Urban Myth: The name Zodiac was taken from the brand name for an underwater watch used by scuba divers.
It is true that the prime suspect in the case, Arthur Allen, possessed a Zodiac brand watch, but it is highly unlikely this is the reason the killer chose the name Zodiac. There is a far more likely explanation: if the ‘O’ in ZODIAC is crossed out, the result is an anagram of CADIZ and the Zodiac’s trademark crossed-circle symbol.
Cadiz, the capital of the Spanish province of Cadiz, is a port-city and is located in southwestern Spain. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in western Europe and was founded around 1100 BC by Phoenicians from Tyre. It was originally known as Gadir or Agadir and was established as a trading settlement in their dealings with Tartessos, a city-state located somewhere near the mouth of the Guadalquivir River.
The city has long been associated with Elysium and the Island(s) of the Blest, the Greek heaven or paradise. Strabo, for example, identifies the Spanish Coast to the north of the city as Elysium and islands ‘not very far from the headlands of Maurousia that lie opposite to Gades’ as the Islands of the Blest.
Cadiz is also identified with the mythical island of Erytheia (Red Island), although there is some dispute as to whether Erytheia is the island of Cadiz or a nearby island thought to be site of the original settlement. Erytheia or Red Island is called that because it is coloured red by the setting sun.
The three headed, three-bodied giant Geryon lived on the island with Eurytion, his herdsman, and Orthos, his two-headed hound. The island was best known for a fabulous herd of red colored cattle, although its proximity to the entrance to the underworld meant Hades pastured his own cattle there. It was his herdsman, Meniotes, who informed Geryon that Eurytion and Orthos had been killed and his herd driven off by Hercules. When Geryon caught up with Hercules, he was slain with an arrow. The Life of Apollonius of Tyana records that a tumulus at Gades was associated with Geryon’s final resting place.
Originally, the Hesperides or ‘Daughters of the Evening’ were nymphs who lived on the western shore of Erytheia – in ‘homes of solid gold’ according to Stesichorus. Their primary function was to care for a tree that produced golden apples, a wedding present to Hera from Gaia. Moreover, the Hesperides were probably the nymphs appointed to watch over other treasures of the gods, such as the Cornucopia or Horn of Plenty, and the winged sandals and the helmet of invisibility used by Perseus to slay the Gorgon Medusa. Later writers changed the abode of the Hesperides, placing their fabulous garden near the Atlas Mountains in North Africa or at the city of Benghazi in Libya.
If the Hesperides reside on Erytheia, the island is definitely a ‘treasure island’. Thus, the name Zodiac with the ‘O’ crossed out yields both the Zodiac’s trademark symbol and a reference to Treasure Island. When we place Zodiac’s paradise on Erytheia, we will have the Zodiac in paradise on Treasure Island.