What animal is Taurus?

The Bull. The Babylonian name GU4.AN.NA ('Bull of Heaven') appears in the MUL.APIN tablets and in Tablet VI of the Epic of Gilgamesh as the demonic creature Anu sends against Gilgamesh. Minoan Knossos bull-leaping frescoes (c. 1500 BCE) preserve the earliest Mediterranean bull-cult imagery. The Greek myth is Zeus-as-bull seducing Europa (Ovid Met. 2.833–875).

What is the Mithraic tauroctony?

The tauroctony ('bull-slaying') was the central cult image of Mithraism, the Roman imperial mystery cult active c. 100–400 CE. Mithras is depicted slaying a bull in a cave, with specific zodiacal and astronomical symbolism. Roger Beck's The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire (Oxford, 2006) is the standard scholarly treatment.

Taurus · Zodiac Spirit Animal

Taurus Spirit Animal

Taurus the Bull: Babylonian origins as GU4.AN.NA ('Bull of Heaven' in the Epic of Gilgamesh), Minoan Knossos bull-imagery, the Mithraic tauroctony, and the Greek myth of Zeus-as-Bull and Europa.

Published 2026-04-24

Engraved illustration of the Bull (Taurus) from Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary, 1908. — Taurus the Bull, from Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (1908). The bull was the primary sacrificial animal of the Roman Imperial cult; the taurobolia rite in the cult of Magna Mater is described by Prudentius (Peristephanon 10, c. 400 CE). *Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (1908). Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.*

Taurus is the Bull, the second sign of the tropical Western zodiac (April 20 – May 20, Earth element). The Babylonian name GU4.AN.NA, 'Bull of Heaven,' appears in the MUL.APIN tablets and as the demonic creature in Tablet VI of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Minoan Knossos bull-leaping frescoes (c. 1500 BCE) preserve the earliest Mediterranean bull-cult imagery. The Mithraic tauroctony was central to the Roman imperial mystery cult (c. 100–400 CE). Zeus-as-bull seduces Europa in Ovid Metamorphoses 2.

Taurus is the Bull. Babylonian GU4.AN.NA, Minoan bull-leaping frescoes, Mithraic tauroctony, Zeus-and-Europa: the bull is one of the most-documented zodiac animals across ancient Mediterranean religion.

Frequently asked

What animal is Taurus?: The Bull. The Babylonian name GU4.AN.NA ('Bull of Heaven') appears in the MUL.APIN tablets and in Tablet VI of the Epic of Gilgamesh as the demonic creature Anu sends against Gilgamesh. Minoan Knossos bull-leaping frescoes (c. 1500 BCE) preserve the earliest Mediterranean bull-cult imagery. The Greek myth is Zeus-as-bull seducing Europa (Ovid Met. 2.833–875).
What is the Mithraic tauroctony?: The tauroctony ('bull-slaying') was the central cult image of Mithraism, the Roman imperial mystery cult active c. 100–400 CE. Mithras is depicted slaying a bull in a cave, with specific zodiacal and astronomical symbolism. Roger Beck's The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire (Oxford, 2006) is the standard scholarly treatment.

Sources

PRIMARYMUL.APIN — Hunger & Pingree, Archiv für Orientforschung Beiheft 24, 1989.
PRIMARYEpic of Gilgamesh, Tablet VI — Andrew George ed., Oxford University Press, 2003.
MUSEUMKnossos Bull-Leaping Fresco — Heraklion Archaeological Museum, c. 1500 BCE.
PEER-REVIEWEDRoger Beck, The Religion of the Mithras Cult — Oxford University Press, 2006.
PRIMARYOvid, Metamorphoses 2.833–875 — Loeb Classical Library.
PRIMARYPtolemy, Tetrabiblos — Loeb Classical Library.