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[German version] (ἐκλειπτική sc. γραμμή, cf. schol. Arat. 550, p. 323,8 Martin: τὴν μέσην γραμμὴν τοῦ ζῳδιακοῦ; and ThlL V,2, 48,56 ecliptica linea, but mostly ἐκλειπτικὸς sc. κύκλος). One of the five fixed celestial orbits (  kýkloi ), limited by the two tropics and intersecting the equator, i.e. an oblique orbit (λοξός, loxós) whose stars do not rise and set at the same point; it originally referred to the orbit of the sun during its year. The name is derived from the fact that the  eclipses take place on this orbit (Ach.Tat. Isagoga 23, p. 53,…

A. Antiquity to Renaissance A.1. IntroductionAntiquity and the Renaissance were high water marks in the history of A. The cosmological worldview, associated with Graeco-Roman polytheism, was in both periods regarded as a form of surrogate religion. While Christian rulers in the West for the most part condemned A. as heresy and only occasionally engaged with it [18], it lived on in Sassanid Persia (AD 227–651) and India. After the Arabs conquered the then hub of scholarship, Alexandria, in AD 642, A. migrated to Constantinople and Baghdad. During the…

[German version] (ἐπισημασίαι/ episēmasíai, διοσημεῖαι/ diosēmeîai, also σημεῖα/ sēmeîa; Latin signa). The term is used in two ways: to designate a portent of a particular weather phenomenon to be expected, or to refer to a sign expressed by the current weather. The oldest weather forecasts were assembled by the Babylonians on the basis of precise observations (Assurbanipal; Divination; Meteorology), and were often linked with astrological prophecies [6; 7] (Astrology), sometimes compiled in menologies (prophecies by the phase of the moon; cf. calendar [B 2]). The systematic st…

[German version] A. In Superstition Eclipses disturbed the usual regularity of day and night and frightened people as long as they were unable to explain these phenomena. In early times, it was believed that the heavenly bodies suffered under the power of the  demons and attempts were made to end this suffering with banging or loud shouting. On the other hand, Thessalian witches are supposed to have forced the moon down to earth with their magical practices (Pl. Grg. 513a, Hor. Epod. 5,46; 17,77, Ver…

[German version] Claudius Balbillus, Tiberius. Praefectus Aegypti AD 55-59; games were held in Ephesus after 70 (Βαλβιλλεῖα; Balbilleîa) in his honour. Sen. Q Nat. 4,2,13 praises his erudition, therefore identified by Cichorius i.a. [2; 3; 9. 39] against [10] with the son of Thrasyllus, the astrologer of emperors Claudius (he comes to him in 41 as envoy of the Alexandrians to Rome), Nero and Vespasianus. His writings, addressed to a certain Hermogenes, were called Ἀστρολογούμενα ( Astrologoúmena). Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster) Bibliography Fragments : 1 F. Cumont, CCAG VIII 4, 23…

[German version] (πλειάδης/ pleiádēs, Latin pliades, also Βότρυς/ Bótrys, 'bunch of grapes' or 'curl'; Latin Vergiliae, 'twig'). In contrast to the Hyades, the P. were known from the time of Euripides and Hippocrates by the collective singular Πλειάς/ Pleiás: seven faint stars, placed close together, designated as a 'nebula'. According to Nicander [4], they are located on the tail of Taurus ascending in reverse, otherwise - because only its forequarters form stars - at the start of its sector. Both Hom. Il. 18,486 and Od. 5,272 ment…

[German version] (Οἰνοπίδης; Oinopídēs) of Chios. Astronomer and mathematician in the 2nd half of the 5th cent. BC. According to Procl. (In primum Euclidis Elementorum librum commentarii, p. 65,21), O. was only a little younger than Anaxagoras [2]. Diog. Laert. 9,41 records that O. was mentioned by Democritus [1]. According to Diod. Sic. 1,98,3, O. was trained by Egyptian priests. His cosmological theory of two elements (fire and earth), was in accordance with the Pythagoreans (Aristot. Mete. 1,8,3…

[German version] (Ὑάδες/ Hyádes; Hyas only since Statius, otherwise Suculae, according to Plin. HN 18,247, the popular name is sidus Parilicium). Constellation in the head of Taurus, found - due to the fact that Taurus rises in reverse - at the end of the sign in the neighbourhood of Orion and the  Pleiades (the H. are mentioned along with the latter as early as Hom. Il. 18,486 on the shield of Achilles). Their name is derived from ὗς ( hŷs; ‘pig’; ‘piglet’) or from ὕειν ( hýein; ‘to rain’; ‘rain sign’) or from the shape of the letter Υ as an image of a bull's head. The number of…

[German version] Author of an astronomical teaching manual, who lived between  Poseidonius and  Ptolemy (whom he does not quote). The textbook consisted of two parts designated scholia (‘lectures’, ‘exercises’). The title Κυκλικῆς θεωρίας μετεώρων α'/β' ( Kyklikês theōrías meteṓrōn a'/b' was preserved in the manuscript. Books 1 and 2 probably unite two versions of a theory of the motional of celestial objects; Todd favoured Μετέωρα ( Metéōra). C. does not present any original research, but compiled the thought of philosophers, mostly stoic ( sympátheia; ekpýrōsis, ‘world fire’;…

(ζώνη/ zṓnē, 'belt'). [German version] [1] see Belts II See Belts II. Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster) [German version] [2] Astronomic-mathematical term Metaphor in astronomy and mathematical geography, first attested by Autolycus [3] of Pitane c. 310 BC; a Latin translation of the term, despite many attempts ( cingulum, fascia, plaga, etc), did not establish itself. The term can also describe the Zodiac, which crosses the sphere of the heavens diagonally, but it usually designates the bands, delimited by celestial circles ( Kýkloi ) running parallel to the …

[German version] (παρανατέλλοντα; paranatéllonta), stars 'rising alongside' (or συνανατέλλοντα/ synanatéllonta, 'rising simultaneously') are constellations, parts thereof (also of the signs of the zodiac) or especially bright individual stars, which become visible or invisible at the same time as certain degrees or decanal sections (segments of 10 degrees) of the ecliptic. They were first described by Aratus [4] who was criticized by Hipparchus [6]. In antiquity, they were used for determining the season…

[German version] (Τιμόχαρις; Timócharis). Greek astronomer from the time of Ptolemaeus [1] I (around 300 BC), whose observations were used by Ptolemaeus [65] in his Sýntaxis (7,2 p. 12,24); cited six times by Proclus [2] in his Hypotýpōsis. Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster) Bibliography W. Kroll, s. v. T., RE 6 A, 1258 f.

[German version] from Athens. Astronomer, meteorologist and geographer, is named together with  Meton as the discoverer of the 19-year lunisolar cycle. Together they observed, in the last third of the 5th cent. BC, solstices and equinoxes, the anomaly of solar movements and the length of the solar year, also the rising and setting of the planets ‘in Athens, on the Cyclades, in Macedonia and in Thrace’ (Ptol. Phaseis p. 67,6 Heiberg, cf. Anon. a. 379 CCAG V 1 [1904] p. 205,6 ἐν Ἀθήναις ( en Athḗnais) and Avienus Ora maritima 350 Atheniensis or 337 Amphipolis urbis incola). In Athens E. obse…

[German version] (Νεχεψῶ; Nechepsȏ). N. and Petosiris (Πετόσιρις; Petósiris),are often referred to together as ‘the ancient Egyptians’ with N. on his own as ‘the king; ’they are the pseudonyms of the authors of a reference book on astrology written around 150-120 BC. Entitled Ἀστρολογούμενα ( Astrologoúmena) and couched in a veil of mystical terminology supposedly in iambic senarii, it contained all the important teachings on Hellenistic astrology at that early date. It is possible that there was only one single author, that is to say, the…

[German version] (Πρόκλος; Próklos) is said, according to Cass. Dio 67,16,2, to have foretold the death of Domitian in Germania; he was condemned in Rome but saved after Domitian had actually been murdered on the predicted day, and was richly rewarded by Nerva. Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster) Bibliography W. and H. G. Gundel, Astrologumena, 1966, 177 A. Stein, s.v. L., RE 12, 834f.

[German version] (ἀνάλημμα; análēmma)‘Recording’, ‘outline’, general: geometric or arithmetic method for determining the height of an object by measuring the angle; especially: projection of the heights of the sun with the help of a line network on the horizontal level of sundials with uneven length of hours, depending on the geographical latitude. The principle is based on the length ratio of a  gnomon to its shadow's length at midday on the equinox and three vertical reference levels in pairs: me…

[German version] (Κλεόστρατος; Kleóstratos) of Tenedus, astronomer, probably at the end of the 6th cent. BC, according to Theophr. De signis 4, he made his observations from the Ida mountain range. His work, of which two hexameters have been handed down, is called in the Vita Arati (Commentariorum in Aratum reliquiae 324.10 Maass) Φαινόμενα ( Phainómena) -- but there is no account in the differing catalogue of Achilleus (ibid. 79.2-6) --, in Ath. 7.278b Ἀστρολογία ( Astrología; handed down as gastrologia). According to Plin. HN 2.31, C. was the first to name the zodiacal s…

[German version] (κύκλοι; kýkloi, Latin cycli). The eleven celestial orbits (cf. Eudoxus fr. 62-69; Arat. 469-558; Geminus Astronomicus 5; Hyg. Poet. Astr. 4,1-10; Manil. 1,561-804; Achilles Astronomus, Isagoge 22-27), which are divided up according to various points of view. The only visible ‘orbit’ is the ‘oblique’ Milky Way, all others are invisible and probably of mnemotechnical origin. Parallel to the celestial equator run the northern and southern tropic and polar orbit, respectively. These fi…

[German version] (Κιδήνας; Kidḗnas, Babylonian Kidinnu), Chaldean astronomer, at the latest in the 2nd cent. BC, mentioned by Strabo as well as Sudines and Naburianus, discoverer of the equation 251 synodic months = 269 anomalistic months, originator of system B of the Babylonian moon calendar. His observations were probably used by  Critodemus (CCAG 5,2,128,15),  Hipparchus [6] and  Ptolemaeus.  Astronomy Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster) Bibliography Sources: P. Schnabel, Berossos und die babylon.-hell. Lit., 1923, 121-130 O. Neugebauer, Astronomical Cuneiform Texts, 195…

[German version] (Ῥητόριος; Rhētórios). R. was the last Greek-writing expert on astrology in Egypt before the Arab conquest in AD 640, . He played an important role in the transmission of older theories to the Middle Ages. His work, which has been preserved in compilations, probably even incomplete, of 90 and 117 chapters, draws in particular on Antiochus [23] and Teucer of Babylon, as well as on Claudius Ptolemaeus [65], Vettius Valens, Iulianus [19] of Laodicea and Olympiodorus' [4] commentaries …

(Κριτόδημος; Kritódēmos) [No German version] [1] Astrologer of the Hellenistic period Astrologer of the Hellenistic period, named by Pliny the Elder together with  Berossus, by Firmicus Maternus with the oldest representatives of Greek astrology, mainly used by  Vettius Valens (however, the horoscopes mentioned by Valens in connection with C. extend into a later period, in part into the 2nd cent. AD), then also by Hephaestion (2,10,41-46), Rhetorius and Theophilus of Edessa. His work Ὅρασις (Hórasis/‘Visio…

[German version] (ἡμισφαίριον; hēmisphaírion). The term refers to a ‘hemisphere’ a) in stereometry as a geometrical body, b) in astronomical cosmology as half a celestial sphere on both sides of one of the large celestial circles ( Kykloi), mostly of the horizon, i.e. outwards from the earth that was thought to be central, the upper, visible celestial hollow sphere and the bottom, invisible half of the sky, then also c) the convex hemisphere of the earth on both sides of the horizon that was only deduced in antiquity. Furthermore human artefacts were also called hemisphairion: on a larg…

[English version] von Tenedos, Astronom, wohl E. 6. Jh. v.Chr., machte nach Theophr. de signis 4 vom Idagebirge aus seine Beobachtungen. Sein Werk, von dem zwei Hexameter überl. sind, heißt in der Vita Arati (Commentariorum in Aratum reliquiae 324,10 Maass) Φαινόμενα ( Phainómena) - doch fehlt die Angabe in dem abweichenden Katalog des Achilleus (ibid. 79,2-6) -, bei Athen. 7,278b Ἀστρολογία ( Astrología; überl. Gastrologia). K. soll nach Plin. nat. 2,31 zuerst die Tierkreiszeichen Widder und Schütze und nach Hyg. astr. 2,13 Z. 499 Viré die extrazodiakalen Haedi (“Böcklein”) bena…

[English version] A. Im Aberglauben F. stören die gewohnte Regelmäßigkeit von Tag und Nacht und erschreckten die Menschen, solange sie die Phänomene nicht erklären konnten. In früher Zeit glaubte man, die Gestirne litten durch die Macht von Dämonen, und versuchte, das Leiden durch Erzklang oder lautes Geschrei zu beenden. Andererseits sollen thessal. Hexen den Mond durch magische Praktiken auf die Erde herabgezwungen haben (Plat. Gorg. 513a, Hor. epod. 5,46; 17,77, Verg. ecl. 8,69, Ov. met. 7,207f.).…

[English version] (Κριτόδημος). Astrologe hell. Zeit, von Plinius d.Ä. zusammen mit Berossos, von Firmicus Maternus mit den ältesten Vertretern griech. Astrologie gen., hauptsächlich benutzt von Vettius Valens (die von Valens in Zusammenhang mit K. erwähnten Horoskope jedoch reichen in spätere Zeit, z.T. bis ins 2. Jh. n.Chr.), dann auch von Hephaistion (2,10,41-46), Rhetorios und Theophilos von Edessa. Sein Werk Ὅρασις ( Hórasis/‘Zision), dessen Anf. Valens 3,9,3 = 9,1,5 überl. und das einen mystisch-poetischen Stil verrät, behandelt Stufenjahre ( klimaktḗres), Lebensda…

[English version] (παρανατέλλοντα), “daneben aufgehende” (oder συνανατέλλοντα/ synanatéllonta, “gleichzeitig aufgehende”) Sterne, sind Sternbilder, Teile von solchen (auch der Tierkreiszeichen selbst) oder bes. helle Einzelsterne, die zugleich mit bestimmten Graden oder Dekanen (10°-Abschnitten) der Ekliptik (un-)sichtbar werden, zuerst beschrieben von Aratos [4] (den Hipparchos [6] kritisiert). Sie dienten in der Ant. zur Bestimmung der Jahreszeiten sowie den Astrologen zur Differenzierung zodiakaler …

[English version] Claudius Balbillus, Ti. Praefectus Aegypti 55-59 n.Chr.; zu seinen Ehren wurden in Ephesos nach 70 Spiele (Βαλβιλλεῖα) abgehalten. Sen. nat. 4,2,13 rühmt seine Gelehrsamkeit, daher von Cichorius u.a. [2; 3; 9. 39] gegen [10] mit dem Sohn des Thrasyllos, dem Astrologen der Kaiser Claudius (zu diesem kommt er 41 als Gesandter der Alexandriner nach Rom), Nero und Vespasian identifiziert. Seine an einen Hermogenes gerichtete Schrift hieß Ἀστρολογούμενα ( Astrologúmena). Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster) Bibliography Fr.: 1 F. Cumont, CCAG VIII 4, 233-238; συγκεφαλ…

[English version] (πλειάδης/ pleiádēs, lat. pliades, auch Βότρυς/ Bótrys, “Traube” oder “Locke”; lat. Vergiliae, “Zweiglein”). Im Gegensatz zu den Hyaden schon früh seit Euripides und Hippokrates im kollektiven Singular Πλειάς/ Pleiás: sieben dicht beieinanderstehende schwache, als “Nebel” bezeichnete Sterne, nach Nikandros [4] am Schwanz des umgekehrt aufgehenden Stiers, sonst - weil dieser nur mit dem Vorderteil verstirnt ist - am Anf. seines Sektors. Schon Hom. Il. 18,486 und Od. 5,272 erwähnen sie jeweils an erster Stell…

[English version] (Κιδήνας, babylon. Kidinnu), chaldäischer Astronom, spätestens im 2. Jh.v.Chr., von Strabon neben Sudines und Naburianus gen., Entdecker der Gleichung 251 synodische Monate = 269 anomalistische Monate, Urheber des Systems B der babylon. Mondrechnung. Seine Beobachtungen wurden wahrscheinlich von Kritodemos (CCAG 5,2,128,15), Hipparchos [6] und Ptolemaios benutzt. Astronomie Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster) Bibliography Quellen: P. Schnabel, Berossos und die babylon.-hell. Lit., 1923, 121-130  O. Neugebauer, Astronomical Cuneiform Texts, 1955, 22f. Lit…

[English version] (Ῥητόριος). Der letzte griech. schreibende astrologische Fachschriftsteller in Äg. vor der Eroberung durch die Araber 640 n. Chr. Rh. war ein wichtiger Vermittler älterer Lehren an das MA. Sein Werk, von dem - verm. noch nicht einmal vollständige - Zusammenfassungen in 90 bzw. 117 Kap. existieren, schöpft bes. aus Antiochos [23] und Teukros von Babylon, ferner aus Klaudios Ptolemaios [65], Vettius Valens, Iulianos [19] von Laodikeia und Olympiodoros' [4] Komm. zu Paulos [2] aus A…

[English version] (Οἰνοπίδης) von Chios. Astronom und Geometer in der 2. H. des 5. Jh.v.Chr., laut Proklos (in Eukl. elem., p. 65,21) nur wenig jünger als Anaxagoras [2], nach Diog. Laert. 9,41 von Demokritos [1] erwähnt. O. soll laut Diod. 1,98,3 von ägypt. Priestern ausgebildet worden sein und stand mit seiner kosmologischen Theorie von zwei Elementen (Feuer und Erde) den Pythagoreern nahe (Aristot. meteor. 1,8,345a 13f.). Er erklärte die Milchstraße myth. als den früheren Weg des Helios, der si…

[English version] (ἡμισφαίριον). Der Begriff bezeichnet eine “Halbkugel” a) in der Stereometrie als geometrischer Körper, b) in der astronomischen Kosmologie als halbe Himmelskugel beiderseits eines der großen Himmelskreise (Kykloi), meistens des Horizonts, also von der zentral gedachten Erde aus die obere, sichtbare Himmelshohlkugel und die untere, unsichtbare Hälfte des Himmels, dann auch c) die in der Ant. nur erschlossene konvexe Erdhalbkugel beiderseits des Horizonts. Ferner wurden auch menschliche Artefakte H. genannt: im großen d) ein Kuppelgewölbe - griech. auch th…

[English version] “Aufnahme”, “Abriß”, allgemein: geometrisches oder arithmetisches Verfahren zur Bestimmung der Höhe eines Gegenstandes durch Winkelmessung; speziell: Projektion der Sonnenhöhen mit Hilfe eines Liniennetzes auf die horizontale Ebene von Sonnenuhren mit ungleicher Stundenlänge, abhängig von der geographischer Breite. Grundlage bilden das Längenverhältnis eines Gnomons zu seiner Mittagsschattenlänge zur Tagundnachtgleiche sowie paarweise drei senkrechte Bezugsebenen: Meridian, Horiz…

[English version] (Πρόκλος) soll nach Cass. Dio 67,16,2 in Germanien den Tod Domitians vorausgesagt haben; er wurde in Rom verurteilt, aber gerettet, nachdem Domitian tatsächlich am vorausgesagten Tage ermordet worden war, und von Nerva reich belohnt. Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster) Bibliography W. und H.G. Gundel, Astrologumena, 1966, 177  A. Stein, s.v. L., RE 12, 834f.

[English version] aus Athen. Astronom, Meteorologe und Geograph, wird zusammen mit Meton als Entdecker des 19jährigen lunisolaren Zyklus gen. Er beobachtete im letzten Drittel des 5. Jh. v.Chr. zusammen mit diesem die Sonnenwenden und die anderen Jahrpunkte, die Anomalie der Sonnenbewegung sowie die Länge des Sonnenjahres, ferner die Auf- und Untergänge der Fixsterne, und zwar ‘in Athen, auf den Kykladen, in Makedonien und in Thrakien’ (Ptol. Phaseis p. 67,6 Heiberg, vgl. Anon. a. 379 CCAG V 1 [1904] p. 205,6 ἐν Ἀθήναις und Avienus ora maritima 350 Atheniensis bzw. 337 Amphipolis ur…

[English version] (Νεχεψῶ). N. und Petosiris (Πετόσιρις), oft zusammen als “die alten Ägypter” und N. allein als “der König” bezeichnet, sind pseudonyme Verf. eines ca. 150-120 v.Chr. entstandenen Hdb. der Astrologie, das unter dem Titel Ἀστρολογούμενα ( Astrologúmena) in mystisch-rel. Einkleidung und verm. in iambischen Senaren bereits alle wichtigen Lehren der hell. Astrologie enthielt. Möglicherweise handelt es sich nur um einen einzigen Verf., etwa in der Form, daß der Priester Petosiris sein Werk an den König N. richtete. Vett…

[English version] (κύκλοι, lat. cycli). Die elf Himmelskreise (vgl. Eudoxos fr. 62-69; Arat. 469-558; Geminus Astronomicus 5; Hyg. astr. 4,1-10; Manil. 1,561-804; Achilleus Astronomus, Isagoge 22-27), die nach verschiedenen Gesichtspunkten eingeteilt werden. Der einzig sichtbare “Kreis” ist die “schiefe” Milchstraße, alle anderen sind unsichtbar und wohl mnemotechnischen Ursprungs. Parallel zum Himmelsäquator verlaufen jeweils der nördl. und südl. Wende- und Polarkreis. Diese fünf Par.-Kreise spiege…

[English version] Astronomischer Schulschriftsteller zeitlich zw. Poseidonios und Ptolemaios (den er nicht zit.), schrieb ein Lehrbuch in zwei B., die 2,7,229 als σχολαί (‘Vorlesungen, ‘Übungen) bezeichnet werden. Der hsl. überl. Titel Κυκλικῆς θεωρίας μετεώρων α'/β' ( Kyklikḗs theōrías meteōrōn a'/b': B. 1/2 einer Theorie über Kreisbewegungen der überirdischen Dinge) vereinigt wohl zwei verschiedene Versionen; Todd entschied sich für Μετέωρα ( Metéōra). K. bietet keine eigene Forsch., sondern kompiliert Gedankengut meist stoischer Philosophen ( sympátheia; ekpýrōsis,…

[English version] (ἐκλειπτική sc. γραμμή, vgl. schol. Arat. 550, p. 323,8 Martin: τὴν μέσην γραμμὴν τοῦ ζῳδιακοῦ; und ThlL V,2, 48,56 ecliptica linea, meist jedoch ἐκλειπτικὸς sc. κύκλος). Einer der fünf unbeweglichen Himmelskreise ( kýkloi ), begrenzt durch die beiden Wendekreise und den Äquator schneidend, ein schiefer Kreis (λοξός, loxós), dessen Sterne also nicht am selben Punkt auf- und untergehen; bezeichnete urspr. die Bahn der Sonne während ihres Jahres. Der Name rührt daher, daß auf dieser Bahn die Finsternisse stattfinden (Ach. Tat. …

[English version] (Ὑάδες, erst seit Statius Hyas, sonst Suculae, nach Plin. nat. 18,247 volkstümlich sidus Parilicium). Sternbild im Kopf des Stieres, welcher sich, weil der Stier umgekehrt aufgeht, am Ende des Zeichens befindet, in der Nachbarschaft des Orion und der Pleiaden (neben diesen werden die H. schon bei Hom. Il. 18,486 auf dem Schild des Achilleus erwähnt). Ihr Name wird abgeleitet von ὗς ( hys; “Schwein”; “Ferkelchen”) oder von ὕειν ( hýein; “regnen”; “Regenzeichen”) oder von der Form des Buchstabens Υ als Abbild des Stierschädels. Die Zahl der H. schwa…

(Λάσος; Lásos). [German version] [1] L. of Hermione Poet, c. 500 BC in the Argolis (incorrectly in the Suda: Achaia). The Suda places his date of birth in the 58th Oympiad. (548-544 BC). Like Anacreon and Simonides, this Greek poet was under the patronage of Hipparchus in Athens. According to Hdt. 7,6, Onomacritus was expelled by Hipparchus when L. caught him forging oracles of Musaeus. The Schol. Aristoph. Av. 1403 quotes authorities who consider L. the first organizer of dithyrambic choruses positione…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In Mesopotamia, the visible stars were combined into constellations; some of these notions about constellations were communicated to other cultures as early as the 2nd millennium BC and, through Greek-Roman transmission, are still common today. The constellations of the  zodiac ─ Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Pisces ─ can be traced back to Babylonian models, also the Big Dipper ( Ursa Maior), the Raven, and the Eagle, among others. Babylonian  lists of constellations have existed since the early 2nd mille…

[German version] [1] Egyptian priest and Greek writer According to uncertain sources, M. (see [1]) was a priest from Sebennytus, who lived under Ptolemy I and II and played a part in the introduction of the cult of Sarapis ( Sarapis) [2]. As a Hellenized Egyptian, he wrote in Greek about Egyptian topics. A number of isolated quotations have survived from a maximum of eight works, among them a work regarding the preparation of kyphi (incense), further a hierá bíblos about Egyptian religion, as well as a book about rituals. The question of the works' authenticity remains uns…

(Κάλλιππος; Kállippos). [German version] [1] Athenian student of Plato Athenian student of  Plato, who took Callistratus, who had been sentenced in an   eisangelía proceeding, to Thasos in 361 BC on the order of the stratēgós Timomachus (Dem. Or. 50,47-52). In 357 C. evaded charges in Athens by accompanying  Dion [I 1] during his enforced return to Sicily (Plut. Dion 22,5 and 54,1; Pl. Ep. 7, 333e). Though initially held in high esteem by Dion as a philosophical and political advisor and ‘condottiere’, C. turned against Dion in 3…

I. Astronomy [German version] A. General points Because of their peculiar motions, which differ significantly from the regular motions of the fixed stars (so called because they seem to be attached to the vault of the heavens), the planets were conceived by the Greeks as wandering stars (οἱ πλάνητες/ hoi plánētes and οἱ πλανῆται/ hoi planêtai; lat. planetae) from the earliest periods of planetary observations (traceable from the 5th cent. BC). The Greeks and Romans knew of five planets only: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (cf. fig. 6). The term πλάνητες/ plánētes is first at…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient The expression for the MW in ancient Mesopotamia has not yet been discovered. However, it is possible that it referred to milk; in hymnal texts, the stars were described as the ‘cattle herds of the Moon deities’. In Egypt, too, the MW was perceived as a phenomenon; its designation is still discussed in modern scholarship [2]. Hunger, Hermann (Vienna) Bibliography 1 W. Heimpel, The Babylonian Background of the Term ‘Milky Way’, in: H. Behrens (Ed.), FS A.Sjöberg, 1989, 249-252 2 O. Neugebauer, R. A. Parker, Egyptian Astronomical Texts I, 1960, 50. …

(Zodiakos: ζῳδιακὸς κύκλος/ zōidiakós kýklos, Lat. zodiacus or signifer, literally: 'circle of animals'). Name     Name     Name     Melothesia     Twelve Gods     English     Greek     Latin     Ram     Kriós     Aries     Head     Minerva     Bull     Taûros     Taurus     Neck     Venus     Twins     Dídymoi     Gemini     Shoulders, arms     Apollo     Crab     Karkínos     Cancer     Chest     Mercurius     Lion     Léōn     Leo     Flanks     Iuppiter     Maiden     Parthénos     Virgo     Abdomen     Ceres     Scales     Zygós (Chēlaí)     Lib…

(ἀστρολογία; astrología). [German version] A. Term Astrology is the original and more natural name for the study of the heavens in general; until well into late antiquity it was not strictly demarcated from its rival word astronomía, which is closely linked to the Platonic school [24]. According to current understanding astrology is concerned with forecasts according to a specific position of the stars and, according to the mythical way of thinking, has available for this a comprehensive categorization system of space and time [10]. Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster) [German version] B. Anc…

Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster) [German version] I. History (CT) Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster) [German version] A. Introduction (CT) The term Horoskópos, 'hour observer', originally referred to the ascendant (zodiacal sign rising on the eastern horizon), later to the first 30° segment of the dodecatropus (twelve hour circle), and finally to the position of all the stars at a particular point in time. The ca. nine Egyptian and over 180 extant Greek horoscopes have been transmitted mostly on papyrus but also on ostracon or…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Sumerian and Akkadian languages do not distinguish between fixed stars and planets: for both MUL or kakkabu is used. Nevertheless the movement of the planets in relation to the fixed stars was known. Individual fixed stars certainly rarely had their own names (e.g. Li9-si4 = Antares), but most were grouped into  constellations. According to their position in the sky, they were initially roughly organized in the so-called  astrolabia (earliest example around 1100 BC), then more precisely in the astronomical c…