Phaenomena, translated with an introduction and notes by. Hunter discusses how the significance of this acrostic was understood by aratus contemporary readers as evidenced by callimachus epigram 27 he which, along. With this acrostic, aratus draws a comparison between the stars arranged in the sky by zeus and patterns concealed in the phaenomena by the didactic poet volk 2012. Ptolemys manual of astronomy, known as the almagest, was to domi.
Phaenomena cambridge classical texts and commentaries. The phaenomena, a didactic poem in hexameters, is his only completely extant work. This paper discusses two possible boustrophedon acrostics, as yet unnoticed, in vergils aeneid 1,14 and aratus phaenomena 68. The poem also explains the relationship between celestial phenomena and such human affairs as agriculture and navigation. Of his many poems, the only one extant is the phaenomena, a treatise. Princetonstanford working papers in classics vergil translates aratus. The immobility of the earth, and the revolution of the sky about a fixed axis are maintained. Search the history of over 424 billion web pages on the internet. As shown by the recent spate of critical attention to the astronomica, his various intellectual resourcesastronomical calculation, mythology, astrological lore and stoic physics, while not forming a unified dogma, are less muddled than previously thought. The phaenomenas famous proem, a hymn to zeus on the model of the opening of hesiods works and days, outlines a path by which knowledge reaches aratus audience. Reading the signs in aratus phaenomena katharina volk abstract.
Constellation myths compiled by hyginusa prose translation of the poem phaenomena by aratus and extracts from geminos introduction to the phaenomena included as an appendix the constellations are arranged. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position. His phaenomena aka sky signs attempts to replicate the wondrous stars into verse, describing the various constellations, how they mingle with one another, and. Aratus accountoftheweathersignscharacteristicofthedays andphasesofthemoonphaen.
Aratus phaenomena, syllecta classica on deepdyve, the largest online rental service for scholarly research with thousands of academic publications available at your fingertips. Flourishing during the height of the alexandrian literary age of callimachus and apollonius of rhodes, aratus was a gifted greek poet who took up the sky itself as his subject. Full text of the phenomena and diosemeia of aratus. Constellation myths with aratus s phaenomena eratosthenes, hyginus, and aratus robin hard oxford worlds classics. Zeus in aratus phaenomena scholars working on the phaenomena have observed a multifaceted figure in aratus zeus. Mud and stars make a strange mixture, yet here in brief is manilius universe, in which the rarefied heavens regulate the coarse earth. There are several accounts of aratus life by anonymous greek writers, and the suda and eudocia also mention him. This translation brings together ancient classical texts derived from eratosthenes handbook of astral mythology, hyginus guide to astronomy, and aratus s astronomical poem phaenomena to provide a complete collection of greek.
Aratus late nights were devoted not only to watching the progress of the stars across the sky bit also to poring over earlier books and to polishing his own work achilles, isagoga excerpta in e. We owe the surviving fragments of eudoxus phaenomena almost solely. Vergils acrostic reads a stilo maronis vergili, which is. Yet not a star, i ween, has perished from the sky unmarked since the earliest. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The phenomena and diosemeia of aratus internet archive. His major extant work is his hexameter poem phaenomena, the first half of which is a verse setting of a lost work of. This paper demonstrates that vergil engages in a kind of verbal oneupmanship with aratus by. The only comprehensive compendium of the ancient myths of the stars and constellations, including the two main sources, eratosthenes and hyginus, together with aratus phaenomena, the earliest surviving account of the greek constellations.
Hide browse bar your current position in the text is marked in blue. Maass, commentariorum in aralum reliquia berlin 1898, rep. From these it appears that he was a native of soli in cilicia, although one authority says tarsus. The hellenistic poet aratus of soli ca 315 to before 240 bc1 is known primarily as the author of phaenomena, a poem which describes the constellations and circles of the celestial sphere, and catalogues terrestrial, atmospheric, and celestial signs for forecasting the weather. Phaenomena johns hopkins new translations from antiquity. He resided at the courts of antigonus ii gonatas, king of macedonia, and antiochus i of syria. Reading mediates between the signs and the knowledge that they provide. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read constellation myths. Aratus phaenomena stanley lombardo 0938190164 photograph. The astronomical and meteorological content of the poem is. His phaenomena aka sky signs attempts to replicate the wondrous stars into verse, describing the various constellations, how they mingle with one another, and how they. Aratus of soli was a highly original poet of the early third century bc, famous throughout antiquity for his poem on constellations and weather signs, and imitated by later greek and latin poets.
Ebook aratus phaenomena as pdf download portable document format. Aratea based on the phaenomena by the greek poet aratus. Reading the shield of achilles in aratus previous scholarship. The aratea manuscripts contain latin translations of the astronomical poem originally written in greek by aratus of soli around 270 bce. Aratus invokes a beneficent stoic zeus who has created the constellations and their movements to help men follow the progress of the solar year, and also provides a great variety of signs in sky, air, earth and sea as warnings of weather changes. The constellations and other sky divisions constellations is contained in the phaenomena of aratus, a poet of the 3rd century bce, who described 43 constellations and named five individual stars. Phaenomena west capital is silicon a valley private. His only surviving work is the phaenomena, a book describing the constellations and weather signs. Aratus phaenomena describes the constellations as a sign system devised by zeus for the benefit of human beings. Part i of this study argued that aratuss decision to base his lepte acrostic, which occurs during a discussion of moonlight phaen. On metaphors of reading and writing underlying aratus conception of stars, constellations, and their representation in the poem including our deliberately literate acrostic, see now volk, k. Katharina volk has recently interpreted the phaenomena as a poem about reading signs. Aratus phaenomena by aratus, stanley lombardo isbn.
Most of phaenomena is observational natural science as we know it today, not greatly different in purpose from modern textbooks. In addition to the translation of aratus phaenomena, the book contains. Let us begin with zeus, whom we men never leave unspoken. Aratus describes the constellations visible in the northern hemisphere sky, their physical and rotational relationships to each other as a way of determining the time, month and season particularly with regard to agricultural and maritime ventures and various other signs of foretelling the weather. The phaenomena of aratus has been edited and translated in aratus. Pdf we provide a fresh analysis of the constellations in aratos phenomena by. After all, the signs provided by the light of the sun and the moon are precisely the subject of the first part of the phaenomenas section on weather signs 778891. These works were widely read and commented on in antiquity, and to have more than a facile idea of the ancient image of the world one must understand how people looked at the heavens. Full text of the phenomena and diosemeia of aratus see other formats.
Although aratus wrote poetry in addition to the phaenomena, through the. Notes on aratus, phaenomena the classical quarterly. This volume presents for the first time in english an edition of the poem with a full introduction, a facing translation and a linebyline commentary. Aratus phaenomena top results of your surfing aratus phaenomena start download portable document format pdf and ebooks electronic books free online rating news 20162017 is books that can provide inspiration, insight, knowledge to the reader. Constellation myths by eratosthenes, 9780198716983, download free ebooks, download free pdf epub ebook. Aratus, greek poet of soli in cilicia, best remembered for his poem on astronomy, phaenomena. Aratus of soli was a greek poet who flourished in macedonia in the early c3rd b. Pdf a study of catasterisms in the phaenomena of aratus. This article argues that aratus figuratively depicts these signs as though they were letters in the sky, a veritable text inscribed in.
305 516 807 752 41 1104 1302 989 640 323 559 750 1510 763 1404 156 618 466 326 5 85 1167 1424 644 1278 674 277 311 788 531 1099 871 353 1321 1424 233 640 389 711 254 1266 1415 1474 238