Ancient Indian , Greek , Egyptian , Babylonian and Chinese observers knew of Venus and recorded the planet 's motions . The early Greek astronomers called Venus by two names — Hesperus the evening star and Phosphorus the morning star . Pythagoras is credited with realizing they was the same planet . There is no evidence that any of these cultures knew of the transits . Venus was important to ancient American civilizations , in particular for the Maya , who called it Noh Ek , " the Great Star " or Xux Ek , " the Wasp Star " ; they embodied Venus in the form of the god Kukulkán ( also known as or related to Gukumatz and Quetzalcoatl in other parts of Mexico ) . In the Dresden Codex , the Maya charted Venus ' full cycle , but despite their precise knowledge of its course , there is no mention of a transit . However , it have been proposed that frescoes found at Mayapan may contain a pictorial representation of the 12th or 13th century transits .