Home / Astrology / Jupiter Jupiter, By Jove! (with affinities to Sagittarius and the 9th house) So much is written in Greek and Roman mythology regarding the many exploits and (mis)adventures of the god Jupiter (known to the Greeks as the chief Olympian thundergod Zeus).… In honor of the great Zeus, here's a wee bit of mythological trivia from a rather obscure source that you've probably never heard before: Once upon a time... the Titan god, Prometheus, went about the task of creating the first man. This first man that Prometheus created was described as being of "marvelous beauty." And so Prometheus decided to keep his special creation a secret and hidden from the other gods of Greece. However, the god Eros discovered this closely held "Promethean secret" and revealed what he had discovered to Zeus. Thus, Zeus (already holding an eternal grudge against Prometheus) sent the god Hermes to fetch (steal) the man of marvelous beauty from Prometheus. When Hermes returned with his prize (the man of marvelous beauty), Zeus gave the man of marvelous beauty a special elixir of immortality. The man drank the elixir of immortality, and then Zeus sent the marvelous man of beauty to the highest heavens, and the first man was then instantaneously transformed into the planetary body called Phainon or Phaenon, literally meaning “the shiner.” Nowadays we call this planet Jupiter... Note: I should mention there seems to a wee bit of dispute on this matter, as there was more than a little disagreement and/or confusion among ancient historical sources and/or authorities (i.e. was the planet Jupiter known as Phainon or Phaenon and the planet Saturn known as Phaithon or Phaethon or was it just the opposite)... My primary sources are: Carl Kerenyi's The Gods of The Greeks; Kerenyi's source being: Germanici Aratus and my other source Theony Condos' Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans where Condos translates into English and quotes The Constellations by Pseudo-Eratosthenes and Poetic Astronomy by Hyginus (although there appears to have possibly been an editing typo in the Hyginus account). For various reasons way too complex to go into, "on the face of it," it appears to make the most sense that Jupiter was the planet known as Phainon or Phaenon and Saturn was the planet known as Phaithon or Phaethon. Continue>> The Greater Benefic << Back to the Astrology Menu Home / Astrology / Jupiter