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The Zodiacal Sign of Capricorn

The name of the zodiacal sign of Capricorn derives from the Latin translation of the ancient Greek designation meaning “horned like a goat”. The tradition of conceptualizing the constellation as a hybrid creature, part goat and part fish, is very ancient, and may be traced back to Babylonian star catalogues. In classical tradition, Capricorn was associated with Amalthea, the goat who suckled the infant Zeus, who broke her horn in play and restored it to her as the cornucopia, or horn of plenty. While the goat-fish conception survived into the Middle Ages, both the Belles Heures and the Tr??s Riches Heures show Capricorn with the body of a goat joined to a whorled horn.

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