Pisces constellation-Meen rashi
Pisces is a constellation of the zodiac.
It's a vast bulk – and main asterism viewed as a distant pair of fishes connected by one cord each that join at an apex – is in the Northern celestial hemisphere.
Its name is the Latin plural for fish..
Ancient astronomers counted twelve stars as belonging to Pisces, though one was later incorporated into nearby Grus as Gamma Gruis.Other stars became part of Microscopium.
The two fish of the constellation Pisces are said to be the offspring of the Great Fish.
In Egyptian mythology, this fish saved the life of the Egyptian goddess Isis, so she placed this fish and its descendants into the heavens as constellations of stars.
This story is given in detail in the blog of 'Great Fish. '
In Greek mythology, there is a similar tale associated with Pisces.
The Greek myth of the fishes goes back to the end of the Gigantomachy, the decisive battle that fought between the Giants and the Olympian gods for supremacy of the cosmos.
In a last attempt to defeat the Olympians, Gaia, Mother Earth and mother of the Giants went to the lowest region of the Underworld ,
where Zeus had imprisoned the Titans.
Gaia coupled with Tartarus and gave birth to Typhon.
Ian Ridpath(Ian William Ridpath is an English science writer and broadcaster best known as a popularizer of astronomy and a biographer of constellation history. )
tells us that Typhon was : "... the most awful monster the world had ever seen.
According to Hesiod(poet) in the Theogony, describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods,
Typhon had a hundred dragon’s heads from which black tongues flicked out.
Fire blazed from the eyes in each of these heads, and from them came a cacophony of sound: sometimes ethereal voices which only the gods could understand, while at other times Typhon bellowed like a bull, roared like a lion, yelped like puppies, or hissed like a nest of snakes.
Gaia sent this fearsome monster to attack the gods.
Pan- the god saw him coming and alerted the others with a shout.
Pan himself jumped into the river and changed his form into a goat-fish, represented by the constellation Capricornus.
The goddess Aphrodite and her son Eros took cover among the reeds on the banks of the Euphrates, but when the wind rustled the undergrowth Aphrodite became fearful.
Holding Eros in her lap she called for help to the water nymphs and leapt into the river.
In one version of the story, two fish swam up and carried Aphrodite and Eros to safety on their backs...
In another version, the two refugees were themselves changed into fish.
The mythologists said that because of this story the Syrians would not eat fish, regarding them as gods or the protectors of gods.
So these fish were placed in the sky as Piscis constellation.
Ian Ridpath writes that "... an egg fell into the Euphrates-the river and was rolled to the shore by two fish.
Doves sat on the egg and from it hatched Aphrodite who, in gratitude, put the fish in the sky.
Eratosthenes had yet another explanation: he wrote that the two fish represented by Pisces were offspring of the much larger fish that is represented by the constellation Piscis Austrinus.
When the goddess Derceto fell into a lake near Bambyce in northern Syria, she was rescued by the large fish;
she placed this fish and its two youngsters in the sky as Piscis Austrinus and Pisces, respectively.
Another legend, unrelated to all the stories above uses the fishes as a symbol for Dictys, the brave and kind fisherman who recused princess Danaë and her infant son Perseus, after Danaë's father, king Acrisius of Argos abandoned them at sea in a wooden box.
In Greek mythology, Acrisius means 'ill-judgment'was a king of Argos. He was the grandfather of the famous Greek demi-god Perseus.
Rivalry of twins
Acrisius and Proetus was said to have quarrelled even in the womb of their mother and when Abas died and Acrisius had grown up, he expelled Proetus from his inheritance.
On his exile, Proetus was supported by his father-in-law Iobates, the Lycian, Proetus returned, and Acrisius was compelled to share his kingdom with his brother by giving Tiryns to him, while he retained Argos for himself.
Disappointed by his lack of luck in having a son, Acrisius consults the Oracle at Delphi, who warns him that he will one day be killed by his daughter Danaë's son.
Danaë is childless and to keep her so, he imprisons her in a bronze chamber open to the sky in the courtyard of his palace.
Zeus impregnates her in the form of a golden shower (some accounts say it is her uncle, Proetus, who impregnates her).
Danaë becomes pregnant with Perseus.
Acrisius puts the child and Danaë in a chest and throws it into the sea.
Zeus asks Poseidon to calm the water; he does and Danaë and Perseus survive, washing up on the island of Seriphos.
A fisherman named Dictys, brother of King Polydectes, finds the pair and takes care of them.
Perseus grows up to be a hero, killing Medusa and rescuing Andromeda.
Perseus and Danaë return to Argos with Andromeda, but King Acrisius has gone to Larissa.
When Perseus arrives in Larissa, he participates in funeral games and accidentally strikes Acrisius on the head with a discus, killing him and fulfilling the prophecy.
The story links the constellation Pisces to its celestial neighbors Perseus and Andromeda.
Western folklore
The Fishes are in the German lore of Antenteh.
Antenteh, who was very poor and his wife lived in a small cabin by the sea.
The only possessions they had were the cabin and a tub that they filled with feathers to at least have somewhere to rest and sleep.
One day, Antenteh caught a fish that struggled to get free as he pulled it up in his fishing nets.
To Antenteh's amazement, the fish spoke to him, telling Antenteh that he is actually an enchanted prince.
The fish told Antenteh that if he released him, he could have anything that he wanted.
Antenteh whose needs are simple and feeling honored at having rescued such an important person refused to accept anything from the enchanted prince.
On getting home, Antenteh found that wasn’t to be the case.
His wife became very angry for not taking advantage of the opportunity and Antenteh found himself returning to the seashore and called for the fish.
Luckily for Antenteh, the fish came and an embarrassed Antenteh told the fish how the wife wanted a house and furniture for it.
The fish told him not to worry and that he would take care of everything.
Returning home, Antenteh found that his cabin was now a fine house.
Now if Antenteh's wife hadn’t been so greedy, everything probably would have been fine.
As time progressed, Antenteh's wife demanded more.
She wanted to be a queen and to have a palace and this wish was granted.
Still not satisfied, she demanded to become a goddess.
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back in this case and the fish now angry at the increasing demands, made everything that Antenteh had been given and wished for vanish and he and his wife were back to having their old cabin and tub full of feathers to sleep in.
The tub in this story is sometimes recognized as the Great Square of Pegasus.
The Nakshatras in Pisces sign are Purva Bhadrapada , Uttara Bhadrapada and Revati.
Pisces reaches its high point for the night at about 10 p.m. local standard time in early November and at about 8 p.m. in early December.
You need a dark country sky to see this fairly dim constellation swimming in what the early stargazers considered to be a watery region of the lore-laden heavens.
Pisces is found to the northeast of the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer and to the northwest of the constellation Cetus the Sea-monster.
Pisces can be found rather handily by referring to the signpost known as the Great Square of Pegasus, as shown on the sky chart below.
Look first for the Circlet of Pisces – otherwise known as the head of the Western Fish – to the south of the Square of Pegasus.
Once you’ve found the Western Fish, go on from there to catch the Eastern Fish that’s jumping upward to the east of the Square of Pegasus.
The entire constellation looks like the letter V, and a very graceful and lovely V at that.
The Alpha star of the constellation (though not the brightest star) is Al Risha.
Beautifull
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