus, and Polydeuces begged Zeus to let him share his immortality with his brother; Zeus agreed, and from then on the two spent alternate days in heaven and in the underworld. Greek and Roman sailors regarded them as protectors of seafarers.

出處與異說：荷馬《奧德賽》第 11 卷、品達《涅墨亞頌歌》第 10 首都記載了「輪流生死」的故事；《星座變形記》第 10 則以二人為雙子座。許吉努斯 2.22 另記一說，認為這對孿生者是阿波羅與赫拉克勒斯。Sources and variants: Homer, Odyssey book 11, and Pindar, Nemean 10, both record the story of the alternation between life and death; Catasterismi 10 identifies the two as Gemini. Hyginus 2.22 records another view that the twins are Apollo and Heracles.

巨蟹座：被踩死的巨蟹Cancer: the crushed crab

赫拉克勒斯在勒拿沼澤與九頭蛇許德拉搏鬥時，一直憎恨他的赫拉派出巨蟹去夾他的腳，巨蟹隨即被赫拉克勒斯一腳踩死。赫拉為表彰牠，把牠放上星空，成為十二星座之一。When Heracles was fighting the many-headed Hydra in the marshes of Lerna, Hera, who had always hated him, sent a giant crab to nip his foot; Heracles promptly crushed it underfoot. To honour it, Hera placed it among the stars as one of the twelve signs.

出處與異說：見《星座變形記》第 11 則、許吉努斯 2.23。巨蟹座中央的星團古稱「馬槽」（Praesepe，今俗稱蜂巢星團），旁邊兩顆星稱為「驢子」（Aselli）：據同一文獻，諸神與巨人大戰時，狄俄尼索斯等神騎驢出陣，驢子的叫聲把巨人嚇退，因而得以升天。Sources and variants: See Catasterismi 11 and Hyginus 2.23. The star cluster at the centre of Cancer was anciently called the “Manger” (Praesepe, now popularly the Beehive Cluster), and two neighbouring stars are the “Asses” (Aselli): according to the same sources, when the gods fought the Giants, Dionysus and his companions rode into battle on asses, whose braying frightened the Giants away, and so the asses earned a place in the sky.

獅子座：涅墨亞獅子Leo: the Nemean lion

涅墨亞山谷有一頭刀槍不入的猛獅，赫西俄德《神譜》說牠由赫拉撫養，為禍當地。赫拉克勒斯奉命完成十二項功績，第一項就是除掉牠：箭矢無效，他便用木棒把獅子擊暈，再徒手扼死，之後以獅爪剝下獅皮，披在身上作為鎧甲。獅子形象因此常伴隨赫拉克勒斯出現。The valley of Nemea was ravaged by an invulnerable lion which, according to Hesiod’s Theogony, had been reared by Hera. Heracles was ordered to perform twelve labours, the first of which was to destroy it: arrows were useless, so he stunned the lion with his club and strangled it with his bare hands, then flayed it with its own claws and wore the skin as armour. The lion figure is therefore often shown with Heracles.

出處與異說：見赫西俄德《神譜》327–332、《星座變形記》第 12 則、許吉努斯 2.24。許吉努斯另說宙斯因獅子是「百獸之王」而把牠放上天空。獅子尾部附近的「后髮座」（Coma Berenices）則來自另一個故事：埃及王后貝勒尼基二世獻髮祈求丈夫平安歸來，見於卡利馬科斯的詩及卡圖盧斯的拉丁譯作（第 66 首）。Sources and variants: See Hesiod, Theogony 327–332, Catasterismi 12 and Hyginus 2.24. Hyginus adds that Zeus placed the lion in the sky because it is the “king of beasts”. The neighbouring constellation Coma Berenices, near the lion’s tail, comes from a different story: Queen Berenice II of Egypt dedicated a lock of her hair to pray for her husband’s safe return, as told in a poem by Callimachus and its Latin version by Catullus (poem 66).

處女座：離開人間的正義女神Virgo: the goddess of justice who left the earth

阿拉托斯《現象》講了一個影響深遠的故事：在黃金時代，正義女神狄刻（Dike）與人類同住，教導他們守法；到了白銀時代，人類漸趨敗壞，她退居山中，只偶爾下山責備世人；到了青銅時代，人類開始鑄劍殺戮，她終於離開人間，升上天空成為處女座。奧維德《變形記》1.149–150 的拉丁版本稱她為阿斯特賴亞（Astraea），說她是「最後一位離開大地的天神」。她手中的麥穗（亮星 Spica）則讓不少作者把她與穀物女神聯繫起來。Aratus’ Phaenomena tells an influential story: in the Golden Age, the goddess of justice, Dike, lived among humans and taught them to keep the law; in the Silver Age, as people grew corrupt, she withdrew to the mountains, coming down only occasionally to rebuke them; in the Bronze Age, when people began forging swords and killing, she finally left the earth and rose to the sky as Virgo. The Latin version in Ovid’s Metamorphoses 1.149–150 calls her Astraea, “the last of the immortals to leave the earth”. The ear of grain in her hand (the bright star Spica) led many authors to link her with grain goddesses.

出處與異說：阿拉托斯《現象》96–136；《星座變形記》第 9 則列出多種說法，例如穀物女神得墨忒耳、命運女神堤喀（Tyche）等。許吉努斯 2.25 另有雅典的厄里戈涅（Erigone）故事：她的父親伊卡里俄斯從狄俄尼索斯處學會釀酒，卻被喝醉的鄉人誤殺，厄里戈涅悲痛自盡，父女與愛犬一同升天（分別成為處女座、牧夫座和小犬座）。把處女座說成珀耳塞福涅，則多屬後世的推演。Sources and variants: Aratus, Phaenomena 96–136; Catasterismi 9 lists several identifications, such as the grain goddess Demeter and Tyche, goddess of fortune. Hyginus 2.25 adds the Athenian story of Erigone: her father Icarius learned winemaking from Dionysus but was killed by drunken countrymen; Erigone took her own life in grief, and father, daughter and their faithful dog rose to the sky together (as Virgo, Boötes and Canis Minor respectively). Identifying Virgo with Persephone is mostly a later extrapolation.

天秤座：從「蠍螯」到「天秤」Libra: from “the Claws” to “the Scales”

天秤是十二星座中唯一的非生物。早期希臘作者（包括阿拉托斯和《星座變形記》）並沒有獨立的天秤座，而把這一帶視為天蠍伸出的一對螯（Chelae）。到了羅馬時期，「天秤」（Libra）之名才普遍使用，並被解釋為鄰近的處女座正義女神手中用來衡量是非的秤；也有作者把它與秋分時晝夜等長、「平衡」的季節意象聯繫。Libra is the only inanimate figure among the twelve signs. Early Greek authors (including Aratus and the Catasterismi) had no separate constellation of the Scales, regarding this region as the pair of claws (Chelae) stretched out by the Scorpion. Only in the Roman period did the name Libra come into common use, explained as the balance with which the neighbouring justice goddess of Virgo weighs right and wrong; some authors also linked it with the seasonal image of “balance” when day and night are equal at the autumnal equinox.

出處與異說：維吉爾《農事詩》1.32–35 請奧古斯都在「厄里戈涅與蠍螯之間」取得天上一席，天蠍會為他收起雙螯，可見羅馬初期兩種稱呼仍並存。美索不達米亞星表中此處已稱為「秤」（ZI.BA.AN.NA），所以「天秤」形象也可能直接承襲自巴比倫。Sources and variants: Virgil, Georgics 1.32–35, invites Augustus to take a place in heaven “between Erigone and the Claws”, where the Scorpion will draw in its claws for him — showing that both names coexisted in the early Roman period. Mesopotamian star lists already called this region “the Scales” (ZI.BA.AN.NA), so the image of the Scales may also have been inherited directly from Babylon.

天蠍座：獵人俄里翁之死Scorpio: the death of Orion the hunter

俄里翁是一名力大無窮的巨人獵手。最常見的說法是，他誇口要殺盡地上所有野獸，大地女神蓋亞大怒，派出一隻蠍子把他螫死。宙斯（一說應阿耳忒彌斯與勒托之請）把二者都放上星空，但安排在天空的兩端：天蠍座升起時，獵戶座便沉入西方，兩者永不同時出現。Orion was a giant hunter of enormous strength. The most common version is that he boasted he would kill every wild beast on earth; the earth goddess Gaia, enraged, sent a scorpion that stung him to death. Zeus (in one version at the request of Artemis and Leto) placed both in the sky, but at opposite ends: when Scorpius rises, Orion sinks in the west, and the two are never seen together.

出處與異說：阿拉托斯《現象》634–646 和《星座變形記》第 7 則說是俄里翁冒犯阿耳忒彌斯，女神才召出蠍子；許吉努斯 2.26 和奧維德《歲時記》5.537–544 則說他誇口能勝過一切野獸，大地才派出蠍子。俄里翁的死法在古代還有其他版本，例如被阿耳忒彌斯本人射死。Sources and variants: Aratus, Phaenomena 634–646, and Catasterismi 7 say that Orion offended Artemis and the goddess summoned the scorpion; Hyginus 2.26 and Ovid, Fasti 5.537–544, say he boasted he could overcome any beast, so the Earth sent the scorpion. There are other ancient versions of Orion’s death too, such as being shot by Artemis herself.

射手座：克羅托斯還是喀戎？Sagittarius: Crotus or Chiron?

今天的星座書多說射手是賢明的半人馬喀戎（Chiron）。但在《星座變形記》和許吉努斯的記載中，射手是牧神潘與繆斯的保姆歐斐墨（Eupheme）之子克羅托斯（Crotus）。他與繆斯一同住在赫利孔山，相傳發明了弓箭狩獵，又以拍掌為繆斯的歌唱打拍子；繆斯請求宙斯把他升上天空。按這個說法，射手是兩腿站立、長著尾巴的薩堤爾形象，而非四足的半人馬。Modern astrology books mostly say the Archer is the wise centaur Chiron. But in the Catasterismi and Hyginus, the Archer is Crotus, son of Pan and Eupheme, nurse of the Muses. He lived with the Muses on Mount Helicon, is said to have invented hunting with the bow, and kept time for the Muses’ singing by clapping his hands; the Muses asked Zeus to raise him to the sky. On this account the Archer is a two-legged, tailed satyr figure, not a four-legged centaur.

出處與異說：《星座變形記》第 28 則、許吉努斯 2.27。這些文獻把喀戎歸於另一個星座「半人馬座」（第 40 則）。後世把射手座畫成半人馬並等同喀戎，是古代以後逐漸形成的混合；其巴比倫原型則是有翼、帶蠍尾的射手神 Pabilsag。Sources and variants: Catasterismi 28 and Hyginus 2.27. These sources assign Chiron to another constellation, Centaurus (Catasterismi 40). Depicting Sagittarius as a centaur and identifying it with Chiron is a blend that formed gradually after antiquity; its Babylonian prototype is the winged, scorpion-tailed archer god Pabilsag.

摩羯座：潘神、山羊與海Capricorn: Pan, the goat and the sea

許吉努斯記載了一個據說源自埃及祭司的故事：眾神在尼羅河畔聚會時，怪物堤豐突然來襲，眾神紛紛變形逃走；牧神潘跳進河裡，入水的下半身變成魚尾，水面上的上半身仍是山羊，宙斯覺得有趣，便把這個形象放上天空。《星座變形記》則說摩羯是與宙斯一同長大的埃吉潘（Aegipan），在諸神對抗泰坦時吹響海螺，以巨響令敵人驚慌（傳統上被視為「恐慌」panic 一詞與潘神相關的由來之一）。Hyginus records a story said to come from Egyptian priests: when the gods were gathered by the Nile, the monster Typhon suddenly attacked, and the gods all changed shape to escape; Pan leapt into the river, and the half of him under water became a fish’s tail while the half above remained a goat. Zeus, amused, placed this figure in the sky. The Catasterismi instead says that Capricorn is Aegipan, who grew up with Zeus and, in the gods’ war against the Titans, blew a conch shell whose tremendous noise threw the enemy into terror (traditionally regarded as one source of the association of the word “panic” with Pan).

出處與異說：《星座變形記》第 27 則、許吉努斯 2.28。常有人把摩羯與哺育宙斯的母山羊阿瑪爾忒亞（Amalthea）混為一談；但在古代星座神話中，阿瑪爾忒亞一般對應御夫座的亮星五車二（Capella，意為「小母山羊」），她的角則是「豐饒之角」的來源。「山羊魚」形象本身則源自美索不達米亞的 SUḪUR.MÁŠ。Sources and variants: Catasterismi 27 and Hyginus 2.28. Capricorn is often confused with Amalthea, the she-goat who nursed Zeus; but in ancient constellation myth Amalthea generally corresponds to Capella (“little she-goat”), the bright star of Auriga, and her horn is the origin of the “horn of plenty”. The “goat-fish” image itself comes from the Mesopotamian SUḪUR.MÁŠ.

水瓶座：斟酒的伽倪墨得斯Aquarius: Ganymede the cupbearer

伽倪墨得斯是特洛伊的王子，被譽為凡人中最俊美的少年。荷馬《伊利亞特》第 20 卷說，眾神把他帶上天界，為宙斯斟酒；後世版本（如奧維德《變形記》10.155–161）則說宙斯化身老鷹把他擄走。宙斯為補償其父，送上神駒；伽倪墨得斯則以手持酒壺、傾倒瓊漿的形象升上星空，旁邊的天鷹座被解釋為擄走他的那隻鷹。Ganymede was a prince of Troy, praised as the most beautiful of mortal youths. Homer’s Iliad book 20 says the gods carried him up to heaven to pour wine for Zeus; later versions (such as Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.155–161) say that Zeus took the form of an eagle and seized him. Zeus compensated his father with divine horses, and Ganymede rose to the stars in the form of a youth holding a jar and pouring out nectar; the neighbouring constellation Aquila was explained as the eagle that carried him off.

出處與異說：《星座變形記》第 26 則、許吉努斯 2.29。許吉努斯另記數說：有人認為倒水者是大洪水中倖存的丟卡利翁（Deucalion），也有人認為是雅典的開國之王刻克洛普斯（Cecrops）。Sources and variants: Catasterismi 26 and Hyginus 2.29. Hyginus records several other views: some held that the water-pourer was Deucalion, survivor of the Great Flood; others that it was Cecrops, the founding king of Athens.

雙魚座：躲避堤豐的愛神Pisces: the love goddess fleeing Typhon

奧維德《歲時記》講述：愛神維納斯（希臘的阿佛洛狄忒）帶著兒子丘比特（厄洛斯）在幼發拉底河畔，怪物堤豐突然出現，母子躍入河中，由兩條魚載著逃生（另一版本是二人自己化身為魚）。為紀念此事，兩條魚被放上星空；據說敘利亞一帶因此有不吃魚的禁忌。天上的兩條魚尾部以一條長繩相連，被解釋為母子緊緊相繫、以免在水中失散。Ovid’s Fasti relates that Venus (the Greek Aphrodite) was by the Euphrates with her son Cupid (Eros) when the monster Typhon suddenly appeared; mother and son leapt into the river and were carried to safety by two fish (in another version, they themselves turned into fish). To commemorate this the two fish were placed in the sky, and the Syrians are said for this reason to have avoided eating fish. The tails of the two celestial fish are joined by a long cord, explained as mother and son holding tightly together so as not to be separated in the water.

出處與異說：奧維德《歲時記》2.457–474、許吉努斯 2.30。《星座變形記》第 21 則則把雙魚與另一個星座「南魚座」聯繫，說南魚曾救起敘利亞女神德爾刻托（Derceto），雙魚是其後代。學者認為這些故事反映了希臘人對近東女神信仰（如阿塔伽提斯 Atargatis）的吸收。Sources and variants: Ovid, Fasti 2.457–474, and Hyginus 2.30. Catasterismi 21 instead links Pisces with another constellation, Piscis Austrinus (the Southern Fish), which is said to have rescued the Syrian goddess Derceto, the two Fishes being its offspring. Scholars see these stories as reflecting Greek absorption of Near Eastern goddess cults (such as that of Atargatis).

以上是古典文學與神話的介紹，並不表示星座神話與人的性格或命運有任何因果關係。The above is an introduction to classical literature and mythology; it does not imply any causal link between the constellation myths and a person’s character or fate.

十二星座從哪裡來Where the Twelve Signs Came From

現代研究認為，黃道十二宮的雛形來自美索不達米亞。約公元前一千年前後整理成形的天文星表《MUL.APIN》，已列出位於「月亮之路」上的十多個星座。到了約公元前五世紀，巴比倫天文學家開始把黃道等分為十二段、每段 30 度，作為計算行星位置的坐標，這就是黃道十二宮的起點。Modern research holds that the zodiac originated in Mesopotamia. The astronomical compendium MUL.APIN, compiled around 1000 BCE, already lists more than a dozen constellations lying on the “path of the Moon”. By about the fifth century BCE, Babylonian astronomers began dividing the ecliptic into twelve equal segments of 30 degrees each as coordinates for computing planetary positions — the starting point of the zodiac of twelve signs.

亞歷山大東征後，巴比倫的天文與占兆知識傳入希臘化世界，在埃及亞歷山大港一帶與希臘哲學、埃及的旬星（decan）傳統結合，形成以十二宮、行星和宮位為核心的「希臘化占星術」。各星座的元素、模式、守護星等屬性，也是在這個時期逐步定型，再經中世紀伊斯蘭世界和拉丁歐洲傳到今天。詳見占星術頁。After Alexander’s conquests, Babylonian astronomy and omen lore passed into the Hellenistic world, where, around Alexandria in Egypt, it combined with Greek philosophy and the Egyptian decan tradition to form “Hellenistic astrology”, centred on the twelve signs, the planets and the houses. The elements, modalities and ruling planets of the signs were gradually fixed in this period and then passed down to the present through the medieval Islamic world and Latin Europe. See the Astrology page.

十二宮亦曾東傳中國：隋唐時期隨佛經翻譯傳入，當時譯名與今天不同。例如隋代那連提耶舍所譯《大方等大集經‧日藏分》（卷四十二）依月份列出「特羊、特牛、雙鳥、蟹、師子、天女、秤量、蝎、射、摩竭、水器、天魚」十二神；唐代不空所譯的《宿曜經》則稱「師子宮、女宮、秤宮、蠍宮、弓宮、磨竭宮、瓶宮、魚宮、羊宮、牛宮、淫宮（其神如夫妻，即雙子）、蟹宮」。不過，中國傳統天文主要以二十八宿和十二次劃分天空，十二宮並未取代本土體系。The twelve signs also travelled east to China, arriving in the Sui and Tang with the translation of Buddhist scriptures, under names different from today’s. For example, the “Sūryagarbha” section of the Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra (Dafangdeng daji jing, juan 42), translated in the Sui by Narendrayaśas, lists twelve deities by month: “Ram, Bull, Pair of Birds, Crab, Lion, Heavenly Maiden, Balance, Scorpion, Archer, Makara, Water Vessel, Heavenly Fish”; the Xiuyao jing translated in the Tang by Amoghavajra (Bukong) calls them “Lion Palace, Maiden Palace, Balance Palace, Scorpion Palace, Bow Palace, Makara Palace, Vase Palace, Fish Palace, Ram Palace, Bull Palace, ‘Lovers’ Palace’ (whose deities are like husband and wife, i.e. Gemini), Crab Palace”. However, traditional Chinese astronomy divided the sky mainly by the twenty-eight lunar lodges and the twelve Jupiter stations (ci), and the twelve signs never replaced the native systems.

補充：太陽星座只是西方占星中的一項因素。報刊上的「星座運程」只按太陽星座把人分成十二類，是二十世紀報刊興起後的產物，與傳統占星的完整論法相差甚遠。Note: The Sun sign is only one factor in Western astrology. Newspaper “horoscopes”, which sort people into twelve types by Sun sign alone, are a product of the rise of the popular press in the twentieth century and differ greatly from the full methods of traditional astrology.

參考資料References

1. Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, ed. and trans. F. E. Robbins. Loeb Classical Library 435. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1940.
2. Theony Condos, Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook. Grand Rapids: Phanes Press, 1997.（收《星座變形記》與許吉努斯相關篇章英譯）Theony Condos, Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook. Grand Rapids: Phanes Press, 1997. (Contains English translations of the relevant chapters of the Catasterismi and Hyginus.)
3. Ian Ridpath, Star Tales. Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 1988.
4. Aratus, Phaenomena, ed. and trans. Douglas Kidd. Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries 34. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
5. Robin Hard (trans.), Eratosthenes and Hyginus: Constellation Myths, with Aratus’s Phaenomena. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
6. Ovid, Fasti, trans. James G. Frazer, rev. G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 253. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1931; 2nd ed. 1989.
7. Ovid, Metamorphoses, trans. Frank Justus Miller, rev. G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 42–43. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1916; 3rd ed. 1977–1984.
8. Hermann Hunger and David Pingree, MUL.APIN: An Astronomical Compendium in Cuneiform. Archiv für Orientforschung Beiheft 24. Horn: Ferdinand Berger & Söhne, 1989.
9. Francesca Rochberg, The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
10. Nicholas Campion, A History of Western Astrology, 2 vols. London: Continuum, 2008–2009.
11. 江曉原《星占學與傳統文化》。上海：上海古籍出版社，1992。Jiang Xiaoyuan, Xingzhanxue yu chuantong wenhua (Astrology and Traditional Culture). Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 1992.