Editing Classical planet (section)

==Symbols==
{{main|Astrological symbols|Planet symbols}}

The astrological symbols for the classical planets appear in the medieval Byzantine codices in which many ancient horoscopes were preserved.<ref name="neugebauer-1975">{{cite book
| title = A history of ancient mathematical astronomy
| last = Neugebauer
| first = Otto
| date = 1975
| pages = 788–789
}}</ref> In the original papyri of these Greek horoscopes, there are found a circle with one ray ([[File:Sun symbol (medieval).svg|x15px|old sun symbol]]) for the Sun and a crescent for the Moon.<ref name="neugebauer-1987">{{cite book
| title = Greek Horoscopes
| last1 = Neugebauer
| first1 = Otto
| last2 = Van Hoesen
| first2 = H. B.
| date = 1987
| pages = 1, 159, 163
}}</ref>
The written symbols for Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn have been traced to forms found in late Greek papyri.<ref name="jones-1999">{{cite book
| title = Astronomical papyri from Oxyrhynchus
| last = Jones
| first = Alexander
| date = 1999
| pages = 62–63
| quote=It is now possible to trace the medieval symbols for at least four of the five planets to forms that occur in some of the latest papyrus horoscopes ([ [[Oxyrhynchus Papyri|P.Oxy.]] ] 4272, 4274, 4275 [...]). That for Jupiter is an obvious monogram derived from the initial letter of the Greek name. Saturn's has a similar derivation [...] but underwent simplification. The ideal form of Mars' symbol is uncertain, and perhaps not related to the later circle with an arrow through it. Mercury's is a stylized caduceus.}}</ref> The symbols for Jupiter and Saturn are identified as monograms of the initial letters of the corresponding Greek names, and the symbol for Mercury is a stylized [[caduceus]].<ref name="jones-1999" />

A. S. D. Maunder finds antecedents of the planetary symbols in earlier sources, used to represent the gods associated with the classical planets. ''Bianchini's [[planisphere]]'', produced in the 2nd century,<ref name=imss>{{cite web
| url = http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/galileopalazzostrozzi/object/BianchinisPlanisphere.html
| title = Bianchini's planisphere
| publisher = Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza (Institute and Museum of the History of Science)
| location = Florence, Italy
| access-date = 2010-03-17
}}</ref> shows Greek personifications of planetary gods charged with early versions of the planetary symbols: Mercury has a caduceus; Venus has, attached to her necklace, a cord connected to another necklace; Mars, a spear; Jupiter, a staff; Saturn, a scythe; the Sun, a [[circlet]] with rays radiating from it; and the Moon, a headdress with a crescent attached.<ref name=maunder>{{cite journal
| last = Maunder
| first = A. S. D.
| date = 1934
| title = The origin of the symbols of the planets
| journal = The Observatory
| volume = 57
| pages = 238–247
| bibcode = 1934Obs....57..238M
}}</ref>
A diagram in Johannes Kamateros' 12th century ''Compendium of Astrology'' shows the Sun represented by the circle with a ray, Jupiter by the letter ''zeta'' (the initial of [[Zeus]], Jupiter's counterpart in [[Greek mythology]]), Mars by a shield crossed by a spear, and the remaining classical planets by symbols resembling the modern ones, without the cross-mark seen in modern versions of the symbols.<ref name=maunder /> The modern Sun symbol, pictured as a circle with a dot (☉), first appeared in the [[Renaissance]].<ref name="neugebauer-1987"/>