The Sea-Goat by JoeJarrah

DAZ|Studio • Mythology • posted on Feb 18, 2020

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Description

Though it's very faint, the constellation of Capricorn has been represented by the sea-goat since the Bronze Age. It was associated with the Sumerian god of wisdom and waters, Enki, who was sometimes depicted as half fish, later becoming Ea in Babylonian myth, symbolised by the "goat-fish". In Greek mythology, the constellation became identified as Amalthea, the goat that suckled the infant Zeus after he was saved from being devoured by Cronos. Other Greek sources have it as Pricus, the rather sad father of the race of intelligent sea-goats favoured by the gods. When Pricus' kids (pardon the pun) found themselves on dry land they turned into normal goats, losing their ability to think and speak. In an effort to prevent this, Pricus turned back time over and again to no avail. As he was immortal, he must spend eternity in the sky as Capricorn. In later classical myth Capricornus is also sometimes identified as the goat-like Pan, who saved himself from the Typhon by becoming part fish and diving into the water. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn and associated with Blue Topaz, garnet, agate, dark green and blue.