Aratus (/əˈreɪtəs/; Greek: Ἄρατος ὁ Σολεύς; c. 315 BC/310 BC – 240) was a Greekdidacticpoet. His major extant work is his hexameter poem Phenomena (Greek: Φαινόμενα, Phainómena, "Appearances"; Latin: Phaenomena), the first half of which is a verse setting of a lost work of the same name by Eudoxus of Cnidus. It describes the constellations and other celestial phenomena. The second half is called the Diosemeia (Διοσημεῖα "Forecasts"), and is chiefly about weather lore. Although Aratus was somewhat ignorant of Greek astronomy, his poem was very popular in the Greek and Roman world, as is proven by the large number of commentaries and Latin translations, some of which survive.
There are several accounts of Aratus's life by anonymous Greek writers, and the Suda and Eudocia also mention him. From these it appears that he was a native of Soli[1] in Cilicia, (although one authority says Tarsus). He is known to have studied with Menecrates in Ephesus and Philitas in Cos. As a disciple of the Peripatetic philosopher Praxiphanes, in Athens, he met the Stoic philosopher Zeno, as well as Callimachus of Cyrene and Menedemus, the founder of the Eretrian school.
About 276 BC Aratus was invited to the court of the Macedonian king Antigonus II Gonatas, whose victory over the Gauls in 277 Aratus set to verse. Here he wrote his most famous poem, Phenomena. He then spent some time at the court of Antiochus I Soter of Syria, but subsequently returned to Pella in Macedon, where he died sometime before 240/239.[2][3] His chief pursuits were medicine (which is also said to have been his profession), grammar, and philosophy.
WritingsEdit
Several poetical works on various subjects, as well as a number of prose epistles, are attributed to Aratus, but none of them have come down to us, except his two astronomical poems in hexameter. These have generally been joined as parts of the same work; but they seem to be distinct poems, the first, called Phenomena ("Appearances"), consists of 732 verses; the second, Diosemeia ("On Weather Signs"), of 422 verses.
PhenomenaEdit
Aratus and star-signsPhenomena
The Phenomena appears to be based on two prose works—Phenomena and Enoptron (Ἔνοπτρον, "Mirror", presumably a descriptive image of the heavens)—by Eudoxus of Cnidus, written about a century earlier. We are told by the biographers of Aratus that it was the desire of Antigonus to have them turned into verse, which gave rise to the Phenomena of Aratus; and it appears from the fragments of them preserved by Hipparchus, that Aratus has in fact versified, or closely imitated parts of them both, but especially of the first.
The purpose of the Phenomena is to give an introduction to the constellations, with the rules for their risings and settings; and of the circles of the sphere, amongst which the Milky Way is reckoned. The positions of the constellations, north of the ecliptic, are described by reference to the principal groups surrounding the north pole (Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, and Cepheus), whilst Orion serves as a point of departure for those to the south. The immobility of the Earth, and the revolution of the sky about a fixed axis are maintained; the path of the Sun in the zodiac is described; but the planets are introduced merely as bodies having a motion of their own, without any attempt to define their periods; nor is anything said about the Moon's orbit. The opening of the poem asserts the dependence of all things upon Zeus. From the lack of precision in the descriptions, it would seem that Aratus was neither a mathematician nor observer[4] or, at any rate, that in this work he did not aim at scientific accuracy. He not only represents the configurations of particular groups incorrectly, but describes some phenomena which are inconsistent with any one supposed latitude of the spectator, and others which could not coexist at any one epoch. These errors are partly to be attributed to Eudoxus himself, and partly to the way in which Aratus has used the materials supplied by him. Hipparchus (about a century later), who was a scientific astronomer and observer, has left a commentary upon the Phenomenas of Eudoxus and Aratus, accompanied by the discrepancies which he had noticed between his own observations and their descriptions.
Published editionsEdit
Phaenomena (in Latin). Leiden: Officina Plantiniana. 1600.
DiosemeiaEdit
The Diosemeia consists of forecasts of the weather from astronomical phenomena, with an account of its effects upon animals. It appears to be an imitation of Hesiod, and to have been imitated by Virgil in some parts of the Georgics.[2] The materials are said to be taken almost wholly from Aristotle's Meteorologica, from the work of Theophrastus, On Weather Signs, and from Hesiod. Nothing is said in either poem about Hellenistic astrology.
Later influenceEdit
The two poems were very popular both in the Greek and Roman world,[5] as is proved by the number of commentaries and Latin translations. He enjoyed immense prestige among Hellenistic poets, including Theocritus, Callimachus and Leonidas of Tarentum. This assessment was picked up by Latin poets, including Ovid and Virgil. Latin versions were made by none other than Cicero (mostly extant),[2][6] Ovid (only two short fragments remain), the member of the imperial Julio-Claudian dynastyGermanicus (extant, with scholia), and the less-famous Avienius (extant). Quintilian was less enthusiastic.[2] Aratus was also cited by the author of Acts (believed to be Luke the Evangelist), in Acts 17:28, where he relates Saint Paul's address on the Areopagus. Paul, speaking of God, quotes the fifth line of Aratus's Phenomena (Epimenides seems to be the source of the first part of Acts 17:28,[2] although this is less clear):
Let us begin with Zeus, whom we mortals never leave unspoken. For every street, every market-place is full of god. Even the sea and the harbour are full of this deity. Everywhere everyone is indebted to god. For we are indeed his offspring ...
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aratus of Soli". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 321.
Bing, Peter. 1993. "Aratus and his Audiences." Materiali e Discussioni 31:99–109.
Faulkner, Andrew. 2015. "The Female Voice of Justice in Aratus' Phaenomena." Greece and Rome. 62.1: 75–86
Gee, Emma. 2013. Aratus and the Astronomical Tradition. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Gee, Emma. 2000. Ovid, Aratus and Augustus: Astronomy in Ovid’s Fasti. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
Hunter, Richard L. 1995. "Written in the Stars: Poetry and Philosophy in the Phaenomena of Aratus." Arachnion 2:1–34.
James, Alan W. 1972. "The Zeus Hymns of Cleanthes and Aratus." Antichthon 6:28–38.
Katz, Joshua T. 2008. "Vergil Translates Aratus: Phaenomena 1–2 and Georgics 1.1–2." Materiali e discussioni per l'analisi dei testi classici 60: 105–123
Pendergraft, Mary L. B. 1995. "Euphony and Etymology: Aratus’ Phaenomena." Syllecta Classica 6:43–67.
Possanza, Mark. 2004. Translating the Heavens: Aratus, Germanicus, and the Poetics of Latin Translation. New York: Lang
Volk, Katharina. 2010. "Aratus." In A Companion to Hellenistic Literature. Edited by James J. Clauss and Martine Cuypers, 197–210. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
External linksEdit
Look up Aratus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aratus of Soli.
Online text: Aratus, Phenomena, translated by G. R. Mair, 1921
Online text: Aratus, Phaenomena, Greek text
Works by Aratus at Perseus Digital Library
Audio: read by translator Aaron Poochigian
The Apostle and the Poet: Paul and Aratus (Dr. Riemer Faber)
Review of Kidd's translation of the Phenomena by Mark Possanza, BMCR (September 1999).
"Aratus and Aratea", A Hellenistic Bibliography by Martin Cuypers
by Richard L. Hunter, Arachnion 2.
Suda On-Line: Aratus, with a list of works ascribed to Aratus; the Suda is a Byzantine encyclopedia.
Phaenomena et prognostica, Coloniae Agrippinae 1570 da www.atlascoelestis.com
October 21, 2023
aratus, other, uses, disambiguation, greek, Ἄρατος, Σολεύς, greek, didactic, poet, major, extant, work, hexameter, poem, phenomena, greek, Φαινόμενα, phainómena, appearances, latin, phaenomena, first, half, which, verse, setting, lost, work, same, name, eudoxu. For other uses see Aratus disambiguation Aratus e ˈ r eɪ t e s Greek Ἄratos ὁ Soleys c 315 BC 310 BC 240 was a Greek didactic poet His major extant work is his hexameter poem Phenomena Greek Fainomena Phainomena Appearances Latin Phaenomena the first half of which is a verse setting of a lost work of the same name by Eudoxus of Cnidus It describes the constellations and other celestial phenomena The second half is called the Diosemeia Dioshmeῖa Forecasts and is chiefly about weather lore Although Aratus was somewhat ignorant of Greek astronomy his poem was very popular in the Greek and Roman world as is proven by the large number of commentaries and Latin translations some of which survive Aratus of Soli Contents 1 Life 2 Writings 2 1 Phenomena 2 1 1 Published editions 2 2 Diosemeia 3 Later influence 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksLife EditThere are several accounts of Aratus s life by anonymous Greek writers and the Suda and Eudocia also mention him From these it appears that he was a native of Soli 1 in Cilicia although one authority says Tarsus He is known to have studied with Menecrates in Ephesus and Philitas in Cos As a disciple of the Peripatetic philosopher Praxiphanes in Athens he met the Stoic philosopher Zeno as well as Callimachus of Cyrene and Menedemus the founder of the Eretrian school About 276 BC Aratus was invited to the court of the Macedonian king Antigonus II Gonatas whose victory over the Gauls in 277 Aratus set to verse Here he wrote his most famous poem Phenomena He then spent some time at the court of Antiochus I Soter of Syria but subsequently returned to Pella in Macedon where he died sometime before 240 239 2 3 His chief pursuits were medicine which is also said to have been his profession grammar and philosophy Writings EditSeveral poetical works on various subjects as well as a number of prose epistles are attributed to Aratus but none of them have come down to us except his two astronomical poems in hexameter These have generally been joined as parts of the same work but they seem to be distinct poems the first called Phenomena Appearances consists of 732 verses the second Diosemeia On Weather Signs of 422 verses Phenomena Edit nbsp Aratus and star signs nbsp PhenomenaThe Phenomena appears to be based on two prose works Phenomena and Enoptron Ἔnoptron Mirror presumably a descriptive image of the heavens by Eudoxus of Cnidus written about a century earlier We are told by the biographers of Aratus that it was the desire of Antigonus to have them turned into verse which gave rise to the Phenomena of Aratus and it appears from the fragments of them preserved by Hipparchus that Aratus has in fact versified or closely imitated parts of them both but especially of the first The purpose of the Phenomena is to give an introduction to the constellations with the rules for their risings and settings and of the circles of the sphere amongst which the Milky Way is reckoned The positions of the constellations north of the ecliptic are described by reference to the principal groups surrounding the north pole Ursa Major Ursa Minor Draco and Cepheus whilst Orion serves as a point of departure for those to the south The immobility of the Earth and the revolution of the sky about a fixed axis are maintained the path of the Sun in the zodiac is described but the planets are introduced merely as bodies having a motion of their own without any attempt to define their periods nor is anything said about the Moon s orbit The opening of the poem asserts the dependence of all things upon Zeus From the lack of precision in the descriptions it would seem that Aratus was neither a mathematician nor observer 4 or at any rate that in this work he did not aim at scientific accuracy He not only represents the configurations of particular groups incorrectly but describes some phenomena which are inconsistent with any one supposed latitude of the spectator and others which could not coexist at any one epoch These errors are partly to be attributed to Eudoxus himself and partly to the way in which Aratus has used the materials supplied by him Hipparchus about a century later who was a scientific astronomer and observer has left a commentary upon the Phenomenas of Eudoxus and Aratus accompanied by the discrepancies which he had noticed between his own observations and their descriptions Published editions Edit Phaenomena in Latin Leiden Officina Plantiniana 1600 Diosemeia Edit The Diosemeia consists of forecasts of the weather from astronomical phenomena with an account of its effects upon animals It appears to be an imitation of Hesiod and to have been imitated by Virgil in some parts of the Georgics 2 The materials are said to be taken almost wholly from Aristotle s Meteorologica from the work of Theophrastus On Weather Signs and from Hesiod Nothing is said in either poem about Hellenistic astrology Later influence EditThe two poems were very popular both in the Greek and Roman world 5 as is proved by the number of commentaries and Latin translations He enjoyed immense prestige among Hellenistic poets including Theocritus Callimachus and Leonidas of Tarentum This assessment was picked up by Latin poets including Ovid and Virgil Latin versions were made by none other than Cicero mostly extant 2 6 Ovid only two short fragments remain the member of the imperial Julio Claudian dynasty Germanicus extant with scholia and the less famous Avienius extant Quintilian was less enthusiastic 2 Aratus was also cited by the author of Acts believed to be Luke the Evangelist in Acts 17 28 where he relates Saint Paul s address on the Areopagus Paul speaking of God quotes the fifth line of Aratus s Phenomena Epimenides seems to be the source of the first part of Acts 17 28 2 although this is less clear Ἐk Diὸs ἀrxwmes8a tὸn oὐdepot ἄndres ἐῶmen ἄrrhton mestaὶ dὲ Diὸs pᾶsai mὲn ἀgyiai pᾶsai d ἀn8rwpwn ἀgorai mestὴ dὲ 8alassa kaὶ limenes panth dὲ Diὸs kexrhme8a pantes toῦ gὰr kaὶ genos eἰmen ktl Let us begin with Zeus whom we mortals never leave unspoken For every street every market place is full of god Even the sea and the harbour are full of this deity Everywhere everyone is indebted to god For we are indeed his offspring Phenomena 1 5Authors of twenty seven commentaries are known ones by Theon of Alexandria Achilles Tatius and Hipparchus of Nicaea survive An Arabic translation was commissioned in the ninth century by the Caliph Al Ma mun He is cited by Vitruvius Stephanus of Byzantium and Stobaeus Several accounts of his life are extant by anonymous Greek writers 2 The crater Aratus on the Moon and the minor planet 12152 Aratus are named in his honour See also EditActs 17 The Hesiodic Astronomia Leiden ArateaNotes Edit attalus website retrieved 15 09 2011 a b c d e f Chisholm 1911 A W Mair and G R Mair trans Callimachus and Lycophron Aratus Loeb Classical Library New York G P Putnam s Sons 1921 p 363 comp Cicero de Orat i 16 comp Ovid Am i 15 16 Cicero de Nat Deor ii 41References Edit nbsp This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Aratus of Soli Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 2 11th ed Cambridge University Press p 321 nbsp This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Smith William ed 1870 Aratus Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology pp 255 256 Two important recent editions of Aratus s work Douglas Kidd Phaenomena edited with introduction translation and commentary Cambridge 1997 ISBN 978 0 521 58230 8 Jean Martin Aratos Phenomenes edited with translation and notes 2 vols Collection Bude 1998 ISBN 978 2 251 00470 9 Further reading EditBing Peter 1993 Aratus and his Audiences Materiali e Discussioni 31 99 109 Faulkner Andrew 2015 The Female Voice of Justice in Aratus Phaenomena Greece and Rome 62 1 75 86 Gee Emma 2013 Aratus and the Astronomical Tradition Oxford Oxford Univ Press Gee Emma 2000 Ovid Aratus and Augustus Astronomy in Ovid s Fasti Cambridge UK Cambridge Univ Press Hunter Richard L 1995 Written in the Stars Poetry and Philosophy in the Phaenomena of Aratus Arachnion 2 1 34 James Alan W 1972 The Zeus Hymns of Cleanthes and Aratus Antichthon 6 28 38 Katz Joshua T 2008 Vergil Translates Aratus Phaenomena 1 2 and Georgics 1 1 2 Materiali e discussioni per l analisi dei testi classici 60 105 123 Pendergraft Mary L B 1995 Euphony and Etymology Aratus Phaenomena Syllecta Classica 6 43 67 Possanza Mark 2004 Translating the Heavens Aratus Germanicus and the Poetics of Latin Translation New York Lang Volk Katharina 2010 Aratus In A Companion to Hellenistic Literature Edited by James J Clauss and Martine Cuypers 197 210 Malden MA Wiley Blackwell External links Edit nbsp Look up Aratus in Wiktionary the free dictionary nbsp Wikisource has original works by or about Aratus nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aratus of Soli Online text Aratus Phenomena translated by G R Mair 1921 Online text Aratus Phaenomena Greek text Works by Aratus at Perseus Digital Library Audio The Maiden Virgo an excerpt from Phenomena read by translator Aaron Poochigian The Apostle and the Poet Paul and Aratus Dr Riemer Faber Review of Kidd s translation of the Phenomena by Mark Possanza BMCR September 1999 Aratus and Aratea A Hellenistic Bibliography by Martin Cuypers Written in the Stars Poetry and Philosophy in the Phaenomena of Aratus by Richard L Hunter Arachnion 2 Suda On Line Aratus with a list of works ascribed to Aratus the Suda is a Byzantine encyclopedia Phaenomena et prognostica Coloniae Agrippinae 1570 da www atlascoelestis com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Aratus amp oldid 1153712886, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
