1. Zodiac Zodiac comes from the Greek word Zodiakos Kyrklos , or "circle of little animals". The Greeks pilfered the concept from the Babylonians who had decided that the Sun passed through 12 phases or signs whose representations could be sketched out in the constellations. The Greeks finished appropriating the concept around the Sixth Century B.C. They then came up with their own explanations for how these figures ended up in the sky.