Aratus (/əˈreɪtəs/;Ancient Greek:Ἄρατος ὁ Σολεύς; c. 315/310 – 240 BC) was aGreekdidacticpoet. His major extant work is hishexameter poemPhenomena (Ancient Greek:Φαινόμενα,Phainómena, "Appearances";Latin:Phaenomena), the first half of which is a verse setting of a lost work of the same name byEudoxus of Cnidus. It describes theconstellations and other celestial phenomena. The second half is called theDiosemeia (Διοσημεῖα "Forecasts"), and is chiefly about weather lore. Although Aratus was somewhat ignorant ofGreek astronomy, his poem was very popular in the Greek and Roman world, as is proven by the large number of commentaries andLatin translations, some of which survive.
There are several accounts of Aratus's life by anonymous Greek writers, and theSuda and Eudocia also mention him. From these it appears that he was a native ofSoli[1] inCilicia (although one authority saysTarsus). He is known to have studied withMenecrates inEphesus andPhilitas inCos. As a disciple of the Peripatetic philosopherPraxiphanes, inAthens, he met theStoic philosopherZeno, as well asCallimachus ofCyrene andMenedemus, the founder of theEretrian school. He was the son of Athenodoros, and also had a brother with this name.
About 276 BC Aratus was invited to the court of theMacedonian kingAntigonus II Gonatas, whose victory over theGauls in 277 Aratus set to verse. Here he wrote his most famous poem,Phenomena. He then spent some time at the court ofAntiochus I Soter ofSyria, but subsequently returned toPella in Macedon, where he died sometime before 240/239.[2][3] His chief pursuits weremedicine (which is also said to have been his profession),grammar, andphilosophy.
Several poetical works on various subjects, as well as a number of prose epistles, are attributed to Aratus, but none of them have come down to us, except his two astronomical poems inhexameter.These have generally been joined as parts of the same work; but they seem to be distinct poems, the first, calledPhenomena ("Appearances"), consists of 732 verses; the second,Diosemeia ("On Weather Signs"), of 422 verses.
ThePhenomena appears to be based on two prose works—Phenomena andEnoptron (Ἔνοπτρον, "Mirror", presumably a descriptive image of the heavens)—byEudoxus of Cnidus, written about a century earlier. We are told by the biographers of Aratus that it was the desire of Antigonus to have them turned into verse, which gave rise to thePhenomena of Aratus; and it appears from the fragments of them preserved byHipparchus, that Aratus has in fact versified, or closely imitated parts of them both, but especially of the first.
The purpose of thePhenomena is to give an introduction to theconstellations, with the rules for their risings and settings; and of the circles of the sphere, amongst which theMilky Way is reckoned. The positions of the constellations, north of theecliptic, are described by reference to the principal groups surrounding the north pole (Ursa Major,Ursa Minor,Draco, andCepheus), whilstOrion serves as a point of departure for those to the south. The immobility of theEarth, and the revolution of the sky about a fixed axis are maintained; the path of theSun in thezodiac is described; but theplanets are introduced merely as bodies having a motion of their own, without any attempt to define their periods; nor is anything said about the Moon's orbit. The opening of the poem asserts the dependence of all things uponZeus.
From the lack of precision in the descriptions, it would seem that Aratus was neither a mathematician nor observer[4] or, at any rate, that in this work he did not aim at scientific accuracy. He not only represents the configurations of particular groups incorrectly, but describes some phenomena which are inconsistent with any one supposed latitude of the spectator, and others which could not coexist at any one epoch. These errors are partly to be attributed to Eudoxus himself, and partly to the way in which Aratus has used the materials supplied by him. Hipparchus (about a century later), who was a scientific astronomer and observer, has left a commentary upon thePhenomenas of Eudoxus and Aratus, accompanied by the discrepancies which he had noticed between his own observations and their descriptions.
TheDiosemeia consists of forecasts of theweather from astronomical phenomena, with an account of its effects upon animals. It appears to be an imitation ofHesiod, and to have been imitated byVirgil in some parts of theGeorgics.[2]The materials are said to be taken almost wholly fromAristotle'sMeteorologica, from the work ofTheophrastus,On Weather Signs, and from Hesiod. Nothing is said in either poem aboutHellenistic astrology.
The two poems were very popular both in the Greek and Roman world,[5] as is proved by the number of commentaries and Latin translations. He enjoyed immense prestige amongHellenistic poets, includingTheocritus,Callimachus andLeonidas of Tarentum. This assessment was picked up byLatin poets, includingOvid andVirgil.Latin versions were made by none other thanCicero (mostly extant),[2][6] Ovid (only two short fragments remain), the member of theimperial Julio-Claudian dynastyGermanicus (extant, withscholia), and the less-famousAvienius (extant).Quintilian was less enthusiastic.[2]Aratus was also cited by the author ofActs (believed to beLuke the Evangelist), inActs 17:28, where he relatesSaint Paul's address on theAreopagus.Paul, speaking ofGod, quotes the fifth line of Aratus'sPhenomena (Epimenides seems to be the source of the first part ofActs 17:28,[2] although this is less clear):
Ἐκ Διὸς ἀρχώμεσθα, τὸν οὐδέποτ' ἄνδρες ἐῶμεν
ἄρρητον· μεσταὶ δὲ Διὸς πᾶσαι μὲν ἀγυιαί,
πᾶσαι δ' ἀνθρώπων ἀγοραί, μεστὴ δὲ θάλασσα
καὶ λιμένες· πάντη δὲ Διὸς κεχρήμεθα πάντες.
τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος εἰμέν. κτλ.
Let us begin with Zeus, whom we mortals never leave unspoken.
For every street, every market-place is full of god.
Even the sea and the harbour are full of thisdeity.
Everywhere everyone is indebted to god.
For we are indeed his offspring ...
Authors of twenty-seven commentaries are known; ones byTheon of Alexandria,Achilles Tatius andHipparchus of Nicaea survive. AnArabic translation was commissioned in the ninth century by theCaliphAl-Ma'mun. He is cited byVitruvius,Stephanus of Byzantium andStobaeus. Several accounts of his life are extant, by anonymous Greek writers.[2]
The craterAratus on theMoon and the minor planet12152 Aratus are named in his honour.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aratus of Soli".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 321.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870)."Aratus".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. pp. 255–256.Two important recent editions of Aratus's work:
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
