Aries

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

---

Aries star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg)

Κριός (Krios)

Asterism Info
Native	Κριός
Romanisation	Krios
Translation	Ram
Position (2000)
Right ascension	28.38255387 to 50.688505560000024
Declination	10.11414493 to 29.24711827
Area	227.75 sq. deg.
Stars
Bright stars	53
Bayer/Flamsteed stars	36
Stars brighter than 3.00m	1
Brightest star	Sheratan (2.65m)
Taxonomy
category of asterism	Almagest constellation
IAU- constellations	Ari, Cet

One of the 88 IAU constellations is Aries, The Ram.

Etymology and History

Aries = The Ram in Latin, is a translation of the Ancient Greek constellation name Κριός (krios). It is unknown whether this constellation name was Indigenously from Macedonia, Greece or any other Mediterranean culture and inspired Babylonian transformations, or Babylonian puns led to the creation of a new image with no recognizable patterns among the stars. The latter is regarded more likely.

Origin of Constellation

In ancient times, Aries was associated with the first month of the year because the beginning of the year was equated with the awakening of spring and the lambs' leap. In Old and Middle Babylonian, no animal was conceived at this point in the zodiac, but rather a human being: the wage labourer who was now rehired because cattle had to be herded in the pastures and agriculture had to be practised. The Babylonian constellation ‘Wage Labourer’ was associated with the god of shepherds, Dumuzi, the husband of the goddess Inanna/Ishtar.

How the wage labourer became an aries remains a mystery, for which science has several theories: Of course, it may be that the ram was Greek and that when the Babylonian zodiac was adopted, the foreign labourer was simply replaced by a constellation of their own. However, this is unlikely because all other foreign images were adopted, even if it was difficult to integrate them into their own Greek mythology (see Capricorn).

Aries on Mesopotamian seal print, Wallenfels (1993).

It is therefore more likely that the change already took place in Babylon before the zodiac was exported all over the world. Since the mid-20th century, there has been a hypothesis of a Babylonian play on words: the labourer is called LU.ḪUN.GA, whereby the prefix LU only indicates that this is a designation for a human being. Like all scientists, the Babylonians tended to use abbreviations and often wrote only the sign for the first spoken syllable, i.e. ḪUN: this is documented on clay tablets. However, this cuneiform sign is very similar to the sign for UDU, sheep, so it could be a joke or a misunderstanding in translations into Greek or other languages.

Aratos and Eratosthenes are certain that a ram was sacrificed here. In general, rams were popular sacrificial animals. In addition, Zeus himself is sometimes identified with a ram. The ram in the sky must therefore be a special ram, and that is what the myth is about.

Babylonian

Dumuzi, the shepherd god, as Hired Man, as lover of Inanna who is depicted in the constellation Anunitu(m); both east of the One Field-constellation (IKU), and north of the Swallow SIM.MAH and the giant, GU.LA, the god Enki/Ea. Drawings by Robert Perdok and Susanne M Hoffmann 2016, mapped in Stellarium.

In the Middle Babylonian (MB) compendium MUL.APIN, no constellation of a ram existed. The constellation in the area of modern Aries was The Hired Man (^{mul lú}ḪUN.GA₂ (𒀯𒇽𒂠𒂷) = agru).

The Babylonian asterism of The Ewe (U₈) has nothing to do with this constellation; it is in the area of Ursa Major.

Yet in Late Babylonian uranology texts, we observe the variants of the Hired Man, the Hired Sheep, and The Sheep. Seals from Uruk from Hellenistic times even depict a ram. This shows that the transformation from the Hired Man to the Sheep/ Ram stems from Mesopotamia - but perhaps based on the influence of cultural exchange.

Kugel Globe: Aries and Triangulum, 1st century BCE (drawing by SMH 2024)

Greco-Roman

Egyptian

In Ptolemaic times (1st century BCE), when Egypt was ruled by the Romans, new Egyptian temples were built in Esna and Dendera (south and north of Thebes/ Luxor). They display a cultural mixture of Babylonian and Egyptian constellations.

• 
  Aries; rectangular zodiac of Dendera
• 
  Aries, circular zodiac of Dendera (CC BY Musée du Louvre, Département des Antiquités égyptiennes)

Aratos

[225] There too are the paths of the Ram, the swiftest because it speeds round the longest circle and yet does not lag behind the Bear Cynosura as it runs. The Ram itself is faint and starless, as if observed by moonlight, but you can still identify it from the girdle of Andromeda: for it is set a little way below her. [231] It traverses the great sky centrally, where the tips of the Claws and Orion’s belt revolve.

(Kidd 1997)

Eratosthenes

Pamias and Zucker (2013, 60-62)

Var. 1: This is apparently the ram that carried Phrixos and Helle. He was immortal and was given by Nephele. He had a golden fleece, as Hesiod says. Whilst he was carrying them across the narrowest part of the sea on his back—which was named the ‘Hellespont’ after Helle—he [lost a horn and] dropped her. However, Poseidon saved her, and he had a child by her, Paeon. As for Phrixos, the ram carried him, safe and sound, towards the Black Sea and all the way to Aeetes, where he took off his golden fleece and offered it as a keepsake; and he set off, just as he was, to join the constellations.

Aries has one star on its head, three on its nostrils, two on its neck, a bright one at the tip of the front leg, four on its back, one on its tail, three on its belly, one on its rump, and one at the tip of the leg. Seventeen in all.

Var. 2. This is the one who carried Phrixos and Helle. He was immortal and had been given to them by Nephele, their mother. He had a golden fleece, as Hesiod and Pherecydes recount. Whilst carrying them on his back across the narrowest part of the sea, which took its namefrom Helle as the ‘Hellespont’ (Sea of Helle), he dropped her [losing a horn]. However, Poseidon saved her, united with her, and had a child by her named Paeon. As for Phrixus, the ram carried him, safe and sound, to the Euxine Sea and all the way to Aeetes. Then he shed his golden fleece and offered it [to Aeetes] as a souvenir; and he departed, just as he was, to join the constellations. That is why it shines with a relatively faint.

Aries has one star on its head, three on its nostrils, two on its neck, one shining star on the tip of the front leg, four on its back, one on its tail, three on its underbelly, one on its pelvis, and one on the tip of the hind leg. Seventeen in all.

Eratosthenes's star catalogue can be reconstructed from the list of stars he mentions in the last section of each of the constelllation descriptions. Hoffmann (2017) made such a catalogue and used it for computational comparison with Hipparchus's, Ptolemy's and Babylonian data; it is based on the edition and translation by Pamias and Geus (2007) and presented here in English translation.

erat.Cat.ID	constStarID	starName	ident.Bayer	ident.HIP	certainty
304	1	one star on the head	alpha Ari	9884	1
305	2	three on the nostrils	beta Ari	8903	1
306	3	three on the nostrils	gam1 Ari	8832	1
307	4	three on the nostrils	107 Psc	7981	1
308	5	two on the neck	eta Ari	10306	1
309	6	two on the neck	theta Ari	10732	1
310	7	one bright one at the end of the foreleg	eta Psc	7097	1
311	8	four on the back	33 Ari	12489	1
312	9	four on the back	35 Ari	12719	1
313	10	four on the back	39 Ari	13061	1
314	11	four on the back	41 Ari	13209	1
315	12	one on the tail	0.	15549	1
316	13	three below the belly	xi1 Cet	10324	1
317	14	three below the belly	xi2 Cet	11484	1
318	15	three below the belly	mu Cet	12828	1
319	16	one on the hip	delta Ari	14838	1
320	17	one at the end of the hind foot	f Tau	16369	1

Hipparchus

Rising (Lib III Cap III §10)

The Rising of ...

	east		south
	lam1	lam2	lam1	lam2
	Psc 18 1/2	Ari 21	Sgr 23 1/2	Cap 14
star	the one at the front foot	the rear one of those in the tail
duration	1 2/5hours = 84 min = 21 degree

Setting (Lib II Cap VI §10)

	west		south
	lam1	lam2	lam1	lam2
	Psc 29	Ari 26	Gem 29	Cnc 29
star	the one in the front feet	the rear one of those in the tail
duration	2 hours = 120 min = 30°

Hipparchus's "lost" star Catalogue

The star catalogue of Hipparchus is not preserved. Yet, several scholars have reconstructed it in the past century: Vogt (1925), Grasshoff (1990), Hoffmann (2017) and Glover (2026). Grasshoff's catalogue and computations are not published digitally, Hoffmann published three versions of the Manitius+Hoffmann star lists in the CDS VizieR "catalog of catalogs", and Glover printed the star lists constellationwise in his book.

Hipparchus's star in Aquarius (Glover 2026)

hipp.Cat.ID	constStarID	starName	ident.Bayer	ident.HIP	concordance
65	1		α Ari	9884	CPAE
66	2		β Ari	8903	CPAE
67	3		γ Ari (γ2)	8832	CPAE
68	4		δ Ari	14838	CPAE
69	5		ζ Ari	15110	CPAE
70	6		ν Ari	12332	CPAE
71	7		τ Ari (τ1)*	15627	CPAE
72	8		τ Ari (τ2)*	15737	CPAE
73	9		33 Ari	12489	CPAE
74	10		35 Ari	12719	CPAE
75	11		38 Ari	12832	CPAE
76	12		39 Ari (b Mus)	13061	CPAE
77	13		ξ Ari	11249	non-CPAE
78	14		31 Ari	12153	non-CPAE

Hyginus, Astronomica

This is thought to be the ram which carried Phrixus and Helle thought the Hellespont. Hesiod and Pherecydes say that it had a fleece of gold; about his we shall speak at greater length elsewhere. Many have said that Helle fell into the Hellespont, was embraced by Neptune, and bore Paeon, or, as some say, Edonus. They say, too, that Phrixus, on coming safely to Aeetes, sacrificed the ram to Jove, and hung the fleece up in the temple. The image of the ram itself, put among the constellations by Nubes, marks the time of year when grain is sown, because Ino earlier sowed it parched — the chief reason for the flight. Eratosthenes says that the ram itself removed its Golden Fleece, and gave it Phrixus as a memorial, and then came of its own accord to the stars; for this reason it seems somewhat dim, as we said before.

Phrixus was born, some say, in the town of Orchomenus, which is in Boeotia; others say, in the district of the Salones of Thessaly. Still others make Cretheus and Athamas with many others, sons of Aeolus; some, again, say that Salmoneus, son of Athamas, was a grandson of Aeolus. Cretheus had Demodice as wife; others name her Biadice. Moved by the beauty of Phrixus, son of Athamas, she fell in love with him, and could not obtain from him favour in return; so, driven by necessity, she accused him to Cretheus, saying that he had attacked her, and many similar things that women say. Stirred by this report, Cretheus, as was fitting for one who deeply loved his wife and was a king, persuaded Athamas to put Phrixus to death. However, Nubes intervened, and rescuing Phrixus and Helle his sister, put them on the ram, and bade them flee as far as they could through the Hellespont Helle fell off and paid the debt to nature, and the Hellespont was named from her name. Phrixus came to the Colchians, and, as we have said, hung up the fleece of the slain ram in a temple. He himself was brought back to Athamas by Mercury, who proved to his father that, relying on innocence, he had fled.

Hermippus says that at the time when Liber was attacking Africa he came with his army to the place called Ammodes from the great quantities of sand. He was in great danger, since he saw he had to advance, and an added difficulty was the great scarcity of water. The army were almost at the point of exhaustion, and the men were wondering what to do, when a certain ram, wandering apart, came by chance near the soldiers. When it saw them it took safety in flight. The soldiers, however, who had seen it, though they were advancing with difficulty oppressed by the sand and heat, gave chase, as if seeking booty from the flames, and followed it to that place which was named from the temple of Jove Hammon later founded there. When they had come there, the ram which they had followed was nowhere to be seen, but what was more to be desired, they found an abundant supply of water, and, refreshed in body, reported it at once to Liber. In joy he led his army to that place, and founded a temple to Jove Hammon, fashioning a statue there with the horns of a ram. He put the ram among the constellations in such a way that when the sun should be in that sign, all growing things would be refreshed; this happens in the spring for the reason that the ram's flight refreshed the army of Liber. He wished it, too, to be chief of the twelve signs, because the ram had been the best leader of his army.

But Leon, who wrote about Egyptian affairs, speaks of the statue of Hammon as follows. When Liber was ruling over Egypt and the other lands, and was said to have introduced all arts to mankind, a certain Hammon came from Africa and brought to him a great flock of sheep, in order more readily to enjoy his favour and be called the first inventor of something. And so, for his kindness, Liber is thought to have given him the land opposite Egyptian Thebes. Accordingly, those who make statues of Hammon, make them with horned heads, so that men may remember that he first showed the use of flocks. Those, however, who have wished to assign the gift to Liber, as not asked for from Hammon, but brought to him voluntarily, make those horned images for Liber, and say that in commemoration the ram was placed among the constellations. (Mary Ward 1960)

Almagest Κριός

id	Greek (Heiberg 1898)	English (Toomer 1984)	ident.
	Κριοῦ ἀστερισμός
1	τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ κέρως β ὁ προηγούμενος	The more advanced of the 2 stars on the horn	gam Ari
2	ὁ ἐπόμεσος αὐτῶν	The rearmost of them	bet Ari
3	ὁ τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ ῥύγχους β ὁ βορειότερος	The northernmost of the 2 stars on the muzzle	eta Ari
4	ὁ φοτιώτερος αὐτῶν	The southernmost of them	tet Ari
5	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ τραχήλου	The star on the neck	iot Ari
6	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς ὀσφύος	The star on the rump	nu Ari
7	ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκφύσεως τῆς οὐρᾶς	The star on the place where the tail joins [the body]	eps Ari
8	τῶν ἐν τῇ οὐρᾷ 7 ὁ προηγούμενος	The most advanced of the 3 stars in the tail	del Ari
9	ὁ μέσος τῶν τριῶν.	The middle one of the three	zet Ari
10	ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν.	The rearmost of them	tau Ari
11	ὁ ἐν τῷ ὀπισθομήρῳ!	The star in the back of the thigh	rho Ari
12	ὁ ὑπὸ τὴν ἀγκύληη	The star under the knee-bend	sig Ari
13	ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὀπισθίου ἀκρόποδος	The star on the hind hoof	mu Ari
	ἀστέρες ιχ, ὧν γ’ μεγέθους β, δ’ δ,ἐς,ςα	13 stars, 2 of the third magnitude, 4 of the fourth, 6 of the fifth, 1 of the sixth
	Οἱ περὶ τὸν Κριὸν ἀμόρφωτοι	Stars around Aries outside the constellation
14	ὁ ὑπὲρ τὴν κεφαλήν, ὃυ Ἴππαρχος ἐπὶ τοῦ ῥύγχους	The star over the head, which Hipparchus [calls] 'the one on the muzzle'	alf Ari
15	τῶν ὑπὲρ τὴν ὀσφὺν δ ὁ ἐπόμενος καὶ λαμπρότερος.	The 4 stars over the rump: the rearmost, which is brighter [than the others]	41 Ari
16	τῶν λοιπῶν γ’ καὶ ἀμαυροτέρων ὁ βόρειος.	The 4 stars over the rump: the northernmost of the other 3, fainter stars	39 Ari
17	μέσος τῶν τριῶν	The 4 stars over the rump: the middle one of these three	35 Ari
18	ὁ νότιος αὐτῶν.	The 4 stars over the rump: the southernmost of them	33 Ari
	ἀστέρες ἓ, ὥν γ’ μεγέθους ἄ, δ’ ἂ, γ.	5 stars, 1 of the third magnitude, 1 of the fourth, 3 of the fifth

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

Stars within the Constellation Area

id	Label	IAU design.	description	Vmag
1	Sheratan	HIP 8903	Constellation lines (Vertex)	2.65
2	Bharani	HIP 13209	Constellation lines	3.594
3	μ Ceti	HIP 12828	Constellation lines (Vertex)	4.26
4	Botein	HIP 14838	Constellation lines	4.37
5	Lilii Borea	HIP 13061	Constellation lines (Vertex)	4.51
6	Mesarthim	HIP 8832	Constellation lines (Vertex)	4.52
7	ϵ Arietis	HIP 13914	Constellation lines	4.63
8	35 Ari	HIP 12719	Constellation lines	4.67
9	ζ Arietis	HIP 15110	Constellation lines	4.869
10	κ Arietis	HIP 9836	Inside the hull	5.019
11	ι Arietis	HIP 9110	Constellation lines (Vertex)	5.105
12	τ2 Arietis	HIP 15737	Constellation lines (Vertex)	5.13
13	38 Ari	HIP 12832	Constellation lines	5.17
14	η Arietis	HIP 10306	Constellation lines	5.2
15	33 Ari	HIP 12489	Constellation lines	5.296
16	* pi Ari A	HIP 13165	Constellation lines	5.34
17	τ1 Arietis	HIP 15627	Constellation lines (Vertex)	5.355
18	ν Arietis	HIP 12332	Constellation lines	5.451
19	σ Arietis	HIP 13327	Constellation lines	5.516
20	θ Arietis	HIP 10732	Constellation lines	5.572
21	ρ3 Arietis	HIP 13702	Constellation lines	5.58
22	31 Ari	HIP 12153	Inside the hull	5.64
23	15 Ari	HIP 10155	Inside the hull	5.688
24	19 Ari	HIP 10328	Constellation lines	5.7
25	μ Arietis	HIP 12640	Inside the hull	5.74
26	ο Arietis	HIP 12803	Inside the hull	5.777
27	-	HIP 13834	Inside the hull	5.78
28	40 Ari	HIP 13108	Inside the hull	5.83
29	-	HIP 11670	Inside the hull	5.879
30	-	HIP 13121	Inside the hull	5.89
31	-	HIP 9307	Inside the hull	5.892
32	ρ2 Arietis	HIP 13654	Inside the hull	5.93
33	29 Ari	HIP 11843	Constellation lines	5.988
34	53 Ari	HIP 14514	Inside the hull	6.117
35	26 Ari	HIP 11678	Inside the hull	6.13
36	-	HIP 11578	Inside the hull	6.19
37	-	HIP 9627	Inside the hull	6.214
38	27 Ari	HIP 11698	Inside the hull	6.225
39	54 Ari	HIP 14586	Inside the hull	6.25
40	-	HIP 13448	Inside the hull	6.3
41	85 Cet	HIP 12647	Inside the hull	6.31
42	-	HIP 14318	Inside the hull	6.37
43	-	HIP 10050	Constellation lines	6.39
44	-	HIP 12744	Inside the hull	6.39
45	36 Ari	HIP 12784	Inside the hull	6.398
46	-	HIP 14649	Inside the hull	6.4
47	-	HIP 10795	Inside the hull	6.441
48	30 Ari A	HIP 12189	Inside the hull	6.48
49	-	HIP 15048	Inside the hull	6.5
50	-	HIP 13269	Inside the hull	6.63
51	-	HIP 9248	Constellation lines	6.79
52	-	HIP 9492	Constellation lines (Vertex)	7.19
53	-	HIP 9815	Constellation lines	7.55

Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

• 
  Aries on Mesopotamian seal print, Wallenfels (1993).
• 
  Late Babylonian Aries (Perdok 2016)
• 
  Aries in Leiden Aratea (c. 830)
• 
  Aries in Dürer (1515).
• 
  Aries in Bayer's Uranometria (1603)
• 
  Aries in Plancius (1612)
• 
  Aries and French "Lily" Ignace Gaston Pardies (1674)
• 
  Aries in Hevelius (1690) with Fly
• 
  Aries in Flamsteed/ Fortin (1776) with a Fly
• 
  Aries in Hall (1825) with a Fly
• 
  (1952) H.A. Rey's stick figure of Aries
• 
  (1988) O. Hlad's stick figure of Aries

Mythology

Eratosthenes recounts that the ram was an immortal creature given to the children Phrixos and Helle by the sorceress queen Nephele. She had been rejected by her husband and wanted to save her children from their stepmother. So the flying, talking ram with the golden fleece carried the two children away from the royal palace. He dropped the girl, Helle, into the sea, where she was saved by Poseidon. Helle bore Poseidon a son named Paion, and the sea is now named after the princess, Hellespont. The ram carried the boy, Phrixos, across the Black Sea to King Aietes. Then he took off his golden fleece, gave it to the king as a souvenir, and ascended to the stars himself.

Greek and Roman poets have adapted this story and added more details. They agree that the ram shines only faintly in the sky because its golden fleece remained in Colchis.

There it was hung in the sacred grove, and when the Greeks wanted it back, it gave rise to the voyage of the Argonauts. Jason, who had to earn his throne, travelled across the sea in the Argo and, after his polite requests were ignored, stole the fleece from the grove. He was helped in this by the king's daughter Medea, whom he subsequently married. They spent their wedding night on the golden fleece of the ram.

Weblinks

• Warburg Institute Iconographic Database – Aries
• Ian Ridpath's Star Tales – Aries

References

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