Catasterismi
Encyclopedia
Catasterismi is an Alexandria
n prose retelling of the myth
ic origins of stars and constellation
s, as they were interpreted in Hellenistic culture
. The work survives in an epitome
assembled at the end of the 1st century CE, based on a lost original, with a possible relation to work of Eratosthenes
that is now hard to pinpoint; thus the author is alluded to as Pseudo-Eratosthenes. Apparently it was pseudepigraphically attributed
to the great astronomer from Cyrene
, to bolster its credibility. However, the astrological connoisseurship
of its fables in fact have nothing to do with Eratosthenes' scientific conjectures and solutions—which belong instead near the origins of an astronomy
that was separated from the predictive and interpretive functions of astrology, not an easy feat of the logical imagination. The separation was effected in Alexandrian intellectual circles during the 1st century BCE.
Catasterismi records the mature and definitive development of a long process: the Hellenes' assimilation of a Mesopotamian zodiac
, transmitted through Persian interpreters and translated and harmonized with the known terms of Greek mythology
. A fundamental effort in this translation was the application of Greek mythic nomenclature to designate individual stars, both asterisms
like the Pleiades
and Hyades
, and the constellations. In Classical Greece
, the "wandering stars" and the gods who directed them were separate entities, as for Plato
; in Hellenistic culture, the association became an inseparable identification, so that Apollo
, no longer the regent of the Sun, actually was Helios
(Seznec 1981, pp 37–40).
Chapters 1–42 of Catasterismi treat forty-three of the forty-eight constellations known to Ptolemy
(2nd century CE); chapters 43–44 treat the five planets and the Milky Way
.
The work cites in some places the lost Astronomia attributed to Hesiod
. Many of the mythic themes in Catasterismi are simply drawn from Aratus
, Phaenomena (ca 275 BCE) and the sequential arrangement is essentially that of Aratus as well. On the other hand, a similar later account is the Poeticon Astronomicon, or De astronomia (tellingly also titled De astrologia in some manuscripts that follow Hyginus' usage in his text) attributed to Gaius Julius Hyginus
.
During the Renaissance
, printing of Catasterismi, invariably attributed to Eratosthenes, began early, but the work was always overshadowed by Hyginus
, the only other ancient repertory of catasterisms. Catasterismi was illustrated by woodcuts in the first illustrated edition by Erhard Ratdolt
, (Venice 1482). Johann Schaubach's edition of Catasterismi (Meiningen 1791) was also illustrated with celestial maps drawn from another work, Johann Buhle's Aratus (Leipzig, 2 volumes, 1793–1801).
The modern Teubner edition
of the text is still A. Olivieri, Pseudo-Eratosthenis Catasterismi (Leipzig 1897). Olivieri collated the five surviving complete manuscripts and a mid-14th century fragment in the Biblioteca Marciana
that derives from a separate manuscript tradition.
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
n prose retelling of the myth
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
ic origins of stars and constellation
Constellation
In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
s, as they were interpreted in Hellenistic culture
Hellenistic civilization
Hellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BCE to about 146 BCE...
. The work survives in an epitome
Epitome
An epitome is a summary or miniature form; an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment....
assembled at the end of the 1st century CE, based on a lost original, with a possible relation to work of Eratosthenes
Eratosthenes
Eratosthenes of Cyrene was a Greek mathematician, poet, athlete, geographer, astronomer, and music theorist.He was the first person to use the word "geography" and invented the discipline of geography as we understand it...
that is now hard to pinpoint; thus the author is alluded to as Pseudo-Eratosthenes. Apparently it was pseudepigraphically attributed
Pseudepigraphy
Pseudepigrapha are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed authorship is unfounded; a work, simply, "whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past." The word "pseudepigrapha" is the plural of "pseudepigraphon" ; the Anglicized forms...
to the great astronomer from Cyrene
Cyrene, Libya
Cyrene was an ancient Greek colony and then a Roman city in present-day Shahhat, Libya, the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region. It gave eastern Libya the classical name Cyrenaica that it has retained to modern times.Cyrene lies in a lush valley in the Jebel Akhdar...
, to bolster its credibility. However, the astrological connoisseurship
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
of its fables in fact have nothing to do with Eratosthenes' scientific conjectures and solutions—which belong instead near the origins of an astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
that was separated from the predictive and interpretive functions of astrology, not an easy feat of the logical imagination. The separation was effected in Alexandrian intellectual circles during the 1st century BCE.
Catasterismi records the mature and definitive development of a long process: the Hellenes' assimilation of a Mesopotamian zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
, transmitted through Persian interpreters and translated and harmonized with the known terms of Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
. A fundamental effort in this translation was the application of Greek mythic nomenclature to designate individual stars, both asterisms
Asterism (astronomy)
In astronomy, an asterism is a pattern of stars recognized on Earth's night sky. It may form part of an official constellation, or be composed of stars from more than one. Like constellations, asterisms are in most cases composed of stars which, while they are visible in the same general direction,...
like the Pleiades
Pleiades (star cluster)
In astronomy, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters , is an open star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky...
and Hyades
Hyades
Hyades may refer to:*Hyades *Hyades , an open star cluster in the constellation Taurus...
, and the constellations. In Classical Greece
Classical Greece
Classical Greece was a 200 year period in Greek culture lasting from the 5th through 4th centuries BC. This classical period had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and greatly influenced the foundation of Western civilizations. Much of modern Western politics, artistic thought, such as...
, the "wandering stars" and the gods who directed them were separate entities, as for Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
; in Hellenistic culture, the association became an inseparable identification, so that Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, no longer the regent of the Sun, actually was Helios
Helios
Helios was the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn...
(Seznec 1981, pp 37–40).
Chapters 1–42 of Catasterismi treat forty-three of the forty-eight constellations known to Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
(2nd century CE); chapters 43–44 treat the five planets and the Milky Way
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
.
The work cites in some places the lost Astronomia attributed to Hesiod
Hesiod
Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
. Many of the mythic themes in Catasterismi are simply drawn from Aratus
Aratus
Aratus was a Greek didactic poet. He is best known today for being quoted in the New Testament. His major extant work is his hexameter poem Phaenomena , the first half of which is a verse setting of a lost work of the same name by Eudoxus of Cnidus. It describes the constellations and other...
, Phaenomena (ca 275 BCE) and the sequential arrangement is essentially that of Aratus as well. On the other hand, a similar later account is the Poeticon Astronomicon, or De astronomia (tellingly also titled De astrologia in some manuscripts that follow Hyginus' usage in his text) attributed to Gaius Julius Hyginus
Gaius Julius Hyginus
Gaius Julius Hyginus was a Latin author, a pupil of the famous Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was by Augustus elected superintendent of the Palatine library according to Suetonius' De Grammaticis, 20...
.
During the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, printing of Catasterismi, invariably attributed to Eratosthenes, began early, but the work was always overshadowed by Hyginus
Hyginus
Hyginus can refer to:People:*Gaius Julius Hyginus , Roman poet, author of Fabulae, reputed author of Poeticon astronomicon*Hyginus Gromaticus, Roman surveyor*Pope Hyginus, also a saint, Bishop of Rome about 140...
, the only other ancient repertory of catasterisms. Catasterismi was illustrated by woodcuts in the first illustrated edition by Erhard Ratdolt
Erhard Ratdolt
Erhard Ratdolt was an early German printer. From Augsburg, he was active printing in Venice, where he worked from 1476 to 1486.There he produced a Kalendario for Regiomontanus, and editions of the Historia Romana of Appianus , and Euclid's Elements , solving the problem of reproducing...
, (Venice 1482). Johann Schaubach's edition of Catasterismi (Meiningen 1791) was also illustrated with celestial maps drawn from another work, Johann Buhle's Aratus (Leipzig, 2 volumes, 1793–1801).
The modern Teubner edition
Bibliotheca Teubneriana
The Bibliotheca Teubneriana, or Teubner editions of Greek and Latin texts, comprise the most thorough modern collection ever published of ancient Greco-Roman literature...
of the text is still A. Olivieri, Pseudo-Eratosthenis Catasterismi (Leipzig 1897). Olivieri collated the five surviving complete manuscripts and a mid-14th century fragment in the Biblioteca Marciana
Biblioteca Marciana
The Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana is a library and Renaissance building in Venice, northern Italy; it is one of the earliest surviving public manuscript depositories in the country, holding one of the greatest classical texts collections in the world. The library is named after St. Mark, the...
that derives from a separate manuscript tradition.
External links
- The Katasterismoi: Part 1 and Part 2 in ADSABS
- Cathy Bell, "The mythology of the constellations"
- Italica: Rinascimento: Ilaria Miarelli Mariani, "Astrologia" (in Italian)
- Bradley E. Schaefer, "The epoch of the constellations on the Farnese Atlas and their origins in Hipparchus's lost catalogue"
- Daniel Marin, "The History of Constellations"(in Spanish)
- Ian Ridpath, Star Tales – Myths, legends and history of the constellations
Further reading
- Seznec, JeanJean SeznecJean Seznec was a historian and mythographer whose most influential book, for English-speaking readers, has been La Survivance des dieux antiques, 1940, translated as The Survival of the Pagan Gods: Mythological Tradition in Renaissance Humanism and Art,, 1953...
. 1981 The Survival of the Pagan Gods. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press) - Condos, Theony. 1997. Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Phanes Press, 1997) ISBN 1-890482-92-7 (hb); ISBN 1-890482-93-5 (pb). A translation of the Catasterismi and De Astronomia attributed to Hyginus. The only available English translation, critically reviewed by Roger Ceragioli in Journal for the History of Astronomy, 30.1 (1999) pp 313–315; by John McMahon in Archaeoastronomy: The Journal of Astronomy in Culture, XVI (2001) pp 98–99 http://web.lemoyne.edu/~mcmahon/AACONDOS.html and by John T. Ramsey, as "Bryn Mawr Classical Review 98.6.28".