Ταῦρος
Tauros

Greek noun

Last edited: 2024-10-21
Primary meaning Taurus
Literal translation bull
Variants
Ταῦρος Tauros
Edited by
Taurus constellation

κατέναντι δὲ τῆς κεφαλῆς τῆς Μεγάλης Ἄρκτου ὁ Ἡνίοχος ἔχει τοὺς ὤμους λοξὸς ὢν ὑπὲρ τοὺς πόδας τῶν Διδύμων, ἔχων τὸν δεξιὸν πόδα κοινὸν τῷ ἐν ἄκρῳ τῷ ἀριστερῷ κέρατι τοῦ Ταύρου

‘"Opposite the head of the Great Bear, the Charioteer, which stands at a slant, has its shoulders above the feet of the Twins (i.e. Gemini), sharing its right foot with the (star) at the tip of the left horn of the Bull (i.e. Taurus)"’

— Eudoxus apud Hipparchus 1.2.10

Genre: astronomy
Date: 4th century BCE
Taurus zodiac sign

ζωϊδίων δέ ἑ κύκλον ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν τῷ ἔνι Καρκίνος ἐστί (...) 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 (...) and after them Aries, and after it Taurus and Gemini’

— Aratus, Phaenomena 543–549

Genre: astronomy
Date: mid 3rd century BCE

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.’

— Geminus 1.2

Genre: astronomy
Date: 1st century BCE

Geminus. 1975. Géminos, Introduction aux Phénomènes, ed. G. Aujac. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 1

Ταῦρός ἐστι θηλυκόν, στερεόν, κείμενον ἐν τῇ ἐαρινῇ τροπῇ, ὀστῶδες, μελοκοπούμενον, ἀνατέλλον ἐκ τῶν ὀπισθίων, δῦνον δὲ ὀρθόν, οὗ τὸ πλεῖστον μέρος ἐν τῷ ἀφανεῖ κόσμῳ κεῖται

‘Taurus is a feminine (sign), firm, lying in the vernal equinox (lit. springtime turning), bony, with mutilated limbs, rising back to front, but setting vertically, whose greater part lies in the invisible part of the cosmos’

— Vettius Valens 1.2.8

Genre: astrological treatise
Date: 2nd century CE
bull animal
Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Peeters, T., & Zellmann-Rohrer, M. (2024). Ταῦρος (Lemma #91). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/91/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Peeters, T., & Zellmann-Rohrer, M. (2024). Ταῦρος (Lemma #91). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/91/
MLA (9th)
Peeters, T., & Zellmann-Rohrer, M. (2024). Ταῦρος (Lemma #91). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/91/
Harvard
Peeters, T. and Zellmann-Rohrer, M. (2024) Ταῦρος (Lemma #91), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/91/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac91,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Peeters, Thomas and Zellmann-Rohrer, Michael},
	year = {2024},
	title = {Ταῦρος ({Lemma} #91)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/91/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/91/},
}