Introduction to the Phenomena of Aratus (from Achilles Tatius)

[TABLE OF FASTI OMITTED]

FROM THE ISAGOGE OF ACHILLES TO THE PHENOMENA OF ARATUS.

FROM ACHILLES TATIUS' INTRODUCTION TO THE PHENOMENA OF ARATUS.

^C

Of the Universe.

1. "I hate him who pries into things hidden," says Sophocles. And the comic poet Aristophanes says: "Who anxiously seeks out the hidden, yet eats of the lowest." But as they search for the hidden, so we inquire into things visible, which are not hidden.

It is said that the Egyptians were the first of all to measure both the heavens and the earth, and to record that knowledge on columns for posterity. The Chaldeans, however, transfer the glory of this invention to themselves, and attribute it to Belus. But the wise men of the Greeks attempt to ascribe it sometimes to the gods, sometimes to heroes, and sometimes to the wise men who followed later. For Aeschylus, in his *Prometheus*, introduces the God speaking thus:

"For there was for them neither a sign of winter, Nor of flowery spring, nor of fruitful"

^A summer, reliable for them; but they did everything without judgment, until I showed to them the risings of the stars and their settings, which are difficult to discern. And I found for them the supreme number of sophisticated inventions, and the compositions of letters." ^B Sophocles assigns this very thing to Palamedes, for he introduces Nauplius speaking thus: "He discovered a wall for the Argive army; the method of numbers and the discoveries of measures, and these orders, and celestial signs; and he first made ten out of one. And from these in turn he found the fifties. He who immediately [showed] the thousands, he who showed the beacon-fire to the army, and brought to light things that had not yet been shown. He discovered the measures of the stars and their revolutions, the watch-lights of sleep, and for those sailing the sea, the turnings of the Bear and the cold setting of the Dog Star." Again, Aeschylus in his *Agamemnon* assigns the expertise of this matter to a scout, whom he makes speak thus: "I know the gathering of the nocturnal stars, and the splendid princes that bring winter and summer to mortals, and that brighten the air." Sophocles, however, sets Atreus as the author of this discovery in these words: "For everyone worships he who turns the circle of the sun." And Euripides says: "For having shown the contrary course of the stars, I saved the peoples, and I sat down as a tyrant," attributing back to Atreus the paths of the planets, which move in a direction contrary to the rest. But Aratus appears to refer the arrangement of all things to Zeus, thus the genesis and discovery to Astraeus. For indeed, speaking of Zeus, he adds: "For he himself fixed the signs in the sky, distinguishing the stars; he saw to the stars for the year, which would most signify the events." And concerning Astraeus, he sings thus: "Whether therefore that is the offspring of Astraeus, whom at least they say to be the ancient father of the stars." Unless perhaps he suggests that Astraeus is the creator of the stars, and records that Zeus was the arranger. But some think that one thing was discovered by one, and another by another; hence the dissension that has arisen concerning their inventors. ^C And that others discovered different things is obvious from the fact that Thales discovered the Little Bear. Thus Callimachus says: "He sailed to Miletus; for it was victory for Thales, who was otherwise gifted with an elegant mind, and he is said to have calculated the small stars of the Wain, by which the Phoenicians sail." Indeed, it was appropriate for a great poet like Homer to speak of great things. But since a graver cause pressed him to write of the Iliad for the restoration of the Greeks on account of their continuous uprisings, he set his subject upon those things; ^D

^A he also sowed something concerning the whole, and something concerning the stars, saying: concerning the whole, as when he says, "Ocean, the origin of the gods, and mother Tethys." "There he fashioned earth, and there heaven, and there the sea." And again, "But may you all become water and earth."

Concerning the stars, "Watching the Pleiades, and late-setting Bootes, and the Bear, which they also call by the name of Wagon, and the tireless Sun, and the full Moon, and therein all the constellations with which the heaven is crowned, the Pleiades, and the Hyades, and the strength of Orion." "The stars have moved forward; it is past midnight for two parts, and the third part still remains."

For from these things those who later occupied themselves with these matters took their starting points. For just as he provided the tragic poets with subject matter for their histories, so also, through these same verses, he provided an abundance for those writers who wrote on astrology. Crates and Apio the son of Plistonices testify that Homer was an astronomer. Nor is it incredible at all that such a power of contemplation should have arisen from human minds. For since every soul is immortal, and having descended from heaven, and looking back up toward its kindred heaven, it contemplates all things familiar to it; ^B and it is drawn toward that to which by nature it hastens to be carried back.

How mathematics differs from physiology.

2. Eudorus the philosopher says that Diodorus the Alexandrian mathematician stated that this is the distinction between mathematics and physiology: that mathematics seeks the consequences connected to the essence—whence and how eclipses occur. But physiology disputes about the essence itself: what is the nature of the sun? Is it a mass, as Anaxagoras felt, or fire, as pleases the Stoics, or, according to Aristotle, a fifth substance, having nothing in common with the four elements, unbegotten, incorruptible, and immutable? Since, ^C therefore, they differ from one another, they are nevertheless mingled together during investigation, for the one requires the aid of the other.

On the beginning of all things.

3. Zeno the Citiean says that the beginning of all things is God and matter; God indeed as that which acts, and matter as that upon which the action is engaged; from these the four elements have been produced. Epicurus the Athenian says that the beginnings of all things are certain minute and intelligible bodies. He calls them atoms, either because they are, on account of their smallness, a kind of instantaneous point, or because they are indestructible and cannot be cut. And Aristotle the Stagirite says the beginnings of all things are form, and matter, and privation; and from these the four elements; ^D and a fifth body, indestructible and pure; which they indeed call the ether. Socrates and Pla—

Plato call God and matter the principles of things, to which they add a third, that which is subject to generation and corruption: from these the four elements come into existence. Empedocles establishes these same four elements as the principles of things. Of these, he calls fire Jove or ether, earth Juno, air Pluto, and water Nestis: their forces are discord and friendship; discord being dissolution, and friendship being ^A concurrence. Apollonius of Rhodes, in the first book of the Argonautica, introduces Orpheus saying these things:

He sang how earth and sky above Were once joined together in a single form, But by pernicious Discord were separated, each far apart.

For he implies that when the elements were once mixed indiscriminately among themselves, they were afterwards separated by the intervention of discord: so that whatever was earthy gathered itself into one; likewise, that which was fiery was compressed into the same; and just as whatever was of water flowed to its like, the whole of air flowed together toward that which was kindred to it. Thales of Miletus and Pherecydes of Syros maintain that water is the principle of all things: which Pherecydes also believes to have been chaos; and this, as is apparent, he took from Hesiod, who speaks thus:

Verily first of all came Chaos.

For from the word "to be poured" (cheisthai), he assumes that water is called chaos. But it pleases Heraclitus that fire existed before all things. There are some who make earth before all things; which, being compressed and tightened, ignited fire, sent forth water, and diffused air everywhere.

On the constitution of all things.

4. It is altogether right to agree with Chrysippus when he says that the universe consists of the four elements. ^C The cause of their stability, moreover, is a certain equilibrium of gravity. For since there are two heavy bodies, earth and water, and as many light ones, fire and air, the tempering of these is the cause of the order of the whole; for just as, if the world were heavy, it would sink downward, so if it were endowed with lightness, it would be carried upward. It remains, therefore, because gravity and lightness are matched by equal weights within it. Furthermore, they hold that the ether and the heaven, whether it be the same or different, are outside, having a spherical shape: within this, ^D nearest, is the air; which itself is also poured around the earth on the outside. Within this is contained the third sphere of water, surrounding the earth, and placed between this and the air. The earth is in the middle of all, which occupies the position and magnitude of a center, as in spheres. To these points they add that the other three or four spheres revolve; only the earth remains immovable. And the disciples of Archimedes suppose that the sphere of fire is on the outside, and that inside, after this, that of the air revolves. But they hold that the globes of water and earth consist in the middle for this reason: for they say that if anyone were to take the heaviest of bodies, such as lead, and again—

^A the lightest, such as cork, and make them equal by weight and tie them together, it will happen that neither is pulled by the other; for instance, if one were to throw these into the sea, it will happen that neither is the cork dragged down into the depths by the lead, nor is the lead pulled up to the surface of the water by the corks, but both the lead and the cork are held suspended between the surface of the water and the abyss, equally drawn by one another. Since, therefore, there are four elements, it happens that fire and air, being the lightest, have their impulse toward moving upward ^B and circling. That fire and air are most light and upward-moving is clear both from sight and also from the cupping glasses of doctors, in which we see the fire, being taken in together with the air, drawing up the blood from the depth; and this is proved by the fire of lamps, which, struggling upward, draws to itself the oil contained in the bowl of the lamp. Moreover, if one were to turn a burning torch upside down, the fire would not be able to be carried downward; for it possesses an upward impulse. Again, if one were to fill a wine-skin with wind and tie it shut and throw it into water, the wine-skin will none the less float. That earth and water are heavy and downward-moving ^C needs no logic, as experience teaches it. The order, however, that we have given to the sphere, the Orphics say is similar to eggs. For whatever ratio the shell has in an egg, the heaven has in the whole universe; and as the ether is suspended circularly from the heaven, so the membrane is from the shell. According to some, since the heaven and the ether are one, and after this is the air, in the eggs the membrane will occupy the place of the air; and if the white flesh in the egg occupies the place of the air, the yolk of the egg will occupy the place of the water; the innermost and middle part of the yolk will have ^D the place of the earth. But if we take the membrane in the egg instead of the ether, the bird’s milk will be instead of the air, and the outer circumference of the yolk instead of the water, and the innermost and middle part instead of the earth. In general, if we say that there are five spheres according to Aristotle, the innermost part of the yolk will be taken instead of the earth; but if we say four according to others, the entire yolk will be instead of the earth, not in terms of size, but in terms of order.

That the earth also stands still, they use this example: If one, they say, were to put a millet or a lentil seed into a bladder and blow into it and fill it with air, it will happen that the seed, having been raised up, will stand in the middle of the bladder. And the earth, being pushed from all sides by the air, is in the middle and stands. Or again, as if one were to take a body and tie it from all sides with ropes and give them to some people to pull with precision and balance; it will happen that, being pulled equally from all sides, it will stand and be still. But Xenophanes does not think that the earth is suspended, but that it extends downward into infinity; for he says:

The limit of the earth here is seen above by the feet, ^A And flows pressing against; the lower part reaches unto infinity.

Aristophanes, moreover, in the *Clouds*, says that it is suspended with these words: “O lord and king, immeasurable Air, who holdest the earth suspended: standing nonetheless, and unmoved.” Hence Aratus also says: ... it has, he says, the earth balanced on all sides In the middle, not swaying in any direction. But Empedocles does not assign fixed places to the elements, but asserts that they yield to one another; so that both the earth is carried aloft and the fire is lower.

What is the nature of the heavens?

5. Some say that the heavens are fiery and solid; inside of which is the sphere of the ether, holding on like a torch-flame: yet it differs from a torch, in that the torch has its fire tending upward, but the ether has its fire tending downward; and because the one is divine, and pure, and untouchable—that is, the ether—while the other can perish. Empedocles says that this is crystalline, gathered together from that which is icy; Anaximander, that it is winged and partakes of fire; Aristotle, that it is a body consisting of cold and heat. ^B And they say that the world is a living creature; for that it is self-moved, and is always carried in a circle in the same manner, and is whirled from the same points to the same points in a perpetual rotation—this very thing, Plato says, is the mark of that which is endowed with mind. But it also gives life as a living creature; and we say that the stars are its progeny. We see also the course of the sun, and the revolutions of the moon, and the periods and motions of the other planets. Now it is a property of a living creature to be moved by itself. For there are living creatures on land, and in the air, and in the water. Whence it is consistent that there should be such in the heavens and in the ether as well. Perhaps, indeed, Homer speaks of it as a living creature: “And the sun, which looks upon all things and hears all.” The musicians, furthermore, claim that the revolution of the heavens itself is harmonious.

The World

It uses nourishment, as some say, from itself; others, by the exhalation that is about it; some think that the sphere of water serves as food. Aristotle, however, says that it has no need of food; for that which is in need of it is corruptible; but the heavens are set by him as eternal. ^C But Plato states that the intelligible world is eternal and incorruptible, but that the sensible world can be corrupted, because if it is sensible, it is evidently created and corruptible. Furthermore, he says in the *Statesman*, whether mythically or naturally, that it has a twofold motion: the one by itself, the other by God. And when it is moved by God, it is well-ordered, he says, and is carried in the same way; but when it is moved by itself, it is carried by a contrary motion and is corrupted, until God approaches again, and like a charioteer controlling it, restores and turns it back into its ancient course, having effected a renewal. It is named *cosmos* according to the arrangement of all things in it. ^D

^A Diodorus asserts that the world can be understood in six ways, and he assigns to each its respective meaning in this manner: First, the world is a system of heaven and earth and the natures contained between them. Again, the world is the dwelling-place of the gods—in which case he means the fullness beyond those things contained within it. Third, the world is a system of gods and men... just as one might say: A city is composed of rulers and those ruled. Fourth, the world is the aether; this, being pure and sincere fire, is subordinate to the physical world. Fifth, the world is the sphere of the fixed stars; Plato mentions this in the *Timaeus*. Sixth, the world is that which has arranged all things; by these words, it seems that Providence is indicated. Pythagoras called the universe *cosmos* on account of its arrangement, a thing which no one had done before him. However, according to the Stoics, the universe (*to pan*) differs from the whole (*to holon*). For they call the world the "whole," but the universe includes the void... though it is never called "world" in this way. ^B Heaven is etymologically derived either because it is an ancient boundary, or because, being spherical, it preserves us from within—that is, it guards us—or because it is the highest. That *horos* (boundary) signifies "above" is peculiar to the Phrygians, as Neoptolemus notes in the Phrygian tongues; or it is derived from "being seen" (*horasthei*), or from "moving/rushing" (*horouein*)—for it is set in motion—or from "being a limit" (*ouros*), and an ultimate boundary. Heaven, the sphere of the fixed stars, is spoken of in many ways. Zeno of Citium defined it thus: Heaven is the extremity of the aether, from which and in which all things are openly; for it contains everything except itself. For nothing contains itself, but is a container of something else. ^C Plato and Aristotle, in the second book of *On the Heavens*, make mention of heaven defined in this way. Furthermore, the individual spheres of the planets are also reckoned under the name of heaven, as when we say they are "in heaven." Still further, heaven is all the space after the air, which is the pure aether. Still further, heaven is everything seen above by the sight, insofar as it is visible, and according to whatever sharpness of sight each person may have for seeing. Still further, the world is called heaven, which Plato mentions regarding the sun, saying, "The great Zeus in heaven." Epicurus and his teacher Metrodorus, however, posit many worlds.

On the Figure of the World.

^D 6. Some have said the figure of the world is cone-shaped, others spherical, and others egg-shaped—which view those initiated into the Orphic mysteries hold. The image of the egg was assumed for the sake of plausible clarity. It is better, however, to accept that the heaven and the things within it have the shape of a sphere, according to Empedocles, who spoke as follows:

A sphere, circular, rejoicing in its sole rotation.

This is clear also from the fact that there are six signs beneath the earth and six above the earth. Such order and revolution occur on no other shape than the spherical. They assign a spherical shape to the world. A sphere

^A indeed, is the heaven; the earth likewise is spherical. There is, however, a distinction between the two. For the spherical-like shape has certain projections and concavities, whereas the sphere is in every respect equal, and has lines drawn from the center to the outermost circumference that are all equal to one another. The heaven, therefore, is a sphere; whence it also makes the revolution in a circle, around which the sun also performs its revolution: "Sun, rolling the flame with swift horses." For we see him rising from the Ocean: "Sun leaped forth, leaving the beautiful lake," and again sinking into the Ocean: "The bright light of the sun fell into Ocean." This would not happen if it were not moving in a circular revolution. But the Pythagoreans, since they wish everything to consist of numbers and lines, say that the earth has a cubic shape, fire a pyramidal one, air an octahedral one, water an icosahedral one, and ^B the constitution of the whole a dodecahedral one.

On Circumvolution

Whether there is anything outside the world

Whether the world is stationary

intermundia, and is restrained. They call the spaces between the worlds intermundia.

Concerning the star.

Per boream et solis evagationem ^B (By the north and the roaming of the sun).

But the Pythagoreans hold that not only the planets have their own proper motion, but the fixed stars as well; that they move in such a way, and are agitated around their own circles, that the world does not depart elsewhere, but moves continuously around the same space.

What the nature of the stars is.

On the form of the stars

Whether the stars are living beings

How a star differs from a constellation

^A is demonstrated. Pindar calls a star a constellation, saying: "Not now consider sun Anything warmer, In the day a shining star;" according to custom.

On the Planets.

Concerning the Order of the Seven Spheres.

Concerning the Names of the Planets.

that even though it is the dimmest, it is called "the shining one." And the Greeks call it so for the sake of a good omen, but the Egyptians call it the star of Nemesis. The second is the star of Jupiter, [called] Phaethon by the Greeks, but by the Egyptians it is named the star of Osiris. The third is that of Mars, which to the Greeks is Pyrois, but to the Egyptians the star of Hercules. The fourth is that of Mercury. Let it be granted, for the present, that it is the fourth. For it has been said that there is much disagreement regarding these stars—Mercury, Venus, and the sun. Therefore, Mercury’s star is called Stilbon by the Greeks, but by the Egyptians the star of Apollo. The fifth is that of Venus, [called] Lucifer by the Greeks. Ibycus was the first to condense these names into one [system]. The sun is fourth for the Egyptians, but sixth for the Greeks. The seventh is that of the moon. ^B Now, musicians imagine the zodiacal circle as having, in harmony, the arrangement of a note of the chromatic disjunctive [genus]; they assign to the star of Saturn the relationship of the harmonic disjunctive; to Jupiter they assign in music the order of the note they call the diatonic disjunctive; to Mars, that which they name the *parameson*. Thus, Mercury in the same musical [system] claims for itself the note that is called the *mese*. For the star of Venus holds the middle diatonic note. If the sun is not the fourth, but is granted to be the sixth, it will have the order of the *mese lichanos*. The moon, being the seventh, holds the order of the note that is called the *hypate mesōn*. Some attribute to the interval that reaches as far as the moon the note which musicians call the *hypaton* diatonic.

Of that year which is called the Great Year, and in how many ^C years the revolution of each of the planets is completed.

18. Again, the first, the star of Saturn, comes from sign to sign, to speak less accurately and in a general sense, in thirty years; but it returns to the same point in 350,635 years. And this is that which is called the Great Year. The second, the star of Jupiter, comes from sign to sign in a general sense and roughly in 12 years; but it is restored to the same point in 170,620 years. The star of Mars completes its circuit, returning from sign to sign, in two years; but to the same point in 120,000 years. The moon returns from a sign to the same sign every month; but the sun in 365 days and a minute, which time is called the solar year. Likewise, the stars of Venus and Mercury, just like the sun, are carried back to the sign from which they ^D started in an annual interval; for they are swept along with almost the same speed. On account of this, a controversy arises regarding their position. Of these spaces, just like the notes from the inmost places up to the zodiac, the interval is of the kind which is called by musicians the *diapason*.

But the Chaldeans, having become the most curious of all mortals, dared to describe the course of the sun and the hours. For that hour in which, being established at the equinoxes,

^A it crosses the pole, they divide into thirty limits; so that the thirtieth part of the hour which occurs on the equinoctial day is called the limit of the solar course. They assert, moreover, that the journey of a man who neither runs nor walks slowly, and is neither an old man nor a boy, is the journey of the sun, and that it is exactly thirty stadia.

Since I have already said that the planets are set below the superior stars, and that Saturn holds the highest zone, Jupiter the one next to it, and Mars the third, and the others in order following, someone may perhaps ask how we say, for example, that Saturn or the sun is in Aries, or the moon or Jupiter in Taurus, or that other stars are in conjunction there, when they cannot be at the same altitude. We must reply that when these stars are set one below the other, they make a conjunction; that is, when one is directly subject to another. It must be known, however, that while astronomers assign circles to the planets, Plato considers them to be spheres, each placed under the other. Aratus, having declined to write about the five planets, speaks of the sun and moon after his demonstration of the phenomena.

Of the stars, some are called "inerrant" (fixed); they are fastened to the heaven and are motionless according to their own principle; yet they are carried around by the rush of the heaven, always setting and rising in the same places and in the same way: for this reason they were called inerrant. There are seven other stars ^B below the heaven in the air, moving both specifically and along with the heaven; since they have their own motion and are not fastened to the heaven, but are carried in the ether, they do not rise or set in the same places or in the same way: therefore, in comparison to the inerrant ones, they are called planets (wandering stars). The Pythagoreans, however, say that it is not only the planets that have their own motion, but also the inerrant ones; yet they are moved in such a way as a drill turning about the same place. Each of the stars appears to be eclipsed whenever, being closer to the earth ^C in a straight line, it enters beneath the radiance of the sun.

Of the sun.

^D 19. Many of the most illustrious [writers] have discoursed about the sun and moon; distinctly also about the five. For this reason, Aratus spoke of the sun and moon separately at the end of his work, and separately of the five in what is inscribed as the *Canon*. As to the essence of the sun, Plato curiously says it consists of fire; some of the natural philosophers [say it arises] from the exhalation of earth and clouds. Anaxagoras called it an incandescent mass; but Philolaus [thinks it is] taking the fiery and transparent [nature] from above, from the ethereal fire, and transmitting the radiance to us through certain interstices; so that, according to him, the sun is threefold: one part is from the ethereal fire; one is sent from that onto the sun which he calls glass-like; and one is sent from that sun to us. Epicurus said it has the appearance of pumice, consisting of fire, [transmitting] through certain apertures the...

^A light it emits. Some, among whom is Anaximander, say that it emits the light having the shape of a wheel. For just as in a wheel there is a hollow nave, from which spokes are stretched toward the circumference of the outer rim; so too [they say] that it sends forth light from a hollow, making the uprising of the rays, and illuminates things outside in a circle. Others [think it] as if from a trumpet, sending forth its light from a hollow and narrow place, like firebrands. Some compare the shape of the sun to a disk; Heraclitus thinks it is like a boat, the Stoics say it is spherical. Many have written treatises about this, such as Thrasyllus, Adrastus the Peripatetic, and the Aphrodisian. It undergoes eclipse, as some say, because the moon, as certain ones assert, directly interposes itself between it and us: which is to be embraced as the more probable. For the moon is nearer to the earth and lower than the sun; for thus Aratus also testifies: *Standing directly between the earth and the sun.* ^B But the sun does not actually suffer a defect; although it appears so to us. For when the moon has come into a perpendicular line with it, it obstructs its rays so that they do not reach us who are on the earth. And thus, being further below the earth, the moon appears to us to suffer a defect. But it is not a defect of the whole sun, but only of a part of it. For it is not possible for the moon, being much smaller, to hide the whole sun. For which reason it is not seen as eclipsed by all men at once, but by some at different times; for instance, it is seen as eclipsed at the same time in Syene, Alexandria, and Elephantine. For these places are thought to belong to the same climate. Many have written about the eclipses of the sun according to the seven climates, such as Orion, Apollinaris, Ptolemy, and Hipparchus. Climates are so named because the earth is not level, but has certain slopes: since some of its parts are more elevated, others more depressed, ^C and the settlements of the nations are in one place or another. The year of the sun is so called because it contains within itself all four seasons, as Euripides indicates: *For it has all things contained within itself.* The year of the sun is called the revolution from the same sign back to the same in 365 days and a small additional part; but it returns to the same point in eighteen years: if the work of Eratosthenes is genuine. For he wrote [of this], showing it not to be the work of Eudoxus. But, as others think, that return happens in seventy-six years; which is the opinion of Callippus. Meton, however, thinks it happens in nineteen years. Aratus followed this, for he says: ^D *Already the nineteen cycles of the shining sun are celebrated;* *And those which from the belt to the end of Orion* *Night revolves, and to the dog-star of bold Orion.*

On the magnitude of the sun.

^A greater. They hold that it is also carried with a motion contrary to the fixed stars, by its own movement from west to east; yet it is led by the sphere of the fixed stars from the eastern regions toward the west, as Euripides says: Having shown the contrary path of the stars, I saved the people, and I sat as tyrant. For Atreus discovered the contrary motion of the planets, as also that of the sun as it rolls from the east and is carried toward the west. For just as, if it should happen that an ant crawls on the outer circumference of a wheel from west to east, making its journey in a direction contrary to the wheel, it will happen that it is carried by the rotation of the wheel from east to west, ^B while by its own motion it moves from west to east. But for us, it happens that its own motion is difficult to perceive, seeing that it is small; and therefore the movement of the ant escapes our sight, as the movement of the wheel is swifter. In the same way, think also about the sun. For let the sky be the wheel, and the sun the ant. And it is possible to see this demonstration on the sphere itself. For if we hypothesize that Aries is rising first, and the sun is in it, after thirty days we find its passage from Aries has occurred into Taurus, which is next after Aries. Therefore we find it being carried from the western parts toward the eastern, and not conversely from the eastern toward the western. It is clear, then, that it moves and is carried according to its own ^C motion from the western parts toward the eastern.

Concerning the moon.

^A these phases occur. On this, some say that she undergoes this when she comes into the cone of the earth. For just as if one were to climb a mountain and stand upon its summit, he appears in his entirety to those who are at a distance; but as he descends to the other side, he no longer appears in his entirety to those behind him, but there he would be seen at his feet, or as he descends further, little by little, until he is entirely hidden—so they say it is with the moon, that she appears sometimes full, and sometimes in part, as she moves into the earth's cone, not that she is diminished herself, but that she appears so to us. Others, saying that she is like a mirror, say that her eclipses occur, which are the cause of her appearing sometimes full and sometimes lacking in light. For just as if someone taking a mirror wishes to behold the reflection of an image in it, he will position the mirror opposite his face; for having done this, he will behold his entire face in the mirror—but if you incline the mirror, according to the obliquity and inclination of the mirror, he will behold either two-thirds, or half, or some small part of his face reflected, as the mirror is inclined—this is how it is with the moon also. Aratus seems to subscribe to this opinion, for he says: ^B

Always showing different faces from different sides,

alluding to the likeness of a mirror. We have already said that the world is of a spherical shape, which the heaven encompasses round about on the outside; the earth, located in the middle, performs the role of the center and the point. Between her and the heaven are ether, air, and water, fastened together ^C after the manner of spheres. Moreover, the ancients called the world *cosmos* because of its order and arrangement; thus Homer:

To arrange the horses and the shielded men;

and again:

But when they were arranged with their leaders, each,

signifying instruction by this word. For ether is derived from *aethein*, which means to burn; for it is fiery; or from *aei thein* (to run always) and to rush, since it is always being carried around. Air receives its name from *aein*, for *aein* is to blow. Whence heaven was named, we mentioned a little before. ^D

Here it is asked by some, if the stars are fiery, why they do not appear to burn us. We answer, therefore, that they are indeed above the earth; but they are outshone by the rays of the sun, and become dulled. At any rate, during eclipses of the sun, stars have often been seen in the daytime. And again it is asked, if the stars are fixed to the heaven, why do we observe stars sometimes descending by night and by day? We say that the stars themselves do not fall, but a certain splendor flows out from them; and just as coals, when fanned or moved, become more brilliant and send forth sparks, in the same way the stars, which are dark in the inter-

sometimes dim, sometimes bright; and sometimes they also emit light from themselves.

Now, since the world is endowed with a spherical figure, and the earth occupies the place of the center in its midst, the line in it is called the axis, which, being drawn from the circumference of the sphere through the center, reaches to the circumference, around which the sphere revolves, whether by itself or moved by another. For Plato makes use of both opinions in the *Politicus*.

Of the circles of the sphere, which are eleven in number.

22. There are eleven circles; two are outside the sphere, the horizon and the meridian; two are oblique and are the greatest, equal to the former, the zodiac and the galaxy; two are the colures, and these also are the greatest; and five are parallels, the middle one of which is equal in size to those we have previously recounted. Thus, the horizon and the meridian are equal, because they divide the sphere through its center. But we must speak of each one.

The horizon is so named because it defines the hemisphere above the earth ^B and the hemisphere below the earth. For, being situated outside around the sphere, it holds the position of the Ocean, which flows around the earth from the outside; from which the stars seem to us to rise, and into which they seem to set. Hence Neoptolemus of Paros says in his *Trichthonia*: .... to which is bound the whole sea-girt earth. Whence also Aratus calls this circle the Ocean, both in other passages and in these verses: And he traverses so much of the water of Ocean, As there is space from the rising Capricorn ^C To the one ascending towards Cancer. It is likely that he took the suggestion for this from Homer, who says: And the bright light of the sun fell into the Ocean, Dragging black night over the grain-giving earth; And: The sun arose, leaving behind the beautiful lake.

Philosophers and geometers call it the horizon, which Aratus mentions as dividing the two hemispheres, when he says: .... where the ends Of sunset and sunrise meet each other.

Furthermore, one must understand the horizon and the meridian to be within the sphere. For nothing of the things that are exists ^D outside it. But in order for us to comprehend it, they are said to be outside, as if they circumscribed the inner sphere.

The meridian is assumed for the purpose of separating the eastern part of the world from the western, and also so that we may understand that when the sun and the remaining stars arrive at it, they occupy the middle of the sky above the earth; and this time we call midday, as if it were a "meridian" duration. Some wish all the oblique circles to be perceptible, others assign this only to the galaxy; they say the rest consist of thought alone.

Of the breadth of the zodiac.

23. The zodiac, being oblique, has the greatest circumference, and its outline is traced through the center of the sphere. Of this

breadth is defined by the interval that extends from Capricorn to Cancer. Aratus wished to express this space in these verses:

But it crosses so much of the Ocean's water, As from Capricorn rising at the most, To Cancer ascending.

Through this circle the seven planets appear to travel under three lines. Which is indeed expressed on the sphere, so that we may understand the breadth of the path of the planets, and of the sun, and of the moon; since the five do not perform their revolution on a single line. What reason, therefore, is there why there are not two circles of this circuit, but three marked out on the zodiacal circle? It is because the five aforementioned stars traverse the whole broad space which is enclosed by two circles; ^B but the sun does not deviate to the right and left as much as those five, but moves in the middle between those two boundary circles. For this reason, it is called "heliacus" by those skilled in this doctrine; or "eclipticus," because solar eclipses occur in it. This broad circle they name "zodiac" from the twelve signs in it, which are: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces. These are also called "idola" (images), as Aratus says:

Against the twelve images they revolve.

It is worth inquiring, however, why, since Cassiopeia, Andromeda, and other images are composed of stars, only the twelve are called "zodia" (animals), while the other stars are not. Is it because there are more animals in that circle than elsewhere, and thus they are called "zodia"? For there are in the other ^C stars things that are not "zodia," that is, images of animals. Or again, is it because the genethliacs seek out the nativities of men, and the fatal outcomes of life and death, from these and the planets running through them? Or because the planets perform their circuits through the same circle and those signs, nor do they stray from the zodiac? Furthermore, all the planets are certain animals, because they move of their own accord. But the planets are so named from error and wandering. Sometimes they also call this circle "alēsis," that is, the "wandering" of the sun, as Aratus says:

But partly between the northern and the solar wandering they are scattered....

This circle has the greatest magnitude. And always half of it lies beneath the earth. Therefore, six signs are always visible ^D above the earth by day, and an equal number are hidden beneath the earth at night. Which Aratus reveals with these words:

Six twelve-parts of the circle always set.

For thus he names the dodecatemoria of the signs. Let no one now interrupt me and object: If on every day there is an equal number of signs above and below the earth, why are the days not always equal to one another? For we shall speak about this matter when we speak of the rising of each sign.

^A That part of the zodiac circle which inclines most toward the north touches the summer tropic at Cancer, and that which is most southern touches the winter tropic at Capricorn; it touches the middle circle, the equator, at two parts and two signs, namely at Aries and Libra. It cuts this same circle in two, and is itself cut by it in turn. When, therefore, the sun rises from the southern parts toward the north, it comes as far as Cancer. For this reason it falls upon us as hotter, since it is nearer. It does not rise beyond Cancer; but when it has reached there, it turns toward the south; and the height of the sun in Cancer is called the summer solstice. Some wish for this solstice to occur at the beginning of Cancer, others at the eighth degree, others at the twelfth, and others at the fifteenth. As the sun moves down toward the south, when it reaches the equator, it then brings about the equinox. It does this twice a year, since it touches the equator twice. One of these is called the vernal and the other the autumnal equinox; the vernal occurs in Aries, when it touches the equatorial circle, and the autumnal when it occurs in Libra, again touching the equator. ^B From Libra it descends further south as far as Capricorn; then the zodiac touches the winter tropic, and the sun again turns from the lower to the higher points; and the movement of the sun from a lower to a higher position is called its solstice. The Egyptians of old, seeing the sun descending from Cancer to Capricorn and shortening the days, used to mourn, fearing lest the sun might gradually abandon them; and this season was their festival called the Isia. But when it began to ascend again and make the days longer, then they would go out in white garments and wearing wreaths. If this circle be divided into eight parts, four will be above the earth and the other four below the earth. So that it has an equal portion ^C below the earth and an equal portion above the earth. It cuts the equator and is cut by it.

Concerning the Milky Way

24. We have already said that the Milky Way is the only one among those in the sphere that is visible and perceptible to the senses, since the others are perceived only by the intellect. Eratosthenes relates something more mythical about this in his *Catasterismi*, saying that the Milky Way circle came into being from the milk of Hera. For when Heracles was still an infant and sucked the teat of Hera more forcefully, he caused her to pull away; and thus, the milk having been spilled and having coagulated, a circle was formed. Eratosthenes records that the same thing happened in the case of Hermes, as if he also sucked the breast of Hera. Others say it was formed from the joining together of the two hemispheres. Others, among whom is Oenopides of Chios, say that the sun previously traveled along this path, but because of the banquet of Thyestes it turned away and made the contrary circuit to this, which the zodiac now describes. ^D But this is mythical and false. For what will those who say these things say about the moon and the five stars? For indeed they did not turn away because of the banquet of Thyestes. There are those who [say] it consists of very small and dense stars…

and which appear to us as if unified, due to the distance from the heaven to the earth; they say it is of stars, as if someone were to sprinkle something with fine and numerous grains of salt. Yet it is perhaps better to say that it is formed of clouds, or is a certain bright condensation of air, having the shape of a circle. Aratus also remembers it, in the words where he says: ^A *That bright, rounded one, they call it milk.* For he named it milk, because the name *galaxy* could not be brought into the verse. It is spoken of from the color of milk; for it appears so white and translucent. It divides the sphere in two, the zodiacal circle, and the equinoctial; and it is divided by them, being equal to them.

Concerning the five parallel circles.

^A amount to twenty-four hours. Therefore, if we assume, as we said, that in the summer solstice the longest day is of 15 hours, it follows that the night is then the shortest. This is manifest both from other sources and from what Aratus explains. For if the interval of day and night is twenty-four hours, and it is necessary to divide the tropic circle into eight parts, each of which is of three hours—since three times eight is twenty-four—and since out of these eight parts five are above the earth, and each one is traversed in three hours, it follows that five times three is fifteen; a period of fifteen hours is thus formed. If then there are three parts below the earth at that time, and each of the three is traversed in three hours, three times three is nine; it is clear that the night will be of nine hours, which is the shortest in this climate.

The winter tropic lies between the antarctic circle and the equator, opposite to the summer tropic, to which it is equal. The zodiacal circle touches it ^B at Capricorn, where the sun, upon arriving, effects the winter solstice. For when it arrives there, ceasing its descent, it begins to ascend again; wherefore its turning point is called the ascent from Capricorn to Cancer. It is called the winter tropic because the sun, when in Capricorn, causes the deepest winter. If this winter tropic is equal to the summer tropic, it is divided into eight parts, just like the other. It will have, however, the contrary arrangement to that one, of the eight parts—five below the earth and three above the earth—so that the day is then at its shortest when the sun, arriving at Capricorn, touches the winter tropic; that is, nine hours, and the night is of fifteen hours, by the same logic as applied to the summer tropic.

The equator, situated between the five parallels, is ^C larger than the other four, since its circumference is drawn through the center. On it, the sun effects the two aforementioned equinoxes: the vernal when it is in Aries, and the autumnal in the Claws (Libra). It is called the equinoctial because the sun effects the equinoxes upon it. If it is divided into eight parts, it will have four parts above the earth and four below the earth; and it is equal to the zodiac and to the Milky Way.

Someone might perhaps ask why we said that the sun, when it is in the summer solstice, makes a day of 15 hours, and 9 in the winter, when, however, in mechanical horologies and water-clocks, the day always appears to consist of 12 hours. We respond to this, that just as every man, boy or man, has five fingers ^D on his hand—though not equal ones—in exactly the same way, we say that the hours have a proportion of magnitude and speed in the days and nights; so that they are large for large spans, and small for small ones. Therefore, compared to the winter days, the summer days, being large, having the span of an equinoctial day of 15 hours, were divided proportionally into 12. Observe the same regarding large and small nights, and short days.

^A Five circles are called parallels, the name being transferred from the lines which geometers call parallels. Lines of this kind are called parallel by them, which, placed on the same plane, do not incline toward one another in any part. But for the sake of simplicity, we shall explain them by what follows. We say, therefore, that those circles are parallels which have the same width everywhere from circumference to circumference, although the width between them all is not equal.

On the distance of the zones from one another

Some, dividing the sphere through the poles, as if by the colures, divide the intervals of the parallels in width not into 60 parts, but into 360; since the year consists of 365 days. They say, therefore, that half of it, or the upper hemisphere, contains 180 parts; and likewise the lower. From which, from the horizon to the northern pole, and the higher circumference of the Arctic circle, there are 38 parts; from the northern pole to the Arctic circle, other 38 parts; ^D from the Arctic to the summer tropic, 24 parts; from the summer tropic to the equinoctial, 24 parts; from the equinoctial to the winter tropic, 24 parts; hence to the Antarctic, which touches the horizon, other 32 parts. All these gathered together become 180. Thus, below the earth, the same number of parts are counted in the same way. We can also call these parallels right. They are assumed for this reason, so that we may more easily recognize the northern and southern parts, and then also the winter and summer turnings, and likewise the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.

^A 27. There are two colures extending from north to south, cutting through the poles of the sphere and all the other circles within it. These too are great circles, as they are drawn through the center of the sphere. They cut [the sphere] so that we may easily understand the four seasons of the year. For as they cut one another and the sphere, it results in it being divided into four parts, so that each of the four segments contains one season of the year. And one of them has its circumference along Cancer and Capricorn; by means of one semicircle it indicates summer in Cancer, and by means of the other, winter in Capricorn. The other has its circumference along Aries and Libra; and it reveals the other two equinoctial seasons: the vernal in Aries, and the autumnal in Libra. They are called *coluri* (mutilated), because they seem to us to be mutilated like tails, because their parts toward the antarctic pole are not visible to us, and they appear to us to be mutilated in that part. For it happens that the parts from the ever-visible circle — that is, the arctic — are visible; but these parts of the colure circles that lie toward the antarctic are always hidden. ^B

Of the axis.

And Aratus says: But it does not waver even a little; but remain- ing thus, ^D The axis is always fixed; it holds the earth balanced In the middle; and around it the heaven revolves.

It has been named the axis because the heaven is carried and revolves around it. Its extremities are at the centers of the arctic and antarctic circles. They call them poles, because the heaven is carried around and turns about them. Of these, one is called the northern, being always visible; and the other, the southern, is hidden. Aratus mentions them:

^A

And two poles traverse it, placed on either side; Yet one is not visible; the other, opposite, from the north, High above the Ocean. Two Bears hold it on both sides, Turning together.

It must be observed that these poles are spoken of in the masculine gender. The Pythagoreans call the northern parts of the world "right," and the southern "left." Homer, however, calls the eastern parts "right" and the western "left," through these verses:

Whether they go to the right toward the dawn and the sun, Or to the left, toward the misty darkness.

But on the wooden sphere, those extremities of the axis appear projecting beyond the surface of the sphere. Yet one must think of them as terminating at the outermost surface of the heaven, and not projecting.

Concerning the zones, and that there are five.

29. Aratus does not mention the zones in the *Phenomena*; but others, among whom is Eratosthenes, have mentioned them. Zones, therefore, are called the spaces between the parallel circles; they exist both in heaven and on earth, those on earth being directly under those in the heaven. There are five in all, of which two are uninhabitable due to extreme cold; one is called the southern, and the other the northern. Of the three situated between these, two are temperate, and one is scorched. Of the temperate ones, one is more northern, and the other more southern. And the northern one is from the arctic circle to the summer tropic; while the other is from the antarctic circle to the winter tropic. They are temperate because they are troubled neither by absolute cold nor by heat; and because they are situated between the path of the sun and the frozen zones. The one in the middle of all these extends from the summer tropic to the winter tropic; for it has as much breadth as the sun covers in its circuit. It is called the scorched zone because it is fiery, as the sun always makes its path through it. Some say this is uninhabitable, while others say it is inhabited. Eratosthenes mentions these zones in his *Hermes*, saying: ^B

Five zones are girdled in a circle; Two are darker than a sea-green or blue color, And one is parched and red as if from fire. This one in the middle is scorched, entirely burnt by fire, Struck by heat. Rays, ever summer-like, Incline beneath it and burn it with fire. And the two lying on each side, about the poles, Are always shivering; whether they return with water— Not indeed water, but ice itself from heaven— It lies neglected. And it is made deep-frozen. But these are the dry lands, and accessible to men, While two others are opposite to each other, In the midst between the heat and the rainy ice. Both are temperate, and increase the bountiful Fruit of Eleusinian Ceres. And men, Standing with opposite footprints, inhabit them. ^C

These are the words of Eratosthenes. Let us inquire which of the two temperate ones we inhabit. For we see that when the sun is in Capricorn, it is far distant from us, and it is winter among us. When ^D

^A it comes to Cancer, which is situated at the full diameter from Capricorn, then it is near us, and there is great heat among us. And Cancer is the most northern of the twelve signs. It is clear, therefore, that we inhabit the northern zone. For when the sun is in Cancer, it rises to our left, casting our shadow to the right parts; which is a clear sign that we are to the right of the sun. For if someone were to light a lamp and place it in the middle of a room, and stand to its right, the shadow of the person standing would not turn toward the lamp, but toward the right of the man. If, therefore, our shadows also occur to our right, it is clear that the sun is to our left. Conversely, for those living in the southern zone, the sun is to their right, and their shadow is cast to the left toward the south. Thus it is demonstrated that we inhabit the northern temperate zone. Some have also said these things about the zones. There are likewise five zones of the earth under the parallels: the Northern, entirely elevated, uninhabitable, and frozen, [assigned to] Saturn, extending to sixty-six parts, which are 25,200 stadia—for one part consists of 1,200 stadia; the Summer [zone], having smaller segments above the horizon; the Temperate, in which our world is situated, [assigned to] Jupiter, extending to sixty-five parts, which are 21,000 stadia; the Equinoctial, whose horizon makes the portion below and above the earth equal—it is uninhabitable and scorched—[assigned to] Mars, containing eight parts, that is, four on each side of the equinoctial, for this divides the whole sphere in the middle, containing 33,600 stadia; the Winter [zone], contrary to the Summer, having more of the segment under the horizon, inhabited and temperate—[assigned to] Venus, extending to sixty-five parts, which are 21,000 stadia; the Southern, entirely hidden, uninhabitable, and frozen, [assigned to] Mercury, extending to sixty-six parts, which are 25,200 stadia. Thus the perimeter of the earth above the horizon is thirty parts, and 126,000 stadia. Those who live on the same hemisphere, both north and south, are called autochthones. Those who are on either side of the hemispheres, both above the earth and below the earth, are antipodes.

Concerning those who dwell in the temperate zones.

30. Of those who dwell in the two temperate zones, so that we may distinguish them more clearly, some are called perioci, others antoeci, others antichthones, and others antipodes. Perioci are those who inhabit the same habitation; for example, those who inhabit the northern [zone] are perioci to one another, and again those who inhabit the southern [zone] are perioci to one another. Antoeci are those who inhabit the southern zone [in relation to] those who inhabit the northern zone. And the northern zone is the "antoecian" habitation to the southern, and the southern to the northern. Antichthones are those who dwell at the diameter in similar zones—for example, in the north in the hemisphere above the earth; and likewise also in the south. Antipodes are those who dwell at the diameter in the opposite zones—for example, those who are antipodes to those who dwell near Cancer are those who are near Capricorn.

^A The Perioikoi, therefore, always have the same night and day, and the same annual seasons; but the Antoikoi have the same day and night as one another, yet not the same solstices. For when the sun is in Cancer, it produces summer for us, who are situated further to the north, but winter for those who are further to the south. When it is in Capricorn, it produces winter for us, who are situated further to the north, but summer for those who inhabit the southern zone. And again, of the two equinoxes: when the sun is in Aries, it produces the spring equinox for us, who inhabit the northern zone, but the autumn equinox for the Antoikoi. If it is in the Claws (Libra), it produces the autumn equinox for us, but the spring equinox for the Antoikoi.

From our spring equinox at Aries, the sun, ascending into Cancer, produces summer for us and increases the lengths of the days, while making the nights shorter ^B. From the equinox at the Claws, descending toward Capricorn, it diminishes the days for us and increases the nights, bringing about winter; but for those others, it increases the day and makes the night shorter, producing summer. To speak generally: whatever Cancer produces for us, Capricorn produces for them; and what Capricorn produces for us, Cancer produces for them; what Aries produces for us, Libra produces for them, and vice versa.

The Antichthones have alternating nights and days. For the sun, rising for those above the earth, produces day, but for those below the earth, it produces night. Again, the sun setting for us produces night; but for those dwelling below, it rises, producing day. The solstices and equinoxes, however, are the same for both the northern dwellers above and those below—that is, the Antichthones.

The Antipodes have everything contrary and opposite. For when it is night for us, it is day for them; and when it is summer for them, there is winter in our inhabited world. In summary, when winter or day happens to those inhabiting the opposite southern zone, then summer and night befall those who inhabit the northern one. Thus the Antoikoi possess nights and days, as well as solstices, equinoxes, and habitations, in a contrary manner. ^C

Regarding the difference of shadows occurring in various dwellings, and in what places they dwell.

31. Among those who dwell in these habitations, some are Ascii (shadowless), others Brachyscii (short-shadowed), others Macroscii (long-shadowed), some Heteroscii (different-shadowed), others Antiscii, others Amphiscii.

Ascii are those who have the sun directly above their heads at the sixth hour. For just as if someone were to set a burning torch straight up, no shadow would be cast from it, thus there would be no shadow for those who have the sun culminating over their zenith. These are they who dwell under the equator; they see the sun above their heads when it is in Aries or Libra. They say that in Syene and Elephantine there is no shadow when the sun is in Cancer at approximately the sixth hour. ^D Brachyscii are those who have the sun at a small distance; Macroscii are those who have it at a great distance; Heteroscii are those who dwell in this our inhabited world, because our shadow turns toward the other side—that is, to the right toward the north. Likewise...

^A antiscii are those situated in the south, because they possess shadows in the opposite direction; the former have them toward their right sides, the latter toward their left, because the sun is placed in the middle between them. Amphiscii, that is, those having a shadow on either side, are those who dwell under the equinoctial circle. These same are also called ascii. For when the sun is above their zenith, as we have said, they are without shadow; but when it departs from them from Aries toward Taurus and the following signs, they have the same shadow as we do, toward the left side. But when from the equinoctial point that occurs in the Claws (Libra) the sun moves into Scorpio and the following signs, then their shadow is cast toward the right side. Thus it happens that those dwelling there are sometimes without shadow, when the sun is in the Claws or Aries and is over their zenith; and sometimes they have the shadow on the left, when the sun is in Scorpio and the following signs. Some desire that those who have the shadow cast around them in a circle should also be called periscii.

Parmenides was the first to discourse ^B about the zones. Regarding their number, there has been much disagreement among those who came after him; for some said there were six, as did Polybius and Posidonius, who divided the torrid zone into two; others adopted five, just as Eratosthenes and many others did, with whom we have also agreed. Regarding the habitations, and those who dwell in them, and their names, there has been much confusion, as also concerning the antichthones and the antipodes. ^C

Concerning metarsia and meteora.

32. Meteora and metarsia differ in that meteora are in the heavens and the ether, such as the sun and the rest, the heaven itself, and the ether; but metarsia are those things which occur between the air and the earth, such as winds, clouds, rains, lightnings, thunders, comets, beams, bearded stars, torches, rainbows, haloes, shooting stars, ^D gusts, and streams. We must speak about metarsia, for we have already spoken about meteora. And first we shall speak about the winds.

Concerning the winds, and that a breeze differs from an exhalation.

33. Anaximander, therefore, said that wind is a flowing of air; others, an exhalation of air. Still others claim that wind differs from a breeze, for they say that wind is a natural flowing of air, but a breeze is an exhalation from the earth. And they say that some winds are from clouds and are called *ecnephias*; others, which are carried from the earth, are called *apogeioi* (land-winds); others from rivers, *enudriai* (water-winds); others from gulfs, *kolpiai* (gulf-winds); and those from mountains, *oriai* or *oretiai*; for they are so named in Aristotle's *On Winds* and in Callimachus. Thus they say that some are named after certain places, such as Caecias, which blows from the Caicus river, and Sciron, from the Scironian rocks. Some are named from their force, such as those which blow more vehemently, and those which blow with a certain vibration or

leaping, which are called tempests. ^A Others are named from their shape, such as the whirlwinds that revolve with a motion, and the spires that are carried up from below to a height. Eratosthenes also wrote concerning the winds. There are four cardinal winds: the one blowing from the east is called Apeliotes; the one from the arctic pole is Boreas; the one from the antarctic is Notus; the one from the west is Zephyrus—for *zephos* poetically signifies the west.

Of Comets

34. Many have written concerning comets and beam-meteors, as indeed Demetrius did. Their place is in the air, not in the heaven. Those whose light looks downward, so that they appear to coruscate toward that part, are named ^B "comets"; those whose light is directed upward are called "torches." When they have an elongated light, they are called "beams"; when a dewy light is seen, it is called "rainbow." When a circle surrounds the sun—of which kind sometimes two or three occur, whence also Aratus spoke of a "triple ring"—it is called a "halo." If fire is propelled from the stars to the lower parts, they are called "poles" and "torrents"; those that move from place to place are called "leapers" and "darting stars." This happens when the stars are shaken by the wind and are as it were emitting sparks; hence Aratus teaches how to make a prediction of the winds from this. In addition to this, they call a certain cloud around Cancer, ^C which is conglobated and splendid, "the manger," as Aratus signifies; and consistent with this, certain stars around Cancer are called "the donkeys." Furthermore, regarding comets and other things of that genus, some think they arise from stars being condensed and illuminated, others from clouds illuminated on all sides, while some wish for them to be set alight by friction. Nor indeed do they always appear, but at certain intervals of time. Moreover, clouds colliding with one another make thunder; when split, and emitting the gust with force and vehement impulse, they make lightning; when, with the agitation, the gust is kindled—lightning flashes originate either from the clouds themselves, by the light being kindled and extinguished, or they are coruscations emitted from fire. Rains arise from moist vapor and moist clouds. These things, then, in brief concerning atmospheric phenomena. ^D

Of the position of the sphere

35. The position of the sphere, which it is not necessary to be ignorant of, is not of one kind, but the positions of the sphere occur according to the inclinations of the earth. We shall touch upon a few, and then we shall come to the position of the Aratean sphere. The position is, therefore, primarily consonant with the Hellespontian and Macedonian climate. For since Aratus was staying with Antigonus, the king of Macedonia, he fashioned his entire doctrine of the phenomena according to that climate. If, therefore, the poles have their position toward the horizon, so as to touch the horizon, it will happen that neither the arctic nor the antarctic circle is always visible, but each of these half-circles always rises and sets. But if the northern pole above...

be raised higher than the horizon, in proportion to that ascension and its height, the climates of the earth will have different magnitudes of days and nights. Let us assume a circle of sixty parts that divides the sphere through the poles, as the colures do. It is therefore evident that each of the hemispheres will have thirty parts; and that which is above the earth will have thirty parts from the horizon to the pole. If, therefore, I raise the northern pole by six parts, the climate of the Hellespont will have the longest day of fifteen hours, and the shortest night of nine hours. But if I raise the northern pole not merely by six, but by nine parts from the horizon, the longest day will be longer for those living there ^B than it is for those aforementioned in the Hellespont. And again, if I make it higher, and far distant from the horizon, the hours will be found to be longer, until the northern pole culminates; and then, with the sphere so placed, it will happen that the day is of six months, and the night of six months; for the northern pole being at the zenith, the zodiac will be found to be bisected by the horizon; and it will always have one half above the earth, and the remaining half beneath the earth. This being so, it is clear that six signs will be above the earth, namely those in which the sun, remaining for thirty days in each, will make a day of six months; and the other six signs will always be hidden and beneath the earth, in which the sun, being placed, will make a night of six months, because it does not rise while in those six. These things are to be taken by us for the sake ^C of the irregularity of days and nights. One must know that these things were demonstrated by reason and theory in sequence from visible things, being themselves invisible. For we have no experience to show a day and night of six months. Some record a length of one day as lasting eight days, others eighty; these are they who are said to dwell beyond the island of Thule. The difference, therefore, of days and nights according to the climates has been explained by us by way of example; but the position of the sphere according to the *Phænomena* of Aratus ought to have the arctic circle touching the horizon, and the head of the Dragon touching the arctic circle, and as it were grazing it. Whence Aratus also says: That head somewhere moves, where the ends ^D Of settings and risings are mingled with one another. For it happens that the horizon is between the hemisphere above the earth and the hemisphere beneath the earth. Some, however, do not understand what was said by Aratus as referring to the horizon, but to the meridian; because when the hemisphere above the earth is divided by the meridian, one part is toward the east, and the other toward the west. But to me it does not seem that Aratus means this at all; unless perhaps one says that the head of the Dragon is carried there, ... where the ends Of settings and risings are mingled with one another; insofar as the head of the Dragon is touching the horizon at the meri-

belt down to the feet are within the arctic circle. Since the arctic circle never sets, and the belt of Cepheus is within the circumference of the same arctic circle, he signifies the horizon by his belt:

*But Cepheus with his belt grazes the Earth: as for what are in his head, entirely all Dipping in Ocean: but those it is not permitted; but these themselves The Bears forbid, his feet, and knee, and loins.*

These are the things which seemed fit to be said concerning the position of the sphere. Whoever wishes to explain this must have the northern pole on the right, and the southern on the left. For ^B the Bears are on the right in the east; but the south is on the left. Some, however, of those explaining it wish to have the Bears in front, and the south behind, and to have the east on the right, and the west on the left; perhaps stirred by these Homeric verses:

*Whether they go to the right toward the dawn and the sun, Or to the left toward the shadowy darkness;*

not knowing that the poet, in accordance with the position of those places, called the eastern parts "right," and the western "left." But the position of the universe, as I said before, has the Bears on the right; and thus he who explains it should place the sphere.

On motion.

36. Whoever explains the sphere should rotate the sphere in the opposite direction. For if someone rotates the sphere toward himself, from the opposite direction, the Bears will be to the left of the east, and the south on the right; ^C which is impossible. But that the sphere must be moved as I have said, Aratus himself will teach us, speaking once concerning the Bears:

*But always they are carried shoulder-high, Turned backwards upon their shoulders.*

And sometimes speaking of Ophiuchus:

*And the Crab from his knees brings down the weary Ophiuchus Upon his shoulders: he brings down the Serpent closer to the neck.*

And again:

*The head of the Hydra rises, and the greyish Hare, And Procyon, and the anterior feet of the burning Dog.*

And again:

*The half of the Crown, and the very last tail Of Centaur, the claws yet ascending carry.*

And concerning the Whale:

*And as for that which is turned up to the neck, it sets Even up to it; but Cepheus with his head, and hand, and shoulder.*

And again:

*But the Horse just as the Water-carrier is rising Revolves with its feet and head; and opposite to the horse ^D From the tail, the evening night pulls the Centaur.*

These things have been said in brief concerning motion.

37. On the setting and rising of the stars.

That there are two settings and two risings.

That rising differs from heliacal rising.

with the setting, if it sets ^A together with it. Above all, one must know that neither Cepheus, nor Cassiopeia, nor Andromeda are truly in the heavens. For it is ridiculous to suppose that before these the heavens lacked constellations; for the stars always existed, even before Perseus and Orion. For this reason, also among various nations, one can find different names for the stars. In the Egyptian sphere, for instance, neither the Dragon is reckoned or named, nor the Bears, nor Cepheus, but other shapes of figures and names have been assigned. Thus also is it in the astrology of the Chaldeans. But the Greeks transferred these names to the stars from distinguished heroes, so that they might be more easily understood and recognized. For if they lacked specific names, they would bring great confusion to those studying these things. In ancient times, the knowledge of these was held in high regard by those who earned their living through agriculture or navigation. For from their risings and settings, they marked the time for sailing and for harvesting the vintage. ^B Thus far the *Phenomena* of Aratus for a rudimentary introduction from the work of Achilles, *On the Universe*.

We have not wished to omit these fragments of the same Achilles Tatius, edited by Victorius. Because they contain almost the same things as the preceding, there was no need to translate them into Latin.

INTRODUCTION TO THE PHENOMENA OF ARATUS, FROM ACHILLES

1. An introduction and preface from other scholia.

It is good, according to the Cyrenian, to return the favor in words for the labor Aratus performed. ^C He sat, nor did sleep fall upon his eyelids, watching the Pleiades, and late-setting Boötes, and the Bear, which they also call by the additional name of the Wagon, over the pilot of Ithaca. For to the Halicarnassian, ears are less trustworthy than eyes; but Aratus demonstrates his knowledge to the ears at the same time as to the eyes. And we are discoursing not about astrology, but about astronomy, a study useful for life. Hence also the geometry of Meton and the philosophy of Pythagoras. This study made the pilot timely, and Atreus a king. For having shown the contrary path of the stars, ^D he took the golden lamb, and claimed the kingdom of gold-rich Mycenae. Nor indeed is Homer uninitiated in this study; but he knows, with Hephaestus, how to inscribe the stars of heaven on the shield of Achilles. And with him, even a soldier, fighting by night, measures the night by the stars: "The stars have advanced; more than two-thirds of the night have passed. A third part is still left." If it is pleasing to someone to examine also the allegories in Homer, it is easy to see both the pole, and [the notion of] eternal motion, and the hemispheres, and their change into light. "At other times again they die." Do not blaspheme, O man; God does not die. This transition of his was called death. For this reason painters also cut the head of the gods into parts, [to show] the equal division of each to the pole. One must therefore begin to speak about the beginning of all things.

On the Beginning

2. The Creator of the whole, from all the elements wandering disorderly among one another, and turning, and rolling about one another, and moving in disorder, cast in a divine spirit, which the poets call Strife. For the whole was compressed into itself like a wineskin, and was coincident in that pressure. For the divine spirit, entering, caused the whole to bring forth, separated, and expanded the elements from one another. This resultant chaos the poets call [Chaos] because of its gaping open, which comes from the spirit simply. Where the upper chasm is the twofold heaven; one part hanging above, the other rolling below. Thus, the earth, being the heaviest, happened to be gathered in the middle; for having hastened to sink down due to its weight, the spirit, surrounding it from all sides, held it together, standing in the middle of the whole structure. The whole earth therefore remained, hanging from the things above, yet suspended by those below, according to the [analogy] of the lens...

is a sample. For the earth is lens-shaped: from both of the parts of the upper, and lower towards the height, it is inhabited, but towards the extremities, it narrows into thinness. Being, therefore, a plumb-line due to its weight, it was the first thing after the chaos to set firm. For this reason Hesiod also, knowing this, says: "Verily at the first Chaos came to be, but next wide-bosomed Earth, an ever sure foundation of all." 95 That the earth is also in the middle, Aratus testifies, saying: "The axle is ever fixed. It holds the balanced earth everywhere in the middle." For "balanced" stands for motionless. And around the earth, in a circle, is another sphere above, that of water, larger than the earth. For the container must be larger than the contained. And after that of water, immediately is that of air, and it too in a circle surrounds the water. And after that of air is that of the ether. Wherefore also Homer somewhere says: "Having climbed a very tall fir-tree, which at that time had grown very tall on Ida, through the air he reached the ether."

There are, therefore, four spheres; which the ancients call elements, because each of them is set in a row and order; just as Alcman also called the maidens who dance in order "co-ordinal." And in grammar, one calls the letters "elements," because the syllables are woven upon them in a row and order. The heavy elements, then, are in the middle. For wonderfully did the Creator arrange all things. For the ether and the spirit 34 [are] spherical in this way, in that the sphere is finished off in a circular manner on all sides unto a smoothness; but the spherical [body] is a circle, yet not equal, but having indentations and projections. The earth, therefore, is spherical, being leveled in the hollows and elevated in the uplands. The earth, then, which we inhabit, is a breast, as it were, and the summit of the whole; just as we see the islands in the middle of the sea rising up upon the water. In this way also, the entire inhabited world occupies a manner [in space], rising up by the bulk of its elevation. For it happens that the water, in certain parts of the earth, if it chance, at one time abounds, and at another time ceases, so that one might think the earth is floating. And the affection is not of the thing experiencing it, but of the thing supporting it, just as it happens also in the sea: the water, being moved by the winds, shows its surface uneven; at one time [made] of curling waves due to the violence of the wind, then by natural necessity flowing into smoothness. If, then, a high wave should happen to slide under a ship, it lifts it up into the height, but when it has dispersed, it draws the ship down with it. And the motion is not of the ship, but of the water. But it is necessary to know that each of the elements does not possess its own nature alone, but [that] of each of the others, and not a thing is devoid of participation in the rest. ^B Above these elements is the heaven, containing all things, a fifth sphere, neither heavy nor light; but it has its composition mixed from all; and therefore it has a firm mixture. And it has been named from *oruein* (to rush), which is to impel; for the heaven rushed before the other elements. But if there is any vacuum outside the heaven, the inquiry is not curious to us. Nevertheless, the Stoics say there is; for in this way the whole differs from the universe. But it is not infinite, as Epicurus and the rest [say]. And since we say that the earth has been mixed with the water, and man was a product of both, Hesiod [says that Prometheus] "molded Earth with water, and placed the voice of man within it." And this is the myth of Prometheus.

Whether the ether sustains living creatures.

the heaviest of the elements, suspended by the air; the golden bond of the hands is fire. For the whole is bound together by the aether. And the animals of the air are those which, moving in the air, have flown of their own accord toward the blast.

Concerning the circles.

5. There are eleven circles in number: the Arctic, the Antarctic, two Tropics, the Equator, the Horizon, the Meridian, the Zodiac, the Galaxy, and two Colures. Aratus mentions them, though he does not name them explicitly: "May I be the one at the pole, To tell of the circles and the signs in the air." In praising their balanced creation, he says: "Not even a man skilled in the hands of Athena Could adorn them..."

These are: the Arctic, the Summer Tropic, the Equator, the Winter Tropic, and the Antarctic. These five parallels are so named because of the arrangement of their position, for they lie parallel to one another in sequence. Now, the Arctic is called by some "the one above," toward the high tip of the axis, because it is the first to begin; but the truth is that it contains within it what are called the Bears. From this we learn what the poet says: "The Bear, which they also call 'the Wagon,' Turns there, and keeps watch on Orion. Alone, it has no share in the bathing of the Ocean." For it is in the Arctic, and as we see, it does not set. But as the poetic grace says, it is not bathed in the Ocean. We seek, then, why he said only it does not bathe—that is, does not set—while the Dragon, and part of Cepheus, also do not set. The question will be resolved in the treatise on the Arctic circle, immediately following this one.

There is what is called the Summer Tropic, because when the sun comes into Cancer, which lies upon it, it performs the summer turnings—according to the Macedonians on the 24th of Panemus, and according to the Alexandrians on the 24th of Epeiph. Concerning this, Aratus says: 96 "Of which, measured by eight, Five turn within, higher than the earth, Three are at the limits. For it, there are the turnings of summer."

Descending after this is what is called the Equator, because the sun, moving in the zodiacal circle, when it comes to the Ram, or to the Claws, which are called by the Egyptians the Scales, performs the equinox—once on the 24th of Phamenoth, that is, Gorpiaeus. And in the Ram it performs the vernal turnings, and in the Claws, that is, the Scales, the autumnal. After this, in opposition, is what is called the Antarctic—the Winter Tropic—since the sun, ^D when it comes into Capricorn, which lies upon it, performs the winter turnings.

After this is what is called the Antarctic; either because it is set opposite, or because it is equal to the Arctic. Now, the Arctic is equal to the Antarctic, and the Winter Tropic to the Summer Tropic. The Equator is the largest of all, as it is in the middle, and is equal in size to the Zodiac and the Galaxy.

Now there are signs lying perpendicular to one another: Cancer, Capricorn, the Claws, the Ram.

The Horizon is so named because it bounds the two hemispheres in width, being a girdle of the heavens; it lies outside the sphere, as toward our view. But the truth is that with the mind one must grasp it as lying within. The poets call it Ocean; at any rate, Euripides says: "Ocean, by whose currents the whole earth is bound."

The Meridian is so named because the sun, moving in the zodiacal circle, when it arrives at midday, touches this; for it is as distant from the rising as from the setting. It is the bronze [circle] which, encircling the sphere, is fastened through the axis. The Zodiac is so named because it contains the 12 signs; it has three engravings, which mathematicians call "bands." It is broad, for the sun travels broadly within it. And as the astrologers say, if the course of the sun ever slips into any of the bands, then that which is born is a monster. It is what is coated on the sphere with red wax.

The Galaxy is so named, as the myths say: some say for Heracles, others for Hermes, when he was offered to the breast of Hera by Zeus, so that the god might steal the food of immortality for his children; but when she started up, she was angered at the theft and tore the nipple from the mouth by force, while the child was still suckling; as the milk then flowing was poured out in the circle assigned to the heaven, it imprinted the shape of the outpouring; but the truth is that it obtained its name because of its whiteness; it is what is coated on the sphere with white wax.

The Colures are so named because the part of them that sets into the Antarctic is invisible, and cuts off the viewing of the whole of them for us; if there were four, as some say, terminating as far as the observer, they would not be colures. But if someone says that the parts of the other circles under the earth are also not seen—so that those too are colures—let him know that, while the pole is turning, the parts under the earth will also be seen, whereas in the turnings of the pole, the parts of the colures are entirely submerged in the invisible.

Of these eleven, these divide the sphere in two: the Horizon, the Meridian, the Zodiac, the Galaxy, the Equator, the two Colures, and the Equator; the Horizon and Meridian are carried in a circle, and have a circle equal in its rotation; but they are oblique with respect to the position of the sphere. The Zodiac at any rate is also called "the oblique" by some, because the sun travels the paths within it obliquely. And it is believed that Apollo, who is called Loxias [the Oblique] by the poets, is in the sun.

The Zodiac begins from above, from the Summer Tropic, where the circle contains Cancer. It descends obliquely toward the lower parts, as far as the Winter Tropic, where Capricorn contains the circle. In this way the sun, as we said, traveling in what is oblique, sometimes walks on paths that are high and wide, the upper ones, when it is in Cancer, as it lies on high toward our climate; at other times...