The Mythology Behind The Pisces Constellation Explained

While there was a Syrian version of this story, people remember the Greek one, as told by Ptolemy, per Under Lucky Stars. It started when Typhon, who was an evil sea creature made up of a giant man's torso atop a group of large snakes. Like Medusa, he had snakes as hair, except they were fiery, and they also screamed a lot. To add to his arsenal, he had wings. The denizens of Mount Olympus, as mighty as they were, wanted no part of Typhon, since he presented a real danger to them. They shunned the creature. 

One day, Typhon had enough and decided to fly up to Mount Olympus. The gods and goddesses, sensing he was not coming to try to sell magazine subscriptions, all turned into animals to escape the monster's gaze. All but two of them, Aphrodite and Eros, didn't. Their talk of loving and not fighting didn't seem to faze Typhon, who was about to inflict some hurt on them. Then two fish showed up, let the two gods on their backs, and swam off, leaving a frustrated Typhon in their wake. 

The gods were grateful. How grateful? They elevated the two fish up to the stars, where they are now known as the Pisces constellation. Stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere can see them in the autumn. They might not be marketing juggernauts like Marlin, but those are hero fish.

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