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Capricornusthe Goat

Urania's Mirror 1825

Contents:1. Clues to the meaning of this celestial feature2. The fixed stars in this constellation3. History_of_the_constellation

Clues to the meaning of this celestial feature

CapricornusCapricornus represents the Winter Solstice (December 21st or 22nd) where the Sun, going south reachesits lowest point on the ecliptic, the Tropic, or turning, of Capricorn. There the Sun turns and starts to climb up,heading towards the northern hemisphere, and thereafter the Sun begins to appear higher and higher in thesky each day. An analogy can be drawn with this pattern and a goat climbing a mountain, because accordingto Olcott (p.116) that animal in feeding always ascends the hills, and is naturally a climbing animal. The sun inlike manner when it arrives at Capricorn begins to mount the sky, and hence the goat was adopted as asymbol of the apparent climbing motion of the sun, while the fish-tail was significant of the rains and floods ofthe winter season. The name Capricorn translates "horned goat" and denotes a male goat, or billy-goat, andis associated with two types of goats: the Mountain-Goat and the Sea-Goat.

The Sea-Goat is said to express the more esoteric nature of Capricorn. Manilius (Astronomica, p.267) inreferring to this sea-goat tail part of the figure says: "The last part of Capricorn, which consists of the sting atthe end of its tail, prescribes for its children service upon the seas and the handling of ships, a hardy callingand one which is ever close to death." See the word captaincaptain below, also the story below of AcoetesAcoetes,identified with this constellation, the captaincaptain of a pirate ship. Two named stars mark the tail of the Goat, theTwo Friends, the two were the "Bringer of Good Tidings"; gamma (, Nashira) and delta (, Deneb Algedi).

There are other goats in the constellations; the female goat or nanny-goat, Capra, is represented in the alphastar of the constellation Auriga, i.e. Capella. There are also two kid goats in Auriga; Hoedus 1, and Hoedus11, these words are from Latin haedus, 'kid, young goat', and cognate with the English word goatgoat.

CapraCapra is the term used for the goat genus. CapricornCapricorn, the he-goat, and the feminine Capella, the she-goatof Auriga, come from the Latin word capercaper, 'goat'. Latin caper comes from the Indo-European root *kapkap-roro-'He-goat, buck'. Derivatives: cabrioletcabriolet (a two-wheeled, one-horse carriage, French cabriole, 'leap of a goat,caper'), cabcab (car), capercaper11 (a playful leap or hop), caprinecaprine (characteristic of a goat), capriolecapriole (a playful leapor jump; a caper), chevrechevre (cheese made from goat's milk), chevronchevron (denotes rank on a uniform, an invertedV shape pattern, the inverted V peak shape of a roof of a house, or rafter), caproiccaproic acidacid (also known ashexanoic acid). [Pokorny kapro- 529. Watkins]

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hexanoic acid). [Pokorny kapro- 529. Watkins]

CaproicCaproic acid acid is a fatty acid found naturally in various animal fats and oils, and is one of the chemicals thatgives the decomposing fleshy seed coat of the ginkgoginkgo (gingko) its foul goaty smell [1].

Capricorn is from caper, 'goat', + cornu, horn, literally 'having horns similar to those of a goat', properly loantranslation of AigokerosAigokeros, the old Greek name for this constellation [Klein, Comprehensive EtymologicalDictionary]. The Capricorn Goat represents AigipanAigipan, "Goat Pan", a character distinct from Pan (some sayAigipan is identical with Pan), sometimes said to be the father of Pan, or a companion of Pan, and he hasbeen depicted together with Pan. When the gods fled from the monster Typhon and hid themselves in animalform, Aigipan assumed the form of a fish-tailed goat. According to Hyginus (Fab. 155) Aigipan was the son ofZeus and a goat, or of Zeus and Aega (Aix or Aex), the wife of Pan [2], who some think might be AixAmaltheia, identified with the star Capra (Capella) in the constellation Auriga.

The two goats of Yom Kippur might represent the dual nature of Capricorn, the climbing mountain goat andthe sea goat. On Yom Kippur, the festival of the Day of Atonement, two goats were chosen and lots weredrawn for them. One was sacrificed and the other allowed to escapeescape into the wilderness, symbolicallycarrying with it the sins of the community. From this comes the word 'scapegoatscapegoat'. When used as ametaphor, a scapegoat is someone selected to bear blame for a calamity [3]. The escapingescaping goat mightrelate to the theory that Capricorn is the 'Gate of the Gods' where one 'escapes' this life on earth. Accordingto Chaldaean and Platonist philosophy, Cancer was the 'Gate of Men' through which souls descended fromheaven into human bodies, or into creation. Its opposite sign CapricornCapricorn, represents the 'Gate of the Gods'where souls of the departed ascended back to heaven. Kuhn in The Lost Light explains;

"in the sign of Cancer the crab is emerging from the water and in Capricorn the goat (half goat orland animal, half fish or sea animal) is in the water".

To escapeescape as Klein explains originally meant 'to throw off the cowl', formed from ex- and Late Latin cappa,and he supplies these relatives of Latin cappa: capcap, capecape, caparisoncaparison, capelinecapeline, capuchecapuche, CapuchinCapuchin,cappuccino, cappuccino, chapechape, chapeauchapeau, chapelchapel, chapeletchapelet, chaperonchaperon, chapletchaplet, copecope (a long cloak), escapeescape,kepikepi (a peaked cap worn by soldiers).

A hood (capitulumcapitulum) is commonly called a capitularecapitulare. This is also called a cappacappa (i.e. anotherword for 'hood,' or perhaps 'kerchief'), because it has two tips like the letter kappa, or because itis an ornament for the head (caput). [The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, 7th century AD,p.390.]

Etymologists (Ayto and Chambers) say that Latin cappa is probably related to Indo-European *kaputkaput- 'Head',= life, a person, the top of anything, beginning (which may underlie Latin capilla, `hair'). Derivatives: headhead(from Old English hafod, head), caddiecaddie, cadetcadet, capcap, capecape (a point or head of land projecting into a body ofwater), capitalcapital, capitalcapital, capitationcapitation (a poll tax), capitellumcapitellum (the rounded protuberance at the lower end ofthe humerus in the arm that articulates with the radius), capitulatecapitulate, capitulumcapitulum, capricecaprice, captaincaptain, cattlecattle(properly neuter of the Latin adjective capitalis, 'pertaining to the head, chief '; 'head of cattle'), caudillocaudillo (aleader or chief, especially a military dictator), chapterchapter, chefchef, chiefchief, chieftainchieftain, corporalcorporal (the lowestnoncommissioned officer, French caporal), achieveachieve, bicepsbiceps, kerchiefkerchief, mischiefmischief, precipitateprecipitate (to throwfrom or as if from a great height; hurl downward: headlong, to cause to happen, especially suddenly orprematurely, rain and dew are called precipitation), tricepstriceps, capitcapit-, captcapt-, cepsceps-, chaptchapt-, chefchef, cipcip-, -cupcup-,cheiftaincheiftain, chapterchapter, captioncaption, capitolcapitol, capitacapita, cabbagecabbage, capitatecapitate, cadetcadet, bicepsbiceps, precipiceprecipice. [Pokornykap-ut- 529. Watkins]

The word precipitateprecipitate means to throw from or as if from a great height; hurl downward: headlong. AzazelAzazel isthe word translated as 'scapegoat', azazel is also the name of the cliff the goat was pushed over [4]. Thisgoat, with the sins of the people placed on it, was either sent over a cliff, or allowed to escape, or driven intothe wilderness to perish.

A leader or king was sometimes compared to amale goat leading the flock [5]; chiefchief or headhead. Theknees are the part of the human body which theCapricorn rules in astrology, a knee has a capcap, akneecapkneecap. Capricorn rules the 10th house inastrology, and in mundane astrology the 10thhouse represents the capitalcapital cities of countries. Ina personal astrological chart the midheavenrepresents the climax of one's achievementsachievements.The goat's aim is to reach the top of a mountainwhich is often cappedcapped with snow. When climbing,a goat can cleave onto the tiniest ledges with itscloven feet. It will carefully lean against the verticalincline before making the leap (Latin capercaper 'leap ofa goat') to the next precipiceprecipice.

Allen in Star Names mentions AcaetesAcaetes (AcoetesAcoetesor AcetesAcetes) in connection with Capricorn. Ovidtells the story of AcoetesAcoetes, who was the captaincaptainof a pirate ship, and was perceptive enough to

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of a pirate ship, and was perceptive enough torecognize a god in Bacchus/Dionysus. AcoetesAcoetestells how he climbed to the top of a high hill to see

what the wind promised before sailing. He was captured and taken to Pentheus who told him "O you who areabout to die, and, by your death, teach the others a lesson". Pentheus (whose name means pain) told hisattendants to put Acoetes in a dungeon and to torture him. Acoetes manages to escapeescape from his dungeon(Ovid's Metamorphosis).

Dabih was the title of the Arabic 20th manzil, the stars of which were alpha (Gieda Prima) and beta (Dabih)Capricorn. The influences of this Moon Mansion were: "Helps the escapeescape of servants and captives".

Goats have a hierarchical society, only the leader goat is allowed to mate with the females, the other males inthe herd accept this situation and remain bachelors. There is also the proverbially lusty goat. A Romandepiction of Eros riding on the back of an AigipanAigipan, the sea goat, of Capricorn. Eros represents erotic love.Eros riding a goat would be an allusion to the goat's lusty habits.

HircusHircus is a Latin term for a male he-goat; related to the word hirsutismhirsutism, the growth of excessive male-pattern hair on a woman:

The he-goat (hircushircus) is a lascivious animal, butting and always eager to mate; his eyes looksideways on account of wantonness, whence he has taken his name, for according to Suetonius(Prata, fr. 171), hirquihirqui are the corners of the eyes. His nature is so ardent that his blood by itselfdissolves adamantine stone [diamonds], which can be overpowered by neither fire nor iron.Larger he-goats are called cinyphii from the river Cinyps in Libya [meaning Africa], where they areborn large [The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, 7th century AD, p.247.]

The chevronchevron (from *kapkap-roro-) denotes rank on a uniform, an inverted V shape pattern,and male goats have what is described as a rank smell. Isidore says:

"Some call the armpits subhirci, 'undergoats' [sub-hircus], because in many peoplethey give off the rank smell of goats [6]. "Goatish (ircosus, i.e. hircosus), becauseone stinks with the fetid sweat of his body." [The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville,7th century AD, p.222].

An important feature of male goat which Capricorn represents is the very strong smellwhich is compared to human body odor. The word hercinehercine, "of or characteristic of agoat, especially in strong odor", is from the Latin word for the billy goat, hircus. The wordfetidfetid, or foetid foetid, is also believed to belong here. Valpy (An etymological dictionary of the Latin language,p.534) quoted Varro as saying the Latin word foeteo, or feteo, comes from the Sabines, an Italian tribe, andwas derived from hoedus, to smell like a goat. Isidore might have drawn from this source along with Vergil'sAeneid in the following quotation:

"Foul (foedus) takes its name from goats and kids (haedus, also spelled aedus), with the letter f added.The ancients would use this with a serious connotation, as (Vergil, Aen. 2.502): Defiling (foedare) withhis blood the fires that he himself had consecrated" [The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, 7th centuryAD, p.219.]

The word guttergutter, with its smelly connotations, is from Old English gotere, and believed by folk-etymology tobe a relative of 'goat', because in some English dialects a 'gutter' was spelled 'goat', 'got', 'goyt', and 'gowt'[Folk-etymology; 1882, Abram Palmer, p.146].

Latin also had the word tragus, "the smell of the armpits", from Greek tragos, a goat [Valpy, p.481]. Our wordtragedytragedy, goat-song, is derived from Greek tragos, "a singer competing for a he-goat as a prize", anotherexplanation is given by Ayto (Dictionary of Word Origins) "it is thought that the underlying reference may be toa sort of ancient Greek drama in which the chorus were dressed as satyrs, goatlike woodland deities",tragictragic, tragustragus, the pointed flap of cartilage that lies above the earlobe [7].

A Judas goatJudas goat is a goat trained to lead other goats to a place of slaughter, or a goat trained to find feral goatsthat are targeted for eradication. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Judas_goat

The astrological influences of the constellation given by Manilius:

"In her shrine Vesta tends your fires, Capricorn: and from her you derive your skills and callings.For whatever needs fire to function and demands a renewal of flame for its work must becounted as of your domain. To pry for hidden metals, to smelt out riches deposited in the veinsof the earth, to fold sure-handed the malleable massthese skills will come from you, as willaught which is fashioned of silver or gold. That hot furnaces melt iron and bronze, and ovensgive to the wheat its final form, will come as gifts from you. You also give a fondness for clothesand wares which dispel the cold, since your lot falls for all time in winter's season, wherein youshorten the nights you have brought to their greatest length and give birth to a new year byenlarging the daylight hours. Hence comes a restless quality in their lives and a mind which isoften changed and floats this way and that; the first half of the sign is the slave of Venus, and thatwith guilt involved, but a more virtuous old age is promised by the conjoined fish below."[Astronomica, Manilius, 1st century AD, book 4, p.241.]

Anne Wright 2008.

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Anne Wright 2008.

Fixed stars in CapricornusStar 1900 2000 R A Decl 2000 Lat Mag SpGiedi Prima alpha () 02AQU22 03AQU46 20h 17m 38.9s -12 30' 30" +06 59 37 4.55 G5Dahib beta () 02AQU39 04AQU03 20h 21m 0.7s -14 46' 53" +04 35 38 3.25 F8Alshat nu () 03AQU02 04AQU26 20h 20m 39.8s -12 45' 33" +06 34 52 4.80 A0Oculus pi () 03AQU19 04AQU43 20h 27m 19.2s -18 12' 42" +00 54 16 5.20 B8Bos rho () 03AQU46 05AQU10 20h 28m 51.6s -17 48' 49" +01 12 12 5.00 F1psi () 05AQU47 07AQU10 20h 46m 5.7s -25 16' 15" -07 01 18 4.26 F1omega () 06AQU35 07AQU58 20h 51m 49.3s -26 55' 9" -08 57 30 4.24 M1Armus eta () 11AQU21 12AQU44 21h 4m 24.3s -19 51' 18" -02 59 14 4.90 A4Dorsum theta () 12AQU27 13AQU51 21h 5m 56.8s -17 13' 58" -00 34 49 4.19 A0zeta () 15AQU33 16AQU56 21h 26m 40s -22 24' 41" -06 59 14 3.86 G4iota () 16AQU18 17AQU41 21h 22m 14.8s -16 50' 4" -01 21 46 4.30 G6Castra epsilon () 18AQU48 20AQU12 21h 37m 4.8s -19 27' 58" -04 58 21 4.70 B5Nashira gamma () 20AQU23 21AQU47 21h 40m 5.5s -16 39' 44" -02 33 09 3.80 F2Deneb Algedi delta () 22AQU08 23AQU33 21h 47m 2.4s -16 7' 38" -02 35 36 2.98 A5

Hevelius, Firmamentum, 1690

History of the constellation

from Star Names, 1889, Richard H. Allen

CapricornusCapricornus next to the eastward from Sagittarius, is our CapricornCapricorn, the French CapricorneCapricorne, the ItalianCapricornoCapricorno, and the, German SteinbockSteinbock, Stone-buck, or Ibex, the Anglo-Saxon BuccaBucca and BuccanBuccanHornHorn.

The common Latin name was varied by the CaperCaper of Ausonius, flexusflexus CaperCaper of Manilius, HircusHircus cornigercornigerof Vergil, hircinushircinus SidusSidus of Prudens, CapraCapra and aequorisaequoris HircusHircus, the Sea Goat; while Minpheu's "CapraCaprailla AmaltheaAmalthea indicates that it was identified by some with the goat usually assigned to Auriga. All this,doubtless, was from oriental legends, perhaps very ancient, which made Capricorn the nurse of the youthfulsun-god that long anticipated the story of the infant Jupiter and Amalthea. The Latin poets also designated itas MeptuniMeptuni prolesproles, Neptune's offspring; PelagiPelagi ProcellaProcella, the Ocean Storm; ImbriferImbrifer, the Rain-bringingOne; SignumSignum hiemalehiemale, and GelidusGelidus, because then at the winter solstice, the equivalent AthalpesAthalpesappearing with the Greeks, which Riccioli repeated as AthalpisAthalpis.

Aratos called it AigokerosAigokeros, the Horned Goat, to distinguish it from the Aix of Auriga (a female or nanny-goat),as did Ptolemy, but Ionic writers had Aigokereus and this word, Latinized as AegocerosAegoceros, was in frequent usewith all classical authors who wrote on astronomy. The Arabo-Latin Almagest of 1515 turned this intoAlcaucurusAlcaucurus, explained by habens cornua hirci; and Bayer mentioned (Page 136} AlcantarusAlcantarus. Eratosthenesknew it as Pan, and Aigi-Pan, the Goat-Footed Pan, half fishified, Smyth said, by his plunge into the Nile in apanic at the approach of the monster Typhon; the same story being told of Bacchus, so that he, too, alwayswas associated with its stars.

In Persia it was BushgaliBushgali, BahiBahi or VahikVahik, and GoiGoi; in the Pahlavi tongue, NahiNahi; in Turkey, UghlakUghlak; in Syria,GadjoGadjo; and in Arabia, AlAl JadyJady, usually written by us GiediGiedi; all meaning the Goat, or, in the latter country, theBadan, or Ibex, known to zoologists as Capra beden. Burritt's TowerTower ofof GadGad, at first sight presumablyHebrew, would seem rather to be a bungled translation [The Arabic word Burj signifies both Constellation andTower, or Fortress] from the Arabic, and in no way connected with the Jewish tribe. Riccioli had ElgediElgedi,ElgeudiElgeudi, and GadioGadio.

ElgeudiElgeudi, and GadioGadio.

Very frequent mention was made of this constellation in early days, for the Platonists held that the souls ofmen, when released from corporeity, ascended to heaven through its stars, whence it was called thethe GateGateofof thethe GodsGods; their road of descent having been through Cancer. But some of the Orientals knew it as theSouthernSouthern GateGate ofof thethe SunSun, as did the Latins in their alteraaltera SolisSolis PortaPorta. Berossos (the Babylonianhistorian Berossos, about 200 BC) is reported by Seneca to have learned from the old books of Sargon [thisSargon has been considered the almost mythical founder of the first Semitic empire, 3850 BC.] that the worldwould be destroyed by a great conflagration when all the planets met in this sign.

Numa Pompilius, the second mythical king of Rome, whose date has been asserted as from 715 to 673B.C., began the year when the sun was in the middle of Capricorn, and when the day had lengthened by halfan hour after the winter solstice.

In astrology, with Taurus and Virgo, it was the EarthlyEarthly TrigonTrigon, and black, russet, or a swarthy brown, wasthe color assigned to it; while, with Aquarius, it was the HouseHouse ofof SaturnSaturn, as that planet was created in thisconstellation, and whenever here had great influence over human affairs; as Alchabitus asserted, in theYsagogicus of 1485, caput et pedes habet; and it always governed the thighs and knees. It also was regardedas under the care of the goddess Vesta, and hence VestaeVestae SidusSidus. Ampelius singularly associated it with theburning south wind Auster, and Manilius said that it reigned over France, Germany, and Spain; in later times itruled Greece, India, Macedonia, and Thrace, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg, {Page 137} Saxony and Wilna,Mexico and Oxford. Manilius also wrote of it as in our motto,

And at Caesar's Birth Serene he shone.

The almanac of 1386 has: "Whoso is borne in Capcorn schal be ryche and wel lufyd"; in 1542 the Doctor, asArcandum was called, showed that a man born under it would be a great gallant, would have eight specialillnesses, and would die at sixty; and according to Smyth it was "the very pet of all constellations withastrologers, having been the fortunate sign under which Augustus and Vespasian were born," althoughelsewhere, in somewhat uncourtly style, he quotes: "prosperous in dull and heavy beasts." It also appears tohave been much and favorably regarded by the Arabians, as may be seen in their names for its chief stars,and in the character assigned by them to its lunar mansions. But these benign qualities were only occasional,caused probably by some lucky combination with a fortunate sign, as is known only to the initiated, for itsgeneral reputation was the reverse; and, in classical days, when coincident with the sun, it was thought aharbinger of storms and so ruler of the waters, Horace's

tyrannus Hesperiae Capricornus undae.

Aratos had clearly showed this long before:

Then grievous blasts

Break southward on the sea, when coincide

The Goat and sun; and then a heaven-sent cold.

Ovid expressed much the same opinion in connection with the story of AcaetesAcaetes (AcoetesAcoetes or AcetesAcetes); butages before them this seems to have been said of it on Euphratean tablets.

Caesius and Postellus are authority for its being AzazelAzazel, the Scapegoat of Leviticus; although Caesius alsomentioned it as SimonSimon ZelotesZelotes, the Apostle. Suetonius in his Life of Augustus, and Spanheim in his DeNummis, said that Capricorn was shown on silver coins of that emperor, commemorating the fact that it washis natal sign; and it always has been regarded in astrology as the MansionMansion ofof KingsKings. It is seen, too, on acoin found in Kent, struck by the British prince Amminius, and was the most frequent of the zodiacal figureson uranographic amulets of the 14th and 15th centuries, "worn as a kind of astral defensive armor."

Its figuring generally has been consistent, and as we now see it, with the head and body of a goat, or ibex,ending in a fish's, tail. Manuscripts from the 2nd to the 15th century show it thus; a Syrian seal of 187 BC. hasit in the same way; as also an early Babylonian gem, surmounted, not {Page 138} inappropriately, by thecrescent moon, for Capricorn was a nocturnal sign; and the same figure is on a fragment of a Babylonianplanisphere, now in the British Museum, supposed to be of the 12th century B.C. So that this may beconsidered its original form, in full agreement with its amphibious character, and with some resemblance, inthe grouping of the chief stars, to a goat's horns and a fish's tail. From this figuring Camoes, in Os Lusiadasof 1572, called it the SemiSemi-CapranCapran FishFish, as it now is with us the GoatGoat-FishFish and the SeaSea GoatGoat. Still attimes it has been a complete goat-like animal, and was so considered by Aratos, Eratosthenes, and Ptolemy,as by the more modern Albumasar, Kazwini, Ulug Beg, and in occasional mediaeval manuscripts. It was thusshown on some Egyptian zodiacs; although on that of Denderah it appears in its double form, where "an ibis-headed man rides on Capricomus, under which sign Sirius rose anti-heliacally"; the ibis being sacred to Isis,with which Sirius was identified. Still differently, a silver bowl from Burma engraved with the Brahmin zodiac,probably copied from original sources, makes the Fish entire in Capricorn, and omits the Goat; while Jensensays that in Babylonia the Goat and Fish, both complete, were occasionally used together for theconstellation.

Jewish Rabbis asserted that the tribe of Naphtali adopted this sign as their banner emblem, "Naphtali is ahind let loose," as if Capricorn were a deer, or antelope; others ascribed it to Benjamin, or to Reuben; butAquarius more fitly represented the latter.

Aquarius more fitly represented the latter.

Some connect the sign in Egyptian astronomy with ChnumChnum, ChnemuChnemu, GnoumGnoum, or KnumKnum, the God of theWaters, associated with the rising of the Nile and worshiped in Elephantine at the Cataracts, this divinitybearing goat's, not ram's, horns. Others have said that it was the goat-god MendesMendes; and La Lande cited thestrange title OxirinqueOxirinque from the Greek adjective descriptive of a SwordfishSwordfish, our constellation sometimesbeing thus shown, when it was considered the cause of the inundation. In Coptic Egypt it was Opeutus,Brachium Sacrificii; and Miss Clerke says that it was figured in that country as a MirrorMirror, emblematic of life.

Earlier Hindu names were MrigaMriga and MakaraMakara, the Cingalese MakraMakra and the Tamil MakaramMakaram, anAntelope; but occasionally it was shown with a goat's head upon the body of a hippopotamus, signifyingsome amphibious creature, and a later term was ShiShi-shushu-maramara or SimSim-shushu-maramara, the Crocodile, althoughthis originally was marked by stars of Draco. Varaha Mihira took his title for it, AkokeraAkokera, from the Greeks;and it was the last in order of the zodiacal signs of India, as on the Euphrates. In the Aztec calendar itappeared as CipactliCipactli, with a figure like that of the narwhal.

{Page 139} It was the zodiacal BullBull, or OxOx, of Chinese astronomy, that later became MoMo KiKi, the Goat-Fish.Williams says that, with stars of Sagittarius, it was SingSing KiKi, the Starry Record, and with a part of AquariusHiuenHiuen hiauhiau; while in very early days, with Aquarius and Sagittarius, it was the BarkBark WarriorWarrior, etc., the so-called Northern one of the four large divisions of the zodiac. Flammarion asserts that Chinese astronomerslocated among its stars a conjunction of the five planets 2449 B.C.

Sayce, Bosanquet, and others think that they have without doubt identified it with the Assyrian MunakhaMunakha, theGoat-Fish; and we see other probable names in ShahShah or ShahuShahu, the Ibex, and in NiruNiru, the Yoke, this lastperhaps a popular one. Brown gives for it the Akkadian SuSu-tultul of the same meaning; and another possibletitle, resembling the early Hindu, was MakharMakhar, claimed also for Delphinus. It seems likewise to have beenknown as the DoubleDouble ShipShip. Jensen says that "the amphibious Ia Oannes of the Persian Gulf was connectedwith the constellation Capricomus"; Sayce, that a cuneiform inscription designates it as the FatherFather ofof LightLight, a title which, astronomically considered, could not have been correct except about 15,000 years ago, whenthe sun was here at the summer solstice; that "the goat was sacred and exalted into this sign"; and that arobe of goatskins was the sacred dress of the Babylonian priests. So that, although we do not know whenCapricomus came into the zodiac, we may be confident that it was millenniums ago, perhaps in prehistoricdays. It was identified with the 10th Assyrian month Dhabitu, corresponding to December-January.

Its symbol, , usually is thought to be tr, the initial letters of tragos, Goat, but La Lande said that it representsthe twisted tail of the creature; and Brown similarly calls it "a conventional representation of a fish-tailed goat."Indeed it is not unlike the outline of these stars on a celestial globe.

The sun is in the constellation from the 18th of January to the 14th of February, when, as Dante wrote in theParadiso,

The horn of the celestial goat doth touch the sun;

and Milton mentions the latter's low elevation during this time,

Thence down amain

= As deep as Capricorn.

The title Tropic of Capricorn, originating from the fact that when first observed the point of the winter solsticewas located here, now refers to the sign and not to the constellation, this solstice at present being 33 to thewestward, in the figure of Sagittarius, near its star mu.

{Page 140} Capricorn is, after Cancer, the most inconspicuous in the zodiac, and chiefly noticeable for theduplicity of its lucida.

[Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning, Richard H. Allen, 1889.]