Aratus and the Astronomical Tradition

312 Pages·2013·1.68 MB·English

by  Emma Gee

Aratus and the Astronomical Tradition
Classical Culture and Society
Series Editors
Joseph Farrell and Robin Osborne
Emotion, Restraint, and Community in Ancient Rome
Robert A. Kaster
Making Mockery: The Poetics of Ancient Satire
Ralph M. Rosen
Readers and Reading Culture in the High Roman Empire:
A Study in Elite Communities
William A. Johnson
Apollonius of Rhodes and the Spaces of Hellenism
William G. Thalmann
The Captor’s Image: Greek Culture in Roman Ecphrasis
Basil Dufallo
Aratus and the Astronomical Tradition
Emma Gee
Aratus and the Astronomical
Tradition
Emma Gee

3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gee, Emma, 1970–
Aratus and the astronomical tradition / Emma Gee.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-978168-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Aratus, Solensis. Phaenomena. 2. Aratus, Solensis—Infl uence.
3. Astronomy, Ancient, in literature. 4. Didactic poetry, Greek—History and criticism.
5. Lucretius Carus, Titus. De rerum natura. I. Title.
PA3873.A7G44 2013
881(cid:99) .01—dc23 2012036874
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Endpiece is Copernicus De Rev . f.9v, courtesy of Special Collections, St Andrews University Library.
Dedication
Here is the skeleton of a leaf, a childish gift,
Not without residual beauty, if you imagine
It was made from gold wire, like ancient jewellery.
Maybe you set it on your desk for a while, as a specimen,
alongside your lighter and the mouse (the dead kind).
Then, perhaps, you put it in a book,
And there it lies, in its papery grave,
Amidst the carnage of U-boats and torpedoes,
The ashy fl ecks of those whose bones were never found.
Perhaps you will discover it some day
And wonder who gave it you,
And how it was they knew you were the tree.
The leaf grew, tough and green,
Further away than you imagine:
A place undiscovered not long ago,
Where a child followed the creek up,
Striding, stooping, on hands, knees, belly,
To the source, where everything above is tree
And rainbow slick glosses the dark, dark earth
Where the cattle never tread—
A loved, unbearable place.
Why did you keep it so long, when after all
I dreamed I said goodbye, to the land, to you,
My Keeper of the Leaf?
haec tibi Arateis multum vigilata lucernis
carmina, quis ignes novimus aerios,
levis in aridulo malvae descripta libello
Prusiaca vexi munera navicula.
‘I have brought you this poem, which teaches us to recog-
nize the fi res in the sky. Aratus kept vigil over it for a long
time with his lamp. It is written in a tiny book made of
smoothed mallow bark, and I brought it as a gift in a little
boat from the land of King Prusias.’
Epigram by Cinna, 57–6 B C , my translation
CONTENTS
Preface and Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 3
1. Poetic Justice 22
2. Roman Justice 36
3. Wandering Stars 57
4. Lucretius’ Aratea 81
5. P lanetary Motion 110
6. L ate Antique Aratus 148
Epilogue 180
Appendix A 185
Appendix B 189
Appendix C 232
Notes 241
Bibliography 2 75
Index 291
Index Locorum 293
Endpiece 299
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PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Not many of us get not just a second but also a third chance. Although this book
was written under the aegis of the University of St Andrews, I have three sets of
colleagues to thank, those from Exeter and Sydney as well as St Andrews. I would
like to single out two colleagues without whose help this book would never have
been written: Frances Muecke and Chris Gill. Both placed invaluable opportunities
in my way, and were assiduous in making sure I followed them up. To them I owe
my career as well as my book.
I would like to thank all my colleagues in St Andrews, especially Greg Woolf and
Stephen Halliwell. The former caused me to have faith, the latter spurred me on by
his judicious scepticism. Peter Wiseman, with his challenge to prove that Lucretius
really was infl uenced by Cicero’s Aratea , is responsible for Chapters 3 and 4 . I hope
they are an appropriate offering.
Many colleagues willingly took on the unenviable task of reading chaotic and
incomprehensible drafts. Peter Wiseman read material that was later to become
Chapters 3 and 4 , and debunked most of the nonsense (any that remains is, needless
to say, my own). Richard Hunter and Michael Reeve read parts of the book and
were generous in their time and comments. Greg Woolf reined in Chapter 6 before
any damage was done. Many colleagues helped with bibliography in areas where my
own knowledge is sketchy: Greg Woolf, Richard Hunter, Alex Long, Félix Racine,
Roger Rees, to name a few. I also warmly thank all those Aratus scholars who
attended the conference at St Andrews in June 2010 and shared their ideas.
Much praise and appreciation are due to the series editors Joe Farrell and
Robin Osborne. Joe acted as ad hoc reader of tedious fi rst drafts and stayed in
close touch throughout. I would like to thank Stefan Vranka, Sarah Pirovitz and
Natalie Johnson for their effi ciency and patience in the face of my needless anxi-
eties and ‘goldfi sh moments’. The comments of the anonymous reader for the
press were invaluable.
I could not have written this book at all without my friends. I would like to thank
all of them but I only name two: Gillian Galbraith and Miranda Macdonald.
Despite their own commitments they have responded tirelessly to trivia. My son
Hal has kept me alive during the process by his endless humour and inventiveness,
although I am afraid that he may have been more aware than I would have wanted
that I was writing a book. Finally, the book’s dedicatee. You know who you are.

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