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Where did the Zodiac come from? Why are the astrological signs what they are? These are a couple questions I asked myself quite a while back and found that it's all rooted to Greek Mythology (imagine my glee). Anyway, I finally found my notes to this, so here's my brief explanations.

First of all, the word itself, zodiac, comes from a Greek word meaning, "The circle of animals". The animals representing the signs were placed among the stars usually for great acts of heroism.

(1) Aries - The origin of Aries stems from the tale of the Golden Ram. In a plot to trap the centaur Ixion, Hera created a woman looking nearly identical to herself out of a cloud and named her Nephele. She then forced King Athamus to marry this woman. This relationship didn't work out at all as Athamus became bored with Nephele fairly quickly and left her. Athamus almost immediately after this, married Ino. This of course angered Nephele, so she asked Hera for vengeance. Hera had no problem in doing this as she was already angry at Athamus and Ino already as a cause of them taking care of Dionysus for Zeus. Hera then proceeded to poison their minds and make them crazy. Athamus attempted to sacrifice his son by Nephele, Phrixius. This plot was thwarted when Heracles sent a Golden Ram to save him. When the ram brought Phrixius to his destination, he sacrificed the Golden Ram to Zeus and in turn, Zeus placed the mighty ram among the stars for his heroic deed. It is also from this ram that the Golden Fleece from the tale of Jason & the Argonauts came from.

(2) Taurus - The sign of Taurus stems from the Tale of Europa and the Bull. This is a tale of one of Zeus' many affairs. Zeus was extremely attracted to Europa and yearned for her affection. Zeus then appeared before Europa in the form of a magnificent white bull. Europa couldn't resist petting the bull, so she walked over to it and did just that. She then climbed upon the bull's back at which point the bull carried Europa across the sea to Crete where he then took the form of an eagle and, for a lack of better terms, raped her. In remembrance of this affair, Zeus placed the image of the bull amongst the stars.

(3) Gemini - This sign stems from the Tale of Castor and Pollux. Castor and Pollux were half-brothers. Castor was born of Tyndareus and Leda, Pollux was born of the affair between Zeus and Leda (also known as the Tale of Leda and the Swan). The twins grew inseparable as time went on. One day, Castor was killed in a battle. Pollux was so grief stricken that he took his own life to join his brother at death. In honor of the brothers' great love, Zeus placed them among the stars.

(4) Cancer - The sign of Cancer stems from one of the 12 Trials of Heracles. While battling the Hydra, Hera sent down a giant crab to thwart his efforts. The crab was only a nuisance at most as Heracles simply crushed the crab under his foot just before he defeated the Hydra. Hera honored the crab's attempt at stopping her most hated of Zeus' children by placing it amongst the stars.

(5) Leo - The sign of Leo stems from yet another of Heracles 12 trials. Leo of course represents the Lion of Nemea which was Heracles' first trial. The lion couldn't be defeated by any weapon. Heracles eventually battled the lion hand to hand (or maybe paw) and strangled the lion to death. In remembrance of the grand battle, Zeus placed the Lion of Nemea amongst the stars.

(6) Virgo - One of the few signs not represented by an animal, Virgo's origin stems from the Tale of Pandora. Virgo of course is the representation of the goddess of purity and innocence, Astraea. After Pandora opened the jar and let loose all the evil's unto the world, the gods who lived on the earth fled back to the heavens and away from the evil's of the earth. Astraea was the last to return to the heavens. As a remembrance of innocence lost, Astraea was placed amongst the stars in the form of Virgo.

(7) Libra - Libra are the scales that balance justice. They are held by the goddess of divine justice, Themis. Why exactly she is placed among the stars I haven't yet found out, but it is interesting that Libra shines right beside Virgo which represents Astraea, daughter of Themis.

(8) Scorpio - The sign of Scorpio stems from the Tale of Orion. Orion was the son of Poseidon and Euryale. Orion was also a favored hunting partner by Artemis which made her brother Apollo very envious. Apollo pleaded to Gaea to create a giant scorpion to kill Orion. Gaea obliged, and the scorpion stung and killed great Orion. In remembrance of this struggle, Zeus placed Orion and the scorpion amongst the stars.

(9) Sagittarius - This sign is representative of the centaur, Cheiron. Cheiron was a friend of many great hero's in Greek mythology such as Achilles and Heracles. Speaking of Heracles, some friend he turned out to be. While hunting, Heracles accidentally shot Cheiron in the leg with a poison arrow. Cheiron was immortal so he couldn't die, he just had to take the unending pain. Heracles promised to help him somehow. Upon his ventures, Heracles came upon Prometheus who was trapped with no way of escape. The only way Prometheus could be set free was for someone else to take his place. Cheiron wanted only to be relieved of his insufferable pain, so he took Prometheus' place and died. In honor of the noble act, Zeus placed Cheiron amongst the stars.

(10) Capricorn - The sign of Capricorn represents the goat Amalthea who fed the infant Zeus. It's said that Zeus placed her among the stars in gratitude. Other accounts say that Capricorn represents Pan, the god of the forest, woodlands, and nature.

(11) Aquarius - The sign of Aquarius stems from the Tale of the Deucalion Flood. In this tale, Zeus pours all the waters of the Heavens onto Earth to wash away all the evil beings. Deucalion and Pyrrha then threw stones over their shoulders and created a new race of mankind.

(12) Pisces - Pisces represents the goddess of love & beauty, Aphrodite and the god of love, Eros. While taking a stroll down the Euphrates River, they had an encounter with the vicious Typhon. They pleaded to Zeus to help them escape, so Zeus changed the two into fish and they swam away to safety. In remembrance of this, Athena placed the twin fishes amongst the stars.
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I wish to differ somewhat as I find it difficult to agree with David Pingree, who was the first to say that Indians learnt astrology from the Greeks. In fact to my knowledge that is what Pingree worked on for his PhD. In the Vatican library he found a manuscript in the Greek language. He said that it came from India to Babylon and from there to Greece and then he said that India must have got it from Greece in the first place. In fact nobody has ever found any Greek astrology book prior to the Yavan Jaatak.

Yavan Jaatak must have been based on Mayaasur's Soorya Siddhaant. The original Soorya Siddhaant is said to be much bigger than what is available today. Bhatotpala quoted some verses of the original Soorya Siddhaant which are not available in the presently available Soorya Siddhaant of Mayaasur. Mayaasur was the Yavaneshwar, based on whose book Sphuridhwaj and Minaraj wrote their Yavan Jaatak and Brihat Yavan Jaatak respectively, in the versified form in Sanskrit.

Mayaasur belonged to the time of the Paandav, and Mahaabhaarat tells us that he resided in the Khaandav area. Astrology was known to the Indians in the very ancient times much before astrology was taught to the Greeks by the Chaldeans in the 2nd century BCE. The ancient Dharm Shaastra, Manu Smriti says that the Vaanaprasthee should not give astrological advice to the people from whom they beg their food. Atharvan Jyotish was as old as the Rig Jyotish and Yajus Jyotish of the Vedaang Jyotish. But those influenced by the thinking of Pingree try to lower the antiquity of Atharv Jyotish by giving it a date of 500 BCE yet maintaining that Vedaang Jyotish was composed in the 14th century BC. In fact Vedaang Jyotish was also composed much earlier than 14th century BC as The Vedaang Jyotish mentions that Uttaraayan occurred in Dhanishthaa Nakshatra.

I agree with you completely. Please note the following facts -
(1) Spudidhwaj Horaa and Meenaraj Horaa were written around AD 250; These books were written by scholars who lived in Gujaraat, who followed the system of astrology taught by Yavaneshwar (The author of Yavaneshwar Horaa). They (Spujidhaja and Yavaneshwara) DO NOT mention any Greek god in their texts, but the texts gives ample proof that they were well aware of Upanishads and Vedic texts. Further these texts starts by praising Prajaapati (Brahmaa)! Only an individual with malicious intention will try to propagate that these texts were written by the Greeks or that they are translations of Greek works.
(2) India: Ancient Astrology that was prevalent in India dates back to BC 1400 Paraashar and 1400 Garg; and the sage written astrology texts prior to them such as Skand Horaa, Vashishth Horaa, Vishwaamitra Horaa, Soorya Jaatak etc. If astrology was prevalent in Sindhu-Saraswatee period then it would date back even to BC 5000+
(3) Mesopotamia/ Babylonia/ Greece: The Mesopotamian/ Babylonian astrology dates back to BC 3000+ or more. The Greek astrology dates back to BC 800+. Together let us call them Hellenistic astrology - the astrology whose the origin and development is associated to the city of Sun god, Heliopolis.
(4) Mayaasur : Maya is the student of Sage Soorya, the authentic sage specialized in astrology, who wrote Soorya Siddhaant, Soorya Jaatak and many other texts. Maya is an Asur, may be due to some Assyrian or American connection. Maya is supposed have written many texts such as the putting in paper of the theories taught by Sage Soorya with the name Soorya Siddhaant, The text of architecture and Vaastu called Mayamat and many more. May be there is a modern day Maya as well, or may be that Maya was not that ancient a scholar (ie he was a recent day scholar), as evident from the fact that he copies many theories put forward by some Greek scholars. He might have lived in or around 300 BC - 300 AD.
(5) Vaidik Astrology - Rig Jyotish, Yajur Jyotish, Atharv Jyotish (The Vedaang Jyotish texts) by Sage Lagadh is a totally different stream; it is NOT Niraayan astrology, but Sayaanaa astrology. They are not Taantrik in nature but Vaidik. Even though dates back to 1400 BC, these texts are NOT part of the stream of astrology that we practice and preach today. Please note that "no astrology texts mention the name of sage Lagath or Vedaang Jyotish". Lagath was simply irrelevant to the Niraayan stream of astrology.
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Sage Paraashar is considered as the Father of Astrology who has no where mentioned that any particular color or any Gemstone should be worn to ward off malefic effect of any planet or to strengthen any planet to get any desired results. One gets what is promised from his/her birth chart and nothing else.

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