The two fish
Pisces is two fish tied by a cord. Ovid and Hyginus tell that they are Venus and her son Cupid, who turned into fish to escape the monster Typhon.
In the tradition
In Ovid’s Fasti, Venus and Cupid were on the bank of the Euphrates when Typhon came. They leapt into the river and two fish carried them to safety, so the fish were set in the sky. Hyginus adds that the Syrians would not eat fish for that reason.
A star marks the knot where the cord ties them, and its Arabic name, Alrescha, means the cord.
Sources
- Ovid, Fasti (about 8 CE). A poem on the Roman calendar that tells the star myths of the dates it reaches.
- Hyginus, De Astronomia (1st century BCE or later). The Latin handbook of constellation myths, often giving several versions side by side.
Updated October 9, 2026.
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