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Cancer · Zodiac Spirit Animal

Cancer Spirit Animal

Cancer the Crab: Babylonian origins as AL.LUL (the crab or crayfish), the Greek myth of the giant crab sent by Hera to harass Heracles during the Lernaean Hydra labor, and the modern zodiac-animal associations.

Published

Engraved illustration of the Crab (Cancer) from Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary, 1908.
Cancer the Crab, from Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (1908). In Greek myth, Hera sent the crab to distract Heracles during his battle with the Hydra; the constellation's position at the summer solstice in Ptolemy's era gave it particular calendrical importance. Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (1908). Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Cancer is the Crab (June 21 – July 22, Water element). Babylonian MUL.APIN names the sign AL.LUL (crab or crayfish). The Greek myth: Hera sent a giant crab to harass Heracles during his second labor (defeating the Lernaean Hydra); Heracles crushed it, and Hera catasterized it. Apollodorus Library 2.5.2 and Pseudo-Eratosthenes Catasterismi preserve the narrative.

Cancer is the Crab. Babylonian AL.LUL. The Greek catasterism narrative has Hera placing the crab crushed by Heracles among the stars as the zodiacal Cancer (Apollodorus 2.5.2).

Frequently asked

What animal is Cancer?
The Crab. Babylonian AL.LUL (crab or crayfish) in MUL.APIN. The Greek myth catasterizes the crab sent by Hera against Heracles during the Lernaean Hydra labor (Apollodorus 2.5.2, Pseudo-Eratosthenes Catasterismi).

Sources

  1. PRIMARYMUL.APIN (AL.LUL) — Hunger & Pingree, 1989.
  2. PRIMARYApollodorus, Library 2.5.2 — Loeb Classical Library.
  3. PRIMARYPseudo-Eratosthenes, Catasterismi — Hard trans., Oxford World's Classics, 2015.
  4. PRIMARYPtolemy, Tetrabiblos — Loeb Classical Library.