Καρκίνος
Karkinos

Greek noun

Last edited: 2024-10-21
Primary meaning Cancer
Literal translation crab
Variants
Καρκίνος Karkinos
Edited by

Cancer constellation

ἔστι δὲ ἐν τούτῳ τὰ μέσα τοῦ Καρκίνου καὶ τὰ διὰ τοῦ σώματος κατὰ μῆκος τοῦ Λέοντος

‘In it (sc. the Tropic of Cancer) are the middle of Cancer and the width-wise cross-section of the body of Leo’

— Eudoxus apud Hipparchus 1.2.18

Genre: astronomy
Date: 4th cent. BCE


Cancer zodiac sign

ζωϊδίων δέ ἑ κύκλον ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν· τῷ ἔνι Καρκίνος ἐστί (...) 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 (...) 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.’

— Aratus, Phainomena 543–552

Genre: astronomy
Date: mid 3rd cent. 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

Καρκίνος εὐδεινός. κατὰ μέρος δὲ ἐπὶ τοὺς δύο ἀστέρας τοὺς πρώτους νοταπηλιωτικοὺς εὐτελής, φθαρτικός, πνιγώδης, σεισμοποιός· ἀπὸ δὲ τούτων μέχρι μοίρας ιʹ ποιεῖ τὸν ἀέρα κάθυγρον, καυματώδη (...) τὰ δεξιὰ εὐτελῆ καὶ φθαρτικά. (...) ἔστι δὲ οἶκος Σελήνης, θηλυκόν, τροπικόν, ὡροσκόπος κόσμου, δοῦλον, κατωφερές, ἄφωνον, ὑδατῶδες, ἀγαθόν, εὐμετάβολον, δημόσιον, ὀχλικόν, πολιτικόν, πολύγονον, ἀμφίβιον.

‘Cancer is mild; as for the part at its first two, southeastern stars, it is worthless, destructive, stifling, earthquake-causing, but from these up to 10 degrees it makes the air moist and hot (...); the right-hand parts are worthless and destructive. (...) It is a house of the Moon, a feminine (sign), tropic, the ascendant (horoskopos) of the cosmos, a slave (sic), descending, unvoiced, watery, good, variable, of the (common) people, of the crowd, political, fertile, amphibious’

— Vettius Valens 1.2.32–33, 37

Genre: astrological treatise
Date: 2nd century CE


crab animal

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Peeters, T., & Zellmann-Rohrer, M. (2024). Καρκίνος (Lemma #93). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/93/

Chicago (Author-Date)
Peeters, T., & Zellmann-Rohrer, M. (2024). Καρκίνος (Lemma #93). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/93/

MLA (9th)
Peeters, T., & Zellmann-Rohrer, M. (2024). Καρκίνος (Lemma #93). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/93/

Harvard
Peeters, T. and Zellmann-Rohrer, M. (2024) Καρκίνος (Lemma #93), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/93/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).

BibTeX
@misc{zodiac93,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Peeters, Thomas and Zellmann-Rohrer, Michael},
	year = {2024},
	title = {Καρκίνος ({Lemma} #93)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/93/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/93/},
}