Ἰχθύες

Ἀνδρομέδα, τὸν μὲν ἀριστερὸν ὦμον ἔχουσα τῶν Ἰχθύων ὑπὲρ τοῦ πρὸς βορρᾶν, τὴν δὲ ζώνην ὑπὲρ τοῦ Κριοῦ, πλὴν τὸ Τρίγωνον, ὅ ἐστι μεταξύ· τὸν δ’ ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ ἀστέρα κοινὸν ἔχει τῷ τῆς κοιλίας τοῦ Ἵππου

‘Andromeda, with her left shoulder above the northern part of the Fish (i.e. Pisces), her girdle above Aries, except for the Triangle, which is in between, and she shares the star in her head with that of the belly of the Horse’

ζωϊδίων δέ ἑ κύκλον ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν· τῷ ἔνι Καρκίνος ἐστί, Λέων ἐπὶ τῷ, μετὰ δ’ αὐτὸν Παρθένος· αἱ δ’ ἐπί οἱ Χηλαὶ καὶ Σκορπίος αὐτὸς Τοξευτής τε καὶ Αἰγόκερως, ἐπὶ δ’ Αἰγοκερῆϊ Ὑδροχόος· δύο δ’ αὐτῷ ἔπ’ Ἰχθύες ἀστερόεντες, τοὺς δὲ μέτα Κριός, Ταῦρος δ’ ἐπὶ τῷ Δίδυμοί τε. ἐν τοῖς ἠέλιος φέρεται δυοκαίδεκα πᾶσιν πάντ’ ἐνιαυτὸν ἄγων, καί οἱ περὶ τοῦτον ἰόντι κύκλον ἀέξονται πᾶσαι ἐπικάρπιοι ὧραι.

‘They call it (sc. the ecliptic) by the name 'Circle of the figurines': in it is Cancer, after that there is Leo, after that is Virgo, and after that, the Claws and Scorpio itself, Sagittarius and Capricorn, and after Capricorn, Aquarius, and after it, the two starry Fishes (i.e. Pisces), and after them Aries, and after it Taurus and Gemini. In all twelve of them the Sun moves along as it passes each year, and as it goes around this circle, all the seasons wax fruitful.’

Ἔστι δὲ καὶ τὰ ιβʹ ζῴδια τάδε· Κριός, Ταῦρος, Δίδυμοι, Καρκίνος, Λέων, Παρθένος, Ζυγός, Σκορπίος, Τοξότης, Αἰγόκερως, Ὑδροχόος, Ἰχθύες.

‘And the 12 zodiac signs are these: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.’

Ἰχθύες εἰσὶν ἐν οὐρανῷ θῆλυ, κάθυγρον, πάρυγρον, δίσωμον, πολύγονον, λειχηνῶδες, λεπιδωτόν, νευρῶδες, κυρτωτόν, ἀλφῶδες, δίμορφον, ἄφωνον, πολυκίνητον, λεπρῶδες, ἀντικείμενον ἑαυτῷ διὰ τὸ τὸν μὲν νότιον εἶναι, τὸν δὲ βόρειον· ἔστι δὲ καὶ κάθυγρον, κατωφερές, δουλικόν, εὐμετάβολον, πολύγονον, δίσωμον, συνουσιαστικόν, μελοκοπούμενον, πλάνης αἴτιον, ποικίλον

‘Pisces is a feminine (zodiac sign) in the heavens, moist, of the waterside, two-bodied, fertile, cankerous, scaly, sinewy, hunchbacked, spotted, two-formed, unvoiced, much-moved, leprous, in self-opposition on account of the one (part) being southerly and the other northerly. It is also moist, descending, of slaves, variable, fertile, two-bodied, sociable (or, promiscuous)’

ἔστι δ’ ὁ μὲν θερινὸς κατὰ καρκίνον, ὁ δὲ χειμερινὸς κατ’ αἰγόκερων. καὶ προσγειότατος μὲν ὢν ἡμῖν ὁ καρκίνος εὐλόγως τῇ προσγειοτάτῃ Σελήνῃ ἀπεδόθη, ἀφανοῦς δ’ ἔτι ὄντος τοῦ νοτίου πόλου τῷ μακρὰν ἔτι ἀφεστηκότι καὶ ἀνωτάτῳ τῶν πλανωμένων πάντων ὁ αἰγόκερως ἀπεδόθη. καὶ ἔχουσί γε ἐφεξῆς αἱ θέσεις τῶν ζῳδίων· ἀπὸ μὲν καρκίνου εἰς αἰγόκερων πρῶτα μὲν λέοντα οἶκον Ἡλίου, εἶτα παρθένον Ἑρμοῦ, ζυγὸν δὲ Ἀφροδίτης, σκορπίον δὲ Ἄρεος, τοξότην Διός, αἰγόκερων Κρόνου· ἀπὸ δ’ αἰγόκερω ἔμπαλιν ὑδροχόον Κρόνου, ἰχθύας Διός, Ἄρεος κριόν, ταῦρον Ἀφροδίτης, διδύμους Ἑρμοῦ, καὶ Σελήνης λοιπὸν καρκίνον. δύο οὖν ταύτας ἔθεντο πύλας καρκίνον καὶ αἰγόκερων οἱ θεολόγοι, Πλάτων δὲ δύο στόμια ἔφη· τούτων δὲ καρκίνον μὲν εἶναι δι’ οὗ κατίασιν αἱ ψυχαί, αἰγόκερων δὲ δι’ οὗ ἀνίασιν

‘The summer(-tropic) is in Cancer, and the winter(-tropic) is in Capricorn. Cancer, being closest to us on earth, has with good reason been assigned to the Moon; as the south pole is invisible, Capricorn has been assigned to the far-distant and uppermost of the planets (sc. Saturn). The sequential positions of the zodiac signs are as follows: from Cancer to Capricorn, first of all Leo as house of the Sun, then Virgo as that of Mercury, Libra as that of Venus, Scorpio as that of Mars, Sagittarius as that of Jupiter, Capricorn as that of Saturn; and backwards from Capricorn, Aquarius as that of Saturn, Pisces as that of Jupiter, Aries as that of Mars, Taurus as that of Venus, Gemini as that of Mercury, and the remaining Cancer as that of the Moon. The theologians have set Cancer and Capricorn as the two gates (sc. of the heavens), but Plato said that they were two mouths, and that of them Cancer is the one through which souls descend, and Capricorn, through which they ascend.’