Given its relative faintness in the night sky, Cancer was often described as the “Dark Sign” throughout history. By classical antiquity, Cancer came to be called the “Gate of Men”, based on the beleif that it was the portal through which souls came and went from the heavens. This was most likely due to its position at the summer solstice during ancient antiquity. The first recorded examples of the Cancer constellation come from the 2nd millennium BCE, where it was known to Akkadian astronomers as the “Sun of the South”. Illustration of the ecliptic of the Solar System, showing the position of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Given that the crab did not win, the gods didn’t give it any bright stars. Hera, grateful for the little crustacean’s heroic sacrifice, gave it a place in the sky. Cancer grabbed onto the hero’s toe with its claws, but was crushed by Hercule’s mighty foot. While Hercules was busy fighting the multi-headed monster (Hydra), the goddess Hera – who did not like Hercules – sent the Crab to distract him. In mythology, Cancer was part of the Twelve Labors of Hercules.
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