Leo – The Ancient Greek Myth Behind the Zodiac Sign

The lion, symbol for the zodiac sign of Leo

July 23 – August 22

The zodiac sign of Leo represents the lion and is associated with the Nemean lion of Greek mythology, the first of the twelve labours of Greek hero, Heracles.

(Read the Leo myth further down the post)

Ancient Greeks and astrology

The consellation of Leo was first noted by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy, in the 2nd century, along with all the other constellations of the zodiac.

The mysterious night sky thrilled the ancient Greek astrologers who played a huge role in what we now know today about the shape and size of the Earth, the moon, the position of constellations and how they move and their correlation with the stars around them.

They were able to use this information to make detailed predictions, what we know of today as horoscopes.

12 Zodiac Constellations

In ancient Greece each one of the twelve signs of the zodiac (the word zodiac comes from a Greek word meaning, “The circle of animals” meaning all living creatures), related to one of the four elements: earth, air, fire and water and identified with twelve constellations, seen in the night sky at different times of the year.

With the exception of Libra, each zodiac sign relates to a Greek myth concerning animals or humans, telling how each group of stars arrived in the heavens.

The twelve zodiac signs and their symbols

Symbols of the 12 signs of the zodiac

Aries – Ram. March 21 – April 19

Taurus – Bull. April 20 – May 20

Gemini -The twins. May 21 – June 20

Cancer – Crab. June 21 – July 22

Leo – Lion. July 23 – August 22

Virgo – Virgin. August 23 – September 22

Libra – The scales. September 23 – October 22

Scorpio – Scorpion. October 23 – November 21

Sagittarius – Centaur. November 22 – December 21

Capricorn – Goat. December 22 – January 19

Aquarius – Water bearer. January 20 – February 18

Pisces – Fish. February 19 – March 20

The Zodiac Sign of Leo

Leo, with Leo Minor above, as depicted in Urania’s Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London c.1825.

5th sign of the zodiac

July 21 to August 22

Symbol: Lion

Element: Fire

Ruling Panet Sun

Leo by Artanjo. Zodiac Art

In the sky six bright stars form the sickle of Leo representing the lion’s head:

Regulus (Alpha Leonis); the brightest star in the constellation, marks the beast’s heart; Denebola (Beta Leonis) marks the tip of the lion’s tail; Algieba (Gamma Leonis) lies on the lion’s neck (even though its name means the forehead) and Zosma (Delta Leonis) marks the lion’s rump.

The Sickle of Leo

The ancient Greek myth Behind the Zodiac Sign of Leo:

Greek hero Hercules and the Nemean Lion

Hercules was the result of an illicit affair between Zeus; King of the Gods of Mount Olympus and Alcmene; who was nothing but a mere mortal.

It was bad enough for Hera, Zeus’s wife, to know she was married to an unfaithful old goat but to see the living proof of his infidelity right under her nose every day, in the shape of Hercules, whom she hated, made her blood boil.

The Farnese Hercules a copy of original by Lysippos
Copy made for Baths of Carac, Rome. 261 AD

Hera, Queen of the heavens, Goddess of marriage, women and childbirth, daughter of Cronus and Rhea, was out for revenge, and poor Hercules was the one about to pay.

Hercules, it seems was no angel either; after killing his music teacher, Linus, with a lyre, he was sent to tend cattle in the mountains.

Later, whilst living in Thebes, he fell in love with Megara, daughter of Creon, King of Thebes, whom he married and went on to have children with.

For Hera out of sight did not mean out of mind and with her super powers she managed to get inside Hercules’ head and sent him completely crazy, where upon, in a fit of frenzy, Hercules murdered his wife and children.

To atone for his crime, King Eurystheus of Tiryns assigned to Hercules, his famous twelve labours, the first of his twelve labours was to kill the Nemean Lion.

Pieter Paul Reubens Hercules and the Nemean Lion

Pieter Paul Rubens – Hercules and the Nemean Lion

Hercules was instructed by Eurystheus to bring him the pelt of the Nemean lion, which was said to roam the hillsides around Nemea, taking women to his cave as hostages where he would then lay in wait for their rescuers to appear.

Once the brave rescuers entered the lion’s den in search of the kidnapped maidens, the lion hid the hapless women at the back of his cave.

The lion then transformed himself into the likeness of the maidens and the moment the rescuerscame close, he grabbed them by the neck, gobbled them up and gave their bones to Hades (God of the Underworld).

Hercules arrived in Cleonea, near Nemea, where he lodged with a poor shepherd, Molorchus, who had lost his son to the lion.

Molorchus offered to sacrifice a ram to assure success for Hercules’ mission but Hercules refused saying, “No, wait thirty days, if I return with the lion’s pelt, we will sacrifice the ram to Zeus, my father, King of the Gods, if I don’t return, sacrifice the ram to me, as a hero”.

Temple of Zeus, Ancient Nemea

After tracking the lion for days Hercules found his arrows were useless; the lion’s pelt was impervious to all weapons.

After many days and much ado Hercules managed to back the lion into its cave, blocking one entrance, (Of which there were two) and entering through the other, whacked the lion unconscious with his club and strangled it with his bare hands.

Hercules’s elation at slaying the lion was short lived; when he discovered that no way could he skin the lion with his knife, no matter how hard he tried.

Athena, Goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, who had been watching Hercules’ efforts, suggested he use one of the lions own claws to remove the pelt.

This he did with great success and returned, with the pelt, to Molorchus, where they triumphantly sacrificed a ram to Zeus.

Hera, in reward for its courageous attempt to kill Hercules, placed the lion amongst the stars as Leo.

Leo symbol c. 1440-1450 Book of Hours, the Fastolf Master, Bodleian Library, Oxford

Personality traits of Leo

Leo the Lion

Leo is a fire sign, as are Aries and sagittarius, which makes them warm hearted, in love with life, able to use their minds to solve even the most difficult problems and take the initiative in resolving complicated situations.

They are forever in search for self-awareness and constantly feeding their ego.

They can easily ask for everything they need but in their desire for personal gain or status they can just as easily, neglect the needs of others.

People born under the sign of Leo are natural born leaders.

They are dramatic, creative, self-confident, dominant and extremely difficult to resist and are able to achieve anything they want to in any area of life they commit to, using their strength and “king of the jungle” status.

Leo often has many friends for they are generous and loyal, self-confident and attractive.

This sun sign is capable of uniting different groups of people and leading them as one towards a shared cause and their healthy sense of humor makes collaboration with other people even easier.