Pisces (constellation)

Originally posted to Shrubbery,18 Oct 2003

Pisces, the twelfth zodiacal constellation, is said to represent two fish tied together at the tails.

At one point in the fight between the Olympians and the Titans, Aphrodite (goddess of love) and her son (or, some say, attendant) Eros were threatened by the hundred-headed giant Typhon (father of such delights as the Hydra, the Nemean Lion, the Chimera, the Sphinx, Cerberus, and Ladon). In order to prevent the Titan from separating them, the two gods tied themselves together by the ankles using Aphrodite's golden girdle (girdle in this case being basically a belt, as opposed to a Playtex prison) and then jumped into the Nile river to escape. They changed into fish and were able to swim away to safety.

Incidentally, Zeus later buried the monster Typhon under Mount Etna. It's said that his stirrings and rumblings are responsible for its volcanic activity even now.