Pisces: Dates, Meaning, and the Two Fish Explained

The two-fish zodiac sign — its dates, symbol, mythology, and why it's one of the hardest constellations to actually trace in the sky.

Pisces is the twelfth and final sign of the zodiac, covering February 19 through March 20. Its symbol is two fish, swimming in opposite directions but tied together at the tail by a cord. It's also one of the faintest constellations in the entire zodiac — a sprawling, dim outline that even experienced stargazers have to work to pick out.

Pisces dates and basic facts

• Dates: February 19 – March 20
• Symbol: Two Fish (Pisces) — bound together by a cord, swimming opposite ways
• Element: Water
• Modality: Mutable
• Ruling planet: Neptune (modern), Jupiter (traditional)
• Brightest star: Eta Piscium, magnitude ~3.6 — dim enough that the full outline is genuinely difficult to trace without dark skies

Where the two-fish symbol comes from

The most familiar version is Greek: Aphrodite and her son Eros were near the Euphrates when the monster Typhon attacked. To escape, they transformed into fish and dove into the river, tying themselves together by the tails so as not to lose each other in the current. Zeus later placed the pair among the stars.

As with several zodiac myths, the story sits on top of an older Babylonian original. The Babylonians charted this same region as two fish-cord figures tied to Anunitum, a goddess associated with fertility and the region's fish-based river culture — the "escape" narrative was a later Greek addition to a symbol that already existed.

What Pisces is said to represent

As a mutable water sign ruled by Neptune — the planet linked to dreams, imagination, and dissolved boundaries — Pisces is traditionally described as empathetic, intuitive, and artistic, often absorbing the emotional atmosphere of whatever room it's in. The two fish swimming in opposite directions are usually read as the sign's core tension: pulled between fantasy and reality, self-sacrifice and self-preservation, or idealism and escapism, depending on which telling you favor.

Why Pisces is hard to see in the night sky

Pisces has no star brighter than magnitude 3.6, and its shape is unusually spread out — a large V of faint stars rather than a compact, obvious figure. It's often cited as the hardest zodiac constellation to trace by eye, which is exactly why an accurate render of it needs real star catalog data rather than a symbolic fish icon; the actual pattern barely resembles two fish at all without the connecting lines drawn precisely.

See your own sign's star map

CosmicByMe renders every zodiac constellation — including faint, hard-to-trace ones like Pisces — from real star and constellation-line data, centered on the sky as it actually looked from your birth date, time, and location. Generate your own card on the homepage to see it.