Taurus

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann, Youla Azkarrula, Doris Vickers, IanRidpath

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Taurus, The Bull, modern definition. credit: IAU and Sky & Telescope

One of the 88 IAU constellations. For the star cluster-asterisms of the Pleiades and the Hyades see separate entry.

Etymology and History

Taurus as drawn on a clay tablet (VAT 7851) from Seleucid time, new drawing published by Hoffmann (2025).

Mesopotamian terms in the sign of Taurus; the diagram shows that the terminology was changed around 300 BCE (Hoffmann and Hunger 2024).

Taurus sign with drawings of Pleiades (Bristle), Hyades (Chariot), Bull, and the Moon during a total lunar eclipse in the Moon's hypsoma; drawing by Hoffmann (2025)

The shape of a bull is quite easily recognisable in the sky in this asterism. Two open star clusters stand out prominently: the Hyades and the Pleiades. They are sometimes seen as the pillars of a gate through which the sun, moon and planets pass. By adding further stars, they become the figure of half a bull. Greek mythology explains the absence of the back of the bull by the fact that it is swimming.

In reality, of course, the zodiacal constellation - like all the others - is taken from Mesopotamia.

Kugel Globe: Auriga and Taurus (drawing by SMH 2024)

Origin of Constellation

Originally, the celestial bull is part of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was king of Sumer, the southern part of Mesopotamia, in the 3rd millennium. It is unclear how long this king actually lived and ruled, but he is documented in a list of kings. Perhaps several kings (of the same name) are mixed up there. The figure of Gilgamesh in literature symbolises a number of cultural upheavals or as a founder of culture.

The most important city in Sumer was Uruk, whose city goddess is Inanna/Ishtar. After Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu had already performed other heroic deeds, they fight together in Uruk against the celestial bull sent by Ishtar: the bull belonged to Ishtar's father, the sky god Anu, and was therefore a deity or mythical creature. The heroes succeed in defeating the beast when Enkidu grabs the bull from behind and Gilgamesh grabs it from the front. This explains the bisected constellation.

Some researchers see the Mesopotamian constellations Hired Man (today: Aries) and True Shepherd of the Heavens (today: Orion) as a representation of this bullfight between Enkidu (Hired Man on the invisible hindquarters of the bull) and Gilgamesh. The figure of Orion stretches out one hand towards the bull's head and, according to the Almagest, swings a club with the other as if to hit the bull between the horns - as reported in the Epic of Gilgamesh (tablet 6). In addition, the shepherd figure (for humans) is a metaphor for rulers, which can be traced back to Sumerian times for kings and lives on today in the symbolism of Christian bishops. However, the divine shepherd is typically Dumuzi, Ishtar's husband, assigned to the labourer's constellation. The connection between the constellations Ori-Tau-Ari is therefore very speculative without written evidence. Writing as a cultural technique had only just been invented at this time. Only a few commercial documents and no astronomical texts have survived from the 3rd millennium.

Greco-Roman

Aratos

Near the feet o f the Charioteer look for the horned Bull crouching. This constellation is very recognisable, so clearly defined is its head: one needs no other sign to identify the ox’s head, so well do the stars themselves model both sides of it as they go round. Their name is also very popular: the Hyades are not just nameless. They are set out all along the Bull’s face; the point of its left horn and the right foot o f the adjacent Charioteer are occupied by a single star, and they are pinned together as they go. But the Bull is always ahead o f the Charioteer in sinking to the horizon, though it rises simultaneously. (Kidd 1997)

Eratosthenes

From Pamias and Zucker (2013) translated to English by us.

Variant 1 (p. 45-46)

It is said that he was placed among the constellations for having carried Europa across the sea from Phoenicia to Crete, as Euripides recounts in his Phrixos. This earned him Zeus's distinction and a place among the most visible constellations. Others claim that it is a cow, the replica of Io, and that it was out of consideration for the latter that it [the constellation] received this privilege from Zeus.

The stars named Hyades define the contours of the forehead and face of Taurus. At the break in the image of Taurus, at the height of the back, is the Pleiades, which has seven stars, and that is why it is also given the name ‘Heptaster’ (seven stars). In reality, only six are visible, as the seventh is completely unremarkable.

Taurus has seven stars, and it moves backwards with its head tucked towards its body: one at the base of each of its horns —the brightest being the one on the left—, one above each eye, one above each nostril, one above each shoulder: these are called ‘the Hyades’; it also has one on its left front knee, two on its hooves, one on its right knee, two on its neck, three on its back —the last of which is bright—, one under its belly, and one bright star on its chest. In all, eighteen.

Variant 2 (p.47)

It is said that he was placed among the constellations for having carried Europa safely across the sea from Phoenicia to Crete, as Euripides recounts in his Phrixos. This earned him Zeus's distinction and a place among the most visible constellations. Others claim that it is a cow that is among the constellations, the replica of Io; out of consideration for the latter, she received this privilege from Zeus.

The stars named ‘Hyades’ define the contours of the bull's forehead and face; Phercydes of Athens says that they are the nurses of Dionysus, known as the ‘nymphs of Dodona’. Taurus has a star on each of its horns, two on its forehead, one on each eye, one on each nostril (the latter are called ‘the Hyades’); it also has one on its front knee, two on its neck, three on its back, one on its hoof, one on its right knee, two on its belly, and one on its chest. Eighteen in all.

Hipparchus

Rising (Lib III Cap III §11)

	east		south
	lam1	lam2	lam1	lam2
	Tau 7°	Tau 29°	Cap 21.5°	Psc 9°
star	the southernmost of the four at the cut-off	the one at the tip of the right horn
duration	1 1/8 hours = 67.5 min = 16 7/8 degree

Setting (Lib III Cap IV §11)

	west		south
	lam1	lam2	lam1	lam2
	Psc 20°	Tau 26°	Cnc 22°	Vir 7°
star	the southernmost of the four at the cut-off	the one at the tip of the left horn
duration	3 hours = 180 min = 45°

Stars Mentioned

	Greek	German	English	ident.	src		lam_culm
					Lib II Cap V §10	rising, east, first
		Der im rechten Fuß [Aur]		beta Tau		rising, east, last [Aur]
		rechter Fuß				culm [Cet, set, first]
		südlichste am Abschnitt des Stiers		omi Tau		culm [Arg, ]
						rising [Tau], east, first
		der hellste in den Hyaden		alf Tau		culm [Leo, end]
		Spitze des rechten Hornes		zeta Tau		rising [Tau], east, last
		Tau: Schulterblatt		lam Tau		setting [Aqr], culm, last
		Hyaden: Stierschnauze		gam Tau		setting [Aqr], culm, last

Hyginus, Astronomica

The Bull was placed among the stars because it carried Europa safely to Crete, as Euripides says. Some say that when Io was transformed into a heifer, Jupiter, to seem to make amends, put an image among the constellations which resembled a bull in its fore parts, but was dim behind. It faces towards the East, and the stars which outline the face are called Hyades. These, Pherecydes the Athenian says, are the nurses of Liber, seven in number, who earlier were nymphae called Dodonidae. Their names are as follows: Ambrosia, Eudora, Pedile, Coronis, Polyxo, Phyto, and Thyone. They are said to have been put to flight by Lycurgus and all except Ambrosia took refuge with Thetis, as Asclepiades says. But according to Pherecydes, they brought Liber to Thebes and delivered him to Ino, and for this reason Jove expressed his thanks to them by putting them among the constellations.

The Pleiades were so named, according to Musaeaus, because fifteen daughters were born to Atlas and Aethra, daughter of Ocean. Five of them are called Hyades, he shows, because their brother was Hyas, a youth dearly beloved by his sisters. When he was killed in a lion hunt, the five we have mentioned, given over to continual lamentation, are said to have perished. Because they grieved exceedingly at his death, they are called Hyades. The remaining ten brooded over the death of their sisters, and brought death on themselves; because so may experienced the same grief, they were called Pleiades. Alexander says they were called Hyades because they were daughters of Hyas and Boeotia, Pleiades, because born of Pleio, daughter of Ocean, and Atlas.

The Pleiades are called seven in number, but only six can be seen. This reason has been advanced, that of the seven, six mated with immortals (three with Jove, two with Neptune, and one with Mars); the seventh was said to have been the wife of Sisyphus. From Electra and Jove, Dardanus was born; from Maia and Jove, Mercury; from Taygete and Jove, Lacedaemon; from Alcyone and Neptune, Hyrieus; from Celaeno and Neptune, Lycus and Nycteus. Mars by Sterope begat Oinomaus, but others call her the wife of Oinomaus. Merope, wed to Sisyphus, bore Glaucus, who, as many say, was the father of Bellerophon. On account of her other sisters she was placed among the constellations, but because she married a mortal, her star is dim. Others say Electra does not appear because the Pleiades are thought to lead the circling dance for the stars, but after Troy was captured and her descendants through Dardanus overthrown, moved by grief she left them and took her place in the circle called Arctic. From this she appears, in grief for such a long time, with her hair unbound, that, because of this, she is called a comet.

But ancient astronomers placed these Pleiades, daughters of Pleione and Atlas, as we have said, apart from the Bull. When Pleione once was travelling through Boeotia with her daughters, Orion, who was accompanying her, tried to attack her. She escaped, but Orion sought her for seven years and couldn't find her. Jove, pitying the girls, appointed a way to the stars, and later, by some astronomers, they were called the Bull's tail. And so up to this time Orion seems to be following them as they flee towards the west. Our writers call these stars Vergiliae, because they rise after spring. They have still greater honour than the others, too, because their rising is a sign of summer, their setting of winter — a thing is not true of the other constellations. (Mary Ward 1960)

Almagest Ταῦρος

id	Greek (Heiberg 1898)	English (Toomer 1984)	ident.
	Ταύρου ἀστερισμός	Constellation of Taurus
1	τῶν ἐν τῇ ἀποτομῇ δ’ ὁ βόρειος.	The northernmost of the 4 stars in the cut-off	5 Tau
2	ὁ ἐχόμενος αὐτοῦ.	The one close by this	4 Tau
3	ὁ ἔτι τούτου ἐχόμενος.	The one close again to the latter	xi Tau
4	ὁ νοτιώτατος τῶν δ	The southernmost of the 4	omi Tau
5	ὁ τούτοις ἐπόμενος ἐπὶ τῆς δεξιᾶς ὡμοπλάτης	The one to the rear of these, on the right shoulder-blade	30 Tau
6	ὁ ἐε τῷ στήθει	The star in the ehest	lam Tau
7	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ γόρατος	The star on the right knee	mu Tau
8	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ σφυροῦ	The star on the right hock	nu Tau
9	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ γόνατος	The star an the left knee	90 Tau
10	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ πήχεως	The star on the left lower leg	88 Tau
11	τῶν ἐν τῷ προσώπῳ καλουμένων Τάδων ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν μυκτήρων	The stars in the face, called 'the Hyades': the one on the nostrils	gam Tau
12	ὁ μεταξὺ τούτου καὶ τοῦ βορεύου ὀφθαλμοῦ	The stars in the face, called 'the Hyades': the one between this and the northern eye	del1 Tau
13	ὁ μεταξὺ αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ φοτύου ὀφδαλμοῦ	The stars in the face, called 'the Hyades': the one between it [ no. 11] and the southern eye	tet1 Tau
14	ὁ λαμπρὸς τῶν Ῥάδων ἐπὶ τοῦ νοτίου ὀφθαλμοῦ ὑπόκιρρος	The stars in the face, called 'the Hyades': the bright star ofthe Hyades, the reddishone on the southern eye	alf Tau
15	ὁ λοιπὸς καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ βορεύου ὀφθαλμοῦ	The stars in the face, called 'the Hyades': the remaining one, on the nordlern eye	eps Tau
16	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκφύσεως τοῦ νοτίου κέρατος καὶ τοῦ ὠτίου	The star on the place where the southern horn and the ear join [the head]	97 Tau
17	ὁ τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ φοτίου κέρατος β ὁ νοτιώτερος	The southernmost of the 2 stars on the southern horn	104 Tau
18	ὁ βορειότερος αὐτῶν	The northernmost of these	106 Tau
19	ὁ ἐπ’ ἄκρου τοῦ νοτίου κέρατος	The star on the tip of the southern horn	zet Tau
20	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκφύσεως τοῦ βορείου κέρατος.	The star on the place where the northern horn joins [ the head]	tau Tau
21	ὁ ἐπ’ ἄκρου τοῦ βορείου κέρατος ὁ αὐτὸς τῷ ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ ποδὸς τοῦ Ἡνιόχου.	The star on the tip of the northern horn, which is the same as the one on right foot of Auriga	bet Tau
22	τῶν ἐν τῷ βορείῳ ὠτίῳ β σύνεγγυς ὁ βορειότερος	The northernmost of the 2 stars close tagether in the northern ear	ups Tau
23	ὁ νοτιώτερος αὐτῶν.	The southernmost of them	kap Tau
24	τῶν ἐν τῷ τραχήλῳ β μικρῶν ὁ προηγούμενος	The more advanced of the 2 small stars in the neck	37 Tau
25	ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν	The rearmost of them	omega Tau
26	τοῦ ἐν τῷ αὐχένι τετραπλεύρου τῆς προηγουμένης πλευρᾶς ὁ νοτιώτερος	The quadrilateral in the neck: the southernmost star on the advance side	44 Tau
27	ὁ βορειότερος τῆς προηγουμένης πλευρᾶς	The quadrilateral in the neck: the northernmost star on the advance side	psi Tau
28	τῆς ἐπομένης πλευρᾶς ὁ νοτιώτερος	The quadrilateral in the neck: the southernmost star on the rear side	chi Tau
29	ὁ βορειότερος τῆς ἐπομένης πλευρᾶς.	The quadrilateral in the neck: the northernmost one on the rear side	phi Tau
30	τῆς Πλειάδος τὸ βόρειου πέρας τῆς ἠγουμένης πλευρᾶς	The Pleiades: the northern end of the advance side	19 Tau
31	τὸ νότιον πέρας τῆς ἠγουμένης πλευρᾶς	The Pleiades: the southern end of the advance side	23 Tau
32	τὸ ἐπόμενου καὶ στεηότατον πέρας τῆς Πλειάδος.	The Pleiades: the rearmost and narrowest end of the Pleiades	27 Tau
33	ὁ ἔκτος καὶ μικρὸς τῆς Πλειάδος ἀπ’ ἄρκτων	The Pleiades: the small star outside the Pleiades, towards the north	HR 1188
	ἀστέρες λβ, ὥν αἱ μεγέθουςα, γ’ς, δ’ ἴἄ, ε φ, ς’ α.	32 stars, 1 of the first magnitude, 6 of the third, 11 of the fourth, 13 of the ftfth, 1 of the sixth
	Οἱ περὶ τὸν Ταῦρον ἀμόρφωτου.	Stars araund Taurus outside the constellation:
34	ὁ ὑπὸ τὸν δεξιὸν πόδα καὶ τὴν ὡμοπλάτην.	The star under the right foot and the shoulder-blade	10 Tau
35	τῶν ὑπὲρ τὸ νότιον κέρας γ’ ὁ προηγούμενος.	The most advanced of the 3 stars over the southern horn	iot Tau
36	ὁ μέσος τῶν τριῶν.	The middle one of the three	109 Tau
37	ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν.	The rearmost of them	114 Tau
38	τῶν ὑπὸ τὸ ἄκρου τοῦ νοτίου κέρατος β’ ὁ βορειότερος.	The northernmost of the 2 stars under the tip of the southern horn	126 Tau
39	ὁ νοτιώτερος αὐτῶν.	The southernmost of them	129 Tau
40	τῶν ὑπὸ τὸ βόρειον κέρας ἓ ἐπομένων ὁ προηγούμενος.	The 5 Stars under and to the rear of the northern horn: the most advanced	121 Tau
41	ὁ τούτῳ ἑπόμενος.	The 5 Stars under and to the rear of the northern horn: the one to the rcar of thi's	125 Tau
42	ὁ ἔτι τούτῳ ἐπόμενος.	The 5 Stars under and to the rear of the northern horn: the one to the rear again of the latter	132 Tau
43	τῶν λοιπῶν καὶ ἐπομένωυ β ὁ βορειότερος.	The 5 Stars under and to the rear of the northern horn: the northernmost of the remaining, rearmost 2	136 Tau
44	ὁ νοτιώτερος αὐτῶν.	The 5 Stars under and to the rear of the northern horn: the southernmost of these two	139 Tau
	ἀστέρες ιὰ, ὧν δ’ μεγέθους ἄ, 8 ἱ.	{ll stars, I of the fourth magnitude, I 0 of the fifth}

Convex Hull for the stars inside Tauros (CC BY Youla Azkarrula).

Stars within the Constellation Area

id	Label	IAU design.	description	Vmag
1	Aldebaran	HIP 21421	Inside the hull	0.86
2	Elnath	HIP 25428	Constellation lines (Vertex)	1.65
3	Alcyone	HIP 17702	Inside the hull	2.87
4	Tianguan	HIP 26451	Constellation lines (Vertex)	3.03
5	λ Tauri	HIP 18724	Constellation lines	3.41
6	Chamukuy	HIP 20894	Inside the hull	3.41
7	Ain	HIP 20889	Inside the hull	3.53
8	ο Tauri	HIP 15900	Constellation lines (Vertex)	3.6
9	Atlas	HIP 17847	Inside the hull	3.63
10	Prima Hyadum	HIP 20205	Constellation lines	3.65
11	ξ Tauri	HIP 16083	Constellation lines	3.75
12	Secunda Hyadum	HIP 20455	Constellation lines	3.76
13	θ 1 Tauri	HIP 20885	Inside the hull	3.84
14	5 Tau	HIP 16369	Constellation lines	4.1
15	Merope	HIP 17608	Constellation lines (Vertex)	4.18
16	κ 1 Tauri	HIP 20635	Constellation lines	4.201
17	τ Tauri	HIP 21881	Constellation lines	4.258
18	υ Tauri	HIP 20711	Constellation lines	4.282
19	δ 3 Tauri	HIP 20648	Inside the hull	4.298
20	37 Tau	HIP 19038	Constellation lines	4.37
21	71 Tau	HIP 20713	Inside the hull	4.48
22	ι Tauri	HIP 23497	Inside the hull	4.615
23	ρ Tauri	HIP 21273	Constellation lines (Vertex)	4.65
24	σ 2 Tauri	HIP 21683	Inside the hull	4.665
25	π Tauri	HIP 20732	Constellation lines	4.69
26	-	HIP 21029	Inside the hull	4.764
27	δ 2 Tauri	HIP 20542	Inside the hull	4.8
28	114 Tau	HIP 25539	Inside the hull	4.868
29	m Tau	HIP 23835	Constellation lines	4.89
30	ω 2 Tauri	HIP 19990	Constellation lines	4.914
31	109 Tau	HIP 24822	Inside the hull	4.948
32	ϕ Tauri	HIP 20250	Constellation lines	4.951
33	75 Tau	HIP 20877	Inside the hull	4.969
34	30 Tau	HIP 17771	Constellation lines	5.07
35	σ 1 Tauri	HIP 21673	Inside the hull	5.076
36	97 Tau	HIP 22565	Constellation lines	5.085
37	Pleione	HIP 17851	Inside the hull	5.09
38	4 Tau	HIP 16322	Constellation lines	5.124
39	41 Tau	HIP 19171	Inside the hull	5.172
40	ψ Tauri	HIP 19205	Constellation lines (Vertex)	5.2
41	58 Tau	HIP 20261	Inside the hull	5.242
42	κ 2 Tauri	HIP 20641	Inside the hull	5.264
43	l Tau	HIP 23871	Constellation lines	5.28
44	56 Tau	HIP 20186	Inside the hull	5.346
45	χ Tauri	HIP 20430	Constellation lines	5.378
46	44 Tau	HIP 19513	Constellation lines	5.387
47	-	HIP 17776	Inside the hull	5.45
48	81 Tau	HIP 21039	Inside the hull	5.454
49	118 Tau	HIP 25695	Inside the hull	5.48
50	53 Tau	HIP 20171	Inside the hull	5.482
51	103 Tau	HIP 23900	Inside the hull	5.5
52	ω 1 Tauri	HIP 19388	Inside the hull	5.504
53	36 Tau	HIP 19009	Inside the hull	5.512
54	72 Tau	HIP 20789	Inside the hull	5.514
55	80 Tau	HIP 20995	Inside the hull	5.552
56	57 Tau	HIP 20219	Inside the hull	5.568
57	32 Tau	HIP 18471	Inside the hull	5.617
58	63 Tau	HIP 20484	Inside the hull	5.625
59	51 Tau	HIP 20087	Inside the hull	5.631
60	13 Tau	HIP 17309	Inside the hull	5.69
61	60 Tau	HIP 20400	Inside the hull	5.71
62	-	HIP 20842	Inside the hull	5.711
63	-	HIP 21819	Inside the hull	5.729
64	89 Tau	HIP 21588	Inside the hull	5.776
65	98 Tau	HIP 23088	Inside the hull	5.785
66	99 Tau	HIP 23068	Inside the hull	5.806
67	HU Tau	HIP 21604	Inside the hull	5.842
68	-	HIP 18735	Inside the hull	5.865
69	76 Tau	HIP 20873	Inside the hull	5.892
70	39 Tau	HIP 19076	Inside the hull	5.9
71	105 Tau	HIP 23883	Inside the hull	5.92
72	-	HIP 19376	Inside the hull	5.927
73	-	HIP 19284	Inside the hull	5.94
74	-	HIP 18170	Inside the hull	5.946
75	-	HIP 20417	Inside the hull	5.95
76	-	HIP 22697	Inside the hull	5.961
77	-	HIP 20614	Inside the hull	5.965
78	-	HIP 22176	Inside the hull	5.981
79	V1141 Tau	HIP 20493	Inside the hull	5.986
80	V1156 Tau	HIP 24019	Inside the hull	5.997
81	85 Tau	HIP 21137	Inside the hull	5.998
82	V1116 Tau	HIP 21459	Inside the hull	6.019
83	33 Tau	HIP 18485	Inside the hull	6.038
84	-	HIP 17921	Inside the hull	6.07
85	-	HIP 19261	Inside the hull	6.07
86	-	HIP 17453	Inside the hull	6.074
87	-	HIP 19641	Inside the hull	6.087
88	-	HIP 20255	Constellation lines	6.094
89	-	HIP 24820	Inside the hull	6.107
90	V1137 Tau	HIP 19672	Inside the hull	6.12
91	14 Tau	HIP 17408	Inside the hull	6.14
92	-	HIP 20284	Inside the hull	6.141
93	95 Tau	HIP 21961	Inside the hull	6.151
94	-	HIP 17900	Inside the hull	6.153
95	-	HIP 18508	Inside the hull	6.165
96	-	HIP 17058	Inside the hull	6.168
97	-	HIP 23589	Inside the hull	6.188
98	-	HIP 21689	Inside the hull	6.2
99	-	HIP 24977	Inside the hull	6.205
100	108 Tau	HIP 24512	Inside the hull	6.27
101	* 24 Tau	HD 23629	Inside the hull	6.28
102	-	HIP 25806	Inside the hull	6.291
103	48 Tau	HIP 19877	Inside the hull	6.3
104	84 Tau	HIP 21082	Inside the hull	6.303
105	-	HIP 18717	Inside the hull	6.305
106	-	HIP 22949	Inside the hull	6.324
107	-	HIP 22128	Inside the hull	6.329
108	-	HIP 24984	Inside the hull	6.33
109	62 Tau	HIP 20533	Inside the hull	6.337
110	-	HIP 22850	Inside the hull	6.347
111	-	HIP 18201	Inside the hull	6.349
112	-	HIP 21408	Inside the hull	6.35
113	SZ Tau	HIP 21517	Inside the hull	6.37
114	V766 Tau	HIP 18033	Inside the hull	6.38
115	NGC 1647	NGC 1647	Inside the hull	6.4
116	-	HIP 16924	Inside the hull	6.42
117	70 Tau	HIP 20661	Inside the hull	6.439
118	26 Tau	HIP 17832	Inside the hull	6.464
119	-	HIP 21053	Inside the hull	6.491
120	-	HIP 23949	Inside the hull	6.5
121	-	HIP 19960	Constellation lines	6.56
122	-	HIP 24252	Inside the hull	6.79

Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

• 
  Bull of Heaven drawn on the clay tablet VAT 7851, drawing by Weidner (1967, reproduced by SMH).
• 
  clay tablet VAT 7851, microzodiac tablet with drawings for the zodiac sign of Taurus, The Bull
• 
  Taurus sign on clay tablet VAT 7851 with drawings of Pleiades (Bristle), Hyades (Chariot), Bull, and the Moon during a total lunar eclipse in the Moon's hypsoma; drawing by Hoffmann (2025)
• 
  Front part of the Bull of Heaven, painted by Jessica Gullberg for Stellarium.
• 
  Taurus as shown on the marble Farnese Globe (drawing SMH)
• 
  Taurus in the Leiden Aratea, 9th century, the Pleiades marked with six dots
• 
  Pleiades as Seven Sisters in the Leiden Aratea
• 
  Taurus in Bayer's Uranometria (1603)

Greek Mythology

Greek 2 Euros coin, reverse, princess Europa riding a Bull

The most famous of the Greek myths about the bull is the abduction of Princess Europa of Phoenicia. Zeus had transformed himself into a bull, she played with him, sat on his back and then he galloped into the water and swam to Crete. Euripides tells this story and also found its way into astronomical literature via Eratosthenes. Today, the motif is depicted on Greek 2 euro coins.

Mythographers favour the Pleiades story of the nymph Pleione and her seven daughters, who supposedly want to remain virgins but are pursued by the lustful Orion. They apparently do not achieve their goal of eternal virginity, because each of them becomes pregnant: none by Orion. Six of them give birth to sons of the gods, one of them - Merope - marries the mortal Sisyphus (from the Greek ‘merops’, mortal).

In Mesopotamia, the Celestial Bull is undoubtedly from the Epic of Gilgamesh:

Gilgamesh was a cruel ruler under whom his subjects suffered. The gods therefore created a companion for him. This one, Enkidu, had grown up among animals and represents the moral antithesis to Gilgamesh: He criticises the ruler's cruelty. After a wrestling match, they become friends and set off together to cut down trees in the sacred cedar forest. First they have to defeat the guardian of this forest, which they succeed in doing, but afterwards Enkidu regrets the deed because the forest is no longer so beautiful and is inhabited and ‘animated’ by animals. Next they come to Uruk, where the city goddess offers Gilgamesh to become her husband. He refuses, pointing out that her other suitors have fared badly. Ishtar then complains to her father Anu and asks him for the Bull of Heaven to set him on Gilgamesh, who has insulted her. Anu points out that the city of Uruk and its inhabitants are threatened with great famine if he is brought down to earth, but Ishtar says that she has made provisions for the people. Nevertheless, 300 men fall victim to this bull before Enkidu and Gilgamesh slaughter it and sacrifice it to the sun god.

Enkidu must atone for this deed with death and Gilgamesh, who initially sets out in search of the herb of life for immortality, finally realises that there are more important things than power and violence and that immortality can only be achieved through good deeds. He invents the city wall to pacify Uruk and becomes a good king.

A bull associated with the sun is a fairly common religious motif: it also appears in the contemporary Egyptian deity Apis and later in the cult of Mithras.

Weblinks

• Ridpath, Ian, “Star Tales: online edition”.

References

• References (general)
• References (Babylonian)
• References (ancient Greco-Roman)
• References (medieval)