Home ConstellationVirgo

Virgo



Virgo is the second largest of all the constellations, lying on the celestial equator. It appears highest in the evening sky in the months around April.

It is one of the twelve zodiacal constellations, and the Sun passes through it each year between mid-September and the end of October. This includes the moment when the Sun passes southward across the equator at the September equinox.

In Greek mythology, Virgo is often identified as Dike, goddess of justice, who was the daughter of Zeus and Themis. She is often depicted holding the scales of justice, represented by the neighboring constellation Libra.

There seems to be at least two ancient myths, with variations of each, that are most commonly associated with the constellation Virgo. The first was that Virgo was Persephone, the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Demeter, goddess of the fertility of the earth. One spring day as Persephone was wandering out in the fields, Hades, god of the underworld, grabbed her and took her down into the underworld to become his wife. But this stubborn young goddess refused to accept her captivity, refusing to eat or even to speak to Hades. He tried to give her jewels, fancy clothes, and even slaves to entertain her, but she still would not speak to him.

When Demeter found out that Hades had abducted her daughter and that Zeus (who had been bribed by Hades) would not intervene, she became so angry that she refused to care for the crops and plants of the earth. A great famine followed, crops failed, animals and people began to die. Finally, Zeus gave in and told Demeter that she could have her daughter back. However, under the ancient Law of Abode, if Persephone had accepted food, she would have to be considered a guest, not a captive, and would have to stay in the underworld as Hades’ bride.

Demeter immediately sent Hermes on his winged sandals to fetch Persephone. But before Hermes could get there, an evil man who hated Demeter took a sweet red pomegranate and broke it in half and offered some of it to Persephone who had grown very hungry by this time. Before she could stop herself, she had eaten six of the sweet juicy seeds. When Hermes arrived, Hades claimed Persephone as his bride under the Law of Abode because she had eaten the six pomegranate seeds. When Demeter heard this, she declared that no crops or flowers would ever grow if her daughter became the bride of death. Zeus declared a compromise. Each year, Persephone would have to spend six months with Hades because she had eaten the six seeds. The other six months she could spend with her mother. Both Hades and Demeter had to agree because Zeus was the King. But Demeter also kept her promise. During the six months when her daughter had to be in the underworld with Hades, no crops would grow. In the spring, when Persephone returned, the flowers and the crops in the fields would grow again.

The second myth associated the constellation Virgo with Astraea, goddess of Justice, when the gods lived among men on earth during the Golden Age. The increasing iniquity of the humans, however, began to drive the gods, one by one, to leave the humans on earth and go to heaven. Astraea was the last of the gods to leave. When she left she took the scales of justice with her, which you can see beside her in the sky today.

In the Babylonian astronomy, part of this constellation was known as “The Furrow”, representing the goddess Shala and her ear of grain. One star in this constellation, Spica, retains this tradition as it is Latin for “ear of grain”, one of the major products of the Mesopotamian furrow. For this reason the constellation became associated with fertility.

Together with neighboring Coma Berenices, Virgo is home to the brightest cluster of galaxies in the sky, the Virgo Cluster, which comprises well over 1,000 galaxies. Among these are eleven galaxies with Messier designations. The Virgo Cluster forms the core of an even larger structure, the Virgo Supercluster, of which the Local Group of galaxies, including the Milky Way, is an outlying member.

Being a Zodiac constellation, Virgo is assigned the symbol  and emoji ♍.

In the Indian astronomy and astrology systems, Virgo is known as ಕನ್ಯಾ (Kanya).

Virgo contains:

View Virgo in 3D


Source: Wikipedia, in-the-sky.org
Image Courtesy: Sky&Telescope & IAU, Illustration Images linked from Urania's Mirror on Wikmedia Commons by Sidney Hall

Share: