Ptolemy: Capricorn
A busy chapter, touching on several odd bits of constellation history.
The Romans of Imperial times saw the figure of Capricorn not as a fusion of goat and fish, but as the goat-horned satyr-god Pan. . . with a fishtail. Same stars; just a different figure overlaid on them. We have some ‘just-so’ stories to justify this.
In scanning the Eagle, we pass over Antinoüs, an attempt to create a new constellation by Imperial decree — a ‘must-so’ story, if you will.
Finally, we submit the stars as suggestive of an hypothesized history of the Goat-Fish.
A busy chapter, indeed.
But one of our favorites.
So get busy, and enjoy!
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