The Zodiac - Leo

The Myths and Legends of Leo

The Flooding of the Nile

The proud and passionate lion, a symbol of kingship and masculine power, was worshipped in ancient Egypt as the sun entered Leo in the heat of summer, which coincided with the annual flooding of the Nile. The Egyptians' reverence for its sacred, fertilising waters, and for the Lion which caused them, is the origin of the well-known lion-headed fountains, where the water flows from the lion's mouth.

The Sphinx

The sphinx is thought by some to be made up of the body of Leo and the head of the neighbouring constellation, Virgo, who, in Egypt, was seen as the goddess Isis.

Hercules and the Nemean Lion

The first labour of the great solar hero, Hercules, was to kill the Nemean Lion. It was sent from the moon by his enemy, Hera, the queen of heaven, and he strangled it with his bare hands. Its skin, which made him invincible, he wore from that day on. Hercules' battle with the Nemean Lion depicts the struggle to achieve self-mastery by overcoming the fiery passions of the heart. Having killed the lion, and triumphed over uncontrolled emotion, he can then wear the lion's skin which makes him king.