I had always find a little weird that the most "fierce" of the Signs, rivalizing only with Scorpio is represented by... a Sheep.
When I heard, though, the description of Bharani nakshatra (which makes part of Aries) I found it quite comprehensible. Bharani means to bear, and the meaning is basically it: to bear, support, accumulate.
Now, for what a Sheep could be a symbol if not for this? The curious thing is that Aries chief star is called "Hamal", which, in arabic, means sheep. But also means "bearer" - we read on the thousand and one nights that on the streets of Baghdad, "bearer" (literally "Hamal") was a profession, a person that carries the products that a person has bought on the street stores.
The "fierce" element is also present(Sheratan star is the horn of the Sheep), though the Jyotish divides Aries on three nakshatras, Ashwini, Bharani and Kritikka, the fierce element is very present on Bharani, which is described as a nakshatra of "extremes".
Many descriptions of Bharani seems quite close to the Manilius description of Aries and it's intensity and tendence to extremes.
The difference is that I don't see in modern descriptions the characteristic of "accumulation", which might be too obvious for the ancient writers, by the mere symbol of the sheep, but that has been apparently weirdly lost.
Basically, reading modern sources accumulating seems to be related to Taurus, and Aries is fast, fierce, impulsive, etc; the metaphor of the Sheep is because Sheeps are, after all, energetic animals, but, with so many ferocious animals on earth, to buy this explanation is somewhat non sense.
When I heard, though, the description of Bharani nakshatra (which makes part of Aries) I found it quite comprehensible. Bharani means to bear, and the meaning is basically it: to bear, support, accumulate.
Now, for what a Sheep could be a symbol if not for this? The curious thing is that Aries chief star is called "Hamal", which, in arabic, means sheep. But also means "bearer" - we read on the thousand and one nights that on the streets of Baghdad, "bearer" (literally "Hamal") was a profession, a person that carries the products that a person has bought on the street stores.
The "fierce" element is also present(Sheratan star is the horn of the Sheep), though the Jyotish divides Aries on three nakshatras, Ashwini, Bharani and Kritikka, the fierce element is very present on Bharani, which is described as a nakshatra of "extremes".
Many descriptions of Bharani seems quite close to the Manilius description of Aries and it's intensity and tendence to extremes.
The difference is that I don't see in modern descriptions the characteristic of "accumulation", which might be too obvious for the ancient writers, by the mere symbol of the sheep, but that has been apparently weirdly lost.
Basically, reading modern sources accumulating seems to be related to Taurus, and Aries is fast, fierce, impulsive, etc; the metaphor of the Sheep is because Sheeps are, after all, energetic animals, but, with so many ferocious animals on earth, to buy this explanation is somewhat non sense.