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[German version] From earliest times, shooting stars were regarded as stars that fall from the sky or as stars that change their position and burn up in the sky. This notion led to the terms ᾄττοντες ἀστέρες/ áittontes astéres (Pl. Resp. 10,621b), διαθέοντες καὶ ἐκπυρούμενοι ἀστέρες/ diathéontes kai ekpyrúmenoi astéres (Aristot. Mete. 1,4,342a 27; b 19) or μεταβαίνοντες ἀστέρες/ metabaínontes astéres (Hippolytus, refutatio omnium haeresium 1,8,10). Special kinds of shooting stars which today can no longer be identified were the 'goats' (αἶγες/ aíges), 'javelin throws' (ἀκοντ…

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] (Κυρανίδες; Kyranídes). This treatise in four books of unknown authorship is preserved in Greek and in a Latin translation from 1169. It deals with the healing properties of stones, plants and animals (in alphabetic order) and is allegedly the work of Harpocration [3] of Alexandria and a certain Cyranus. Some scholars (e.g., M. Wellmann [7]) prefer the form ‘Coeranides’, but in agreement with textual tradition, the spelling ‘Cyranides’ should be preferred [1]. The meaning of the na…

(ἥλιος/ hḗlios; Latin sol). [German version] I. General points In Antiquity, the Sun was usually included among the planets. In the order of the planets, seen from the Earth, Venus and Mercury were placed above the Sun by some authors (for example by Plato [1] and Eudoxus [1] of Cnidus; see fig. 1), and below it by others. The latter series - Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus (or also: Venus, Mercury, e.g. by Ptolemaeus [65]), Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn - was later generally accepted and applied until Copernic…

I. Astronomie [English version] A. Allgemein Aufgrund ihrer besonderen Bewegungen, die sich bedeutend von den regelmäßigen Bewegungen der sog. - weil scheinbar am Himmelsgewölbe festhaftenden - Fixsterne abheben, wurden die P. von den Griechen seit den ältesten Zeiten der P.-Beobachtung (faßbar seit dem 5. Jh.v.Chr.) als Wandelsterne (οἱ πλάνητες/ hoi plánētes und οἱ πλανῆται/ hoi planḗtai; lat. planetae) aufgefaßt. Nur fünf P. waren den Griechen und den Römern bekannt: Merkur, Venus, Mars, Jupiter und Saturn (vgl. Tab. 6). Der Terminus πλάνητες ist …