Zodiac myths · Taurus
Taurus is a god in disguise, swimming for Crete
A princess on a beach, a bull too gentle to be real, and a continent that ended up with her name.
Johann Bayer, Uranometria, 1603
At a glance
In Greek myth Taurus is Zeus disguised as a white bull. He carried the Phoenician princess Europa across the sea to Crete, and the bull was set in the stars.
- The figure
- The white bullOvid, Metamorphoses 2.833-875
- Sign dates 2026
- Apr 20 to May 21, 2026Sun enters Apr 20, 2026, 01:39 UTC
- Sun in the stars, 2026
- May 15 to Jun 21, 202638 days inside the IAU Taurus
- Best seen at midnight
- Nov 16 to Dec 21, 2026best night about Dec 3, 2026
The myth
The bull on the beach at Tyre
Try this today
- Pick one thing you approach slowly and gently because you want it to trust you. That is the bull's method.
- Find the Pleiades with your eyes, not a phone. How many can you count?
- Name a time you were carried somewhere you did not plan to go, and it turned out to be home.
Europa was the daughter of Agenor, king of Tyre on the Phoenician coast. Ovid tells it in the Metamorphoses like a scene you can see: Europa and her friends picking flowers by the sea, the royal herd grazing nearby, and among the cattle one bull that is not like the others. It is snow white, its horns small and polished like jewels, and it is calm. It lets her stroke it. It lets her hang garlands on its horns.
That bull is Zeus. Hermes had driven the herd down to the shore on his orders, and Zeus had put on the shape of a bull to get close.
Europa, delighted, sits on its back. The bull walks slowly toward the water, then into it, and then it is swimming, out past the surf and away from land, while she holds one horn and looks back at the beach. Ovid gives you the detail of her dress fluttering in the wind.
They come ashore on Crete. There Europa becomes the mother of Minos, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon, and Minos becomes the famous king of Crete. The bull, Hyginus says, was placed among the constellations. Old star maps show only its front half, head and forelegs plunging forward, as if it is still mid-swim with the rest of it under the waves.
Other tellings
Other bulls, and the sisters on its back
Hyginus records another idea: that the constellation is Io, the young woman Zeus turned into a white heifer to hide her from Hera. Either way, the figure is a bovine with a god's secret.
Taurus also carries two famous star clusters. The Pleiades, on the bull's shoulder, are the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione in Greek myth. The Hyades, the V of stars that makes the bull's face, are their half-sisters, said to have wept themselves into stars for their brother Hyas. And the bull's red eye is Aldebaran, which looks like part of the Hyades but is actually a foreground star, much closer to us than the cluster.
In the sky
Finding Taurus: Nov 16 to Dec 21, 2026
Taurus is one of the easiest zodiac figures to find: follow Orion's belt up and to the right to orange Aldebaran, then keep going to the little dipper-shaped haze of the Pleiades.
2026: sign Apr 20, 2026, 01:39 UTC to May 21, 2026, 00:37 UTC. Sun in the stars: May 15 to Jun 21, 2026 (38 days). (Why the 25-day gap.) Taurus peaks at midnight near Dec 3, 2026.
Pick your telling
The bull's red eye looks like part of the Hyades. It is a much nearer star.
3 versions of the white bull.
Taurus, 3 ways
Zeus and Europa
Zeus takes the form of a gentle white bull, wins Europa's trust on the beach at Tyre, and swims with her to Crete, where she becomes the mother of Minos.
Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.833-875; Hyginus, Astronomica 2.21
See it yourself. Taurus: Nov 16 to Dec 21, 2026.
More to read
One shorter read. It opens in place.
In astrology
What astrology kept from the bull
Venus rules Taurus in traditional astrology, which fits a myth that is all garlands, flowers and a soft white coat. But the story has a second layer worth keeping: a power that looks calm and moves slowly, then goes somewhere you did not plan to go. If your Taurus placements feel steady on the surface, the myth suggests asking what is swimming underneath.
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Taurus by the numbers
| Dates | Days | |
|---|---|---|
| Sign | Apr 20 to May 21, 2026 | 31 |
| Sun in the stars | May 15 to Jun 21, 2026 | 38 |
| Midnight season | Nov 16 to Dec 21, 2026 | 36 |
All times are UTC. In the Americas the local date can be a day earlier; in Asia and Australia a day later.
Quick answers
What is the Greek myth of Taurus?
Taurus is Zeus in the form of a white bull. He carried the princess Europa from the coast of Tyre across the sea to Crete, where she had three sons including King Minos. The bull was then placed in the stars.
Why does the Taurus constellation show only half a bull?
Classical and later star maps draw only the head, shoulders and forelegs. A common reading is that the bull is swimming, with its back half below the water as it carries Europa.
Are the Pleiades part of Taurus?
Yes. The Pleiades star cluster sits on the bull's shoulder. In Greek myth they are the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione.
Is Europe named after Europa?
That is the traditional connection, and ancient writers made it, but the real origin of the continent's name is uncertain and debated by historians.
Which Greek god is Taurus?
In the main myth Taurus is Zeus himself, disguised as a bull. Astrologically, the sign is ruled by Venus, the Roman Aphrodite.
