Editing Atargatis (section)

=== Syrian Venus ===
Ovid in ''Fasti'' recounts the legend that the goddess Dione accompanied by [[Cupid]]/[[Eros (god)|Eros]] plunged into the river in Palestine ([[Euphrates]]), whereby a  pair of fish came to convey them through water to aid her escape from [[Typhon]].<ref>''Fasti'' 2.459–.474 ''apud'' {{harvp|Cowper|1865|pp=14–16}}</ref><ref name="EB1911"/> The fish pair was commemorated as the constellation [[Pisces (astrology)|Pisces]] of the [[zodiac]], and local Syrians abstain from eating fish on account of it.{{sfnp|Cowper|1865|pp=12, 14–16}} Menander and others{{efn|Caesar Domitianus, Diognetus Erythræus}} also relate this legend,{{sfnp|Cowper|1865|p=12}} and some of the versions, say that the goddess and Cupid subsequently transformed into fish, possibly preserving the original telling.<ref name="hyginus-fish-metamorph"/>

The name Dione could refer to Aphrodite's mother, but it was also an epithet of Aphrodite/Venus herself.<ref name="lucas"/> So the legend has also been told as one of Venus with Cupid casting herself into the Euphrates, then transforming into fish.<ref>{{harvp|Cowper|1865|pp=12–13}}, he does not specify which primary source from among the authors he listed.</ref>

The second myth describes the birth of Syrian Venus as originating in an egg that fell into the [[Euphrates]], rolled onto land by fish, was hatched in the clutches of doves (''scholia'' to [[Germanicus]]'s [[Aratus]];<ref>{{harvp|Smith, W. Robertson|1887|p=314}} and {{harvp|Smith, W. Robertson|1894|p=175}}</ref> [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'').<ref>[[Hyginus (Fabulae)|Hyginus]], ''Fabula'' 197: "Into the Euphrates River an egg of wonderful size is said to have fallen, which the fish rolled to the bank. Doves sat on it, and when it was heated, it hatched out Venus, who was later called the Syrian goddess. Since she excelled the rest in justice and uprightness, by a favour granted by Jove, the fish were put among the number of the stars, and because of this the Syrians do not eat fish or doves, considering them as gods".</ref> {{Refn|group=""|What W. R. Smith regards as myth "II." is just a variant of the Venus-Cupid myth (Smith's "I") in Cowper's estimation.<ref>{{harvp|Cowper|1865|}}</ref>}}

The author of ''[[Catasterismi]]'' explained the constellation of [[Piscis Austrinus]] as the parent of the two fish making up the constellation of Pisces; according to that account, it was placed in the heavens in memory of Derceto's fall into the lake at [[Manbij|Hierapolis Bambyce]] near the Euphrates in Syria, from which she was saved by a large fish&nbsp;— which again is intended to explain the Syrian abstinence from fish.