Constellation Myths: With Aratus's Phaenomena (2024)

Introduction
Greek and Latin Forms of Names
Table of Ptolemaic Constellations
Note on Organization
Note on the Texts and Translation
Maps of the Northern and Southern Skies

Eratosthenes and Hyginus, The Mythological Narratives

1-4. Constellations of the Arctic Circle
--1. Ursa Major, the Great Bear
--2. Ursa Minor, the Little Bear
--3. Draco, the Dragon
--4. Cepheus

5-13. Constellations Between the Arctic Circle and the Summer Tropic
--5. Perseus
--6. Andromeda
--7. Cassiopeia, known in the ancient world as Cassiepeia
--8. Cygnus, the Swan, originally known as the Bird
--9. Lyra, the Lyre
--10. Hercules, originally known as Engonasin, the Kneeler
--11. Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, originally known as the Crown
--12. Bootes, the Oxherd, also known as Arctophylax, the Bear-guard
--13. Auriga, the Charioteer; with the associated star-group of the Goat and Kids

14-20. Constellations Between the Summer Tropic and the Equator
--14. Triangulum, the Triangle, also known in the ancient world as Deltoton
--15. Pegasus, originally known as the Horse
--16. Sagitta, the Arrow
--17. Aquila, the Eagle
--18-19. Ophiuchus, the Serpent-bearer, and the Serpent
--20. Canis Minor, the Little Dog, known to the Greeks as Procyon

21-32. Constellations of the Zodiac
--21. Cancer, the Crab; with the associated star-group of the Asses
--22. Leo, the Lion; with the neighbouring constellation of Coma Berenices, Berenice's Hair
--23. Virgo, the Maiden
--24-25. Scorpius, the Scorpion, and the Claws (or Libra, the Scales)
--26. Sagittarius, the Archer
--27. Capricornus, Capricorn
--28. Aquarius, the Water-pourer
--29. Pisces, the Fishes
--30. Taurus, the Bull; with the associated star-clusters of the Pleiades and Hyades
--31. Aries, the Ram
--32. Gemini, the Twins

33-39. Constellations Between the Equator and the Winter Tropic
--33. Orion
--34. Cetus, the Sea-monster
--35. Delphinus, the Dolphin
--36, 37, 38. Hydra, the Water-snake, with Crater, the Bowl, and Corvus, the Crow
--39. Canis Major, the Great Dog

40-46. Constellations Between the Winter Tropic and the Antarctic Circle
--40. Ara, the Altar
--41, 42. Centaurus, the Centaur, and Lupus, the Wolf, originally known as the Beast
--43. Lepus, the Hare
--44. Argo
--45. Eridanus
--46. Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish

47-50. The Milky Circle, Planets, and Constellations of Late Origin
--47. The Planets
--48. The Milky Circle
--49. Equuleus, the Foal
--50. Corona Australis, the Southern Crown

Aratus, Phaenomena

--I. The Constellations
--II. Measuring of Time through Observation of the Heavens
--III. Weather Signs

Appendix: Extracts from Geminos, Introduction to the 'Phaenomena'

Explanatory Notes
Index

This contains 3 major texts:
-Catasterisms by Eratosthenes (surviving in two forms: one known as the Epitome, covering every constellation, and another known as the Vatican Fragments, which is incomplete, but contains additional information not found in the Epitome)
-Constellation myths compiled by Hyginus
-A prose translation of the poem Phaenomena by Aratus (and extracts from Geminos' Introduction to the 'Phaenomena' included as an appendix)

The constellations are arranged systematically, grouped according to zones within the celestial sphere.

Each narrative begins with Eratosthenes' Epitome (with further information from the Vatican Fragments where this exists), which gives a relatively short mythological & astrological account of the constellation.
Next is an astrological account, followed by a longer, mythological account by Hyginus.
Finally, a detailed and insightful commentary from the translator, Robin Hard.

After 50 constellations, Aratus' Phaenomena is presented which is split into three sections:
I. The Constellations
II. The Measuring of Time through Observation of the Heavens
III. Weather Signs

As well as containing some familiar myths, the book contains some more interesting and obscure myths that cannot be found in Homer, Hesiod, Ovid etc.
The text contains a superb introduction, with detailed notes by the translator.
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(As well as looking at the illustrations below, I would recommend becoming familiar with the concept of the celestial sphere, ecliptic etc. (of course the introduction does a good job, but words and still pictures can only do so much in aiding a visualisation of something in 3 dimensions.)
A video such as this is useful)
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I have had a passing interest in the constellations and the celestial sphere for a long time, and looking at the illustrations below greatly enhanced my enjoyment with this book, turning it into a real experience, as well as helping me place constellations in context with each other, within the celestial sphere, and also left a stronger impression of each constellation in my mind than if I had not looked up any depictions of them.
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1. Alexander Jamieson's Celestial Atlas
This contains almost all of the constellations described in the book (I could not find 3 minor ones). It is (in my opinion), the most beautiful & rich, but also the most detailed depiction of the constellations, as Jamieson includes lines of latitude & longitude, celestial circles, names of major & minor constellations, as well as names of stars.
Wikipedia page

2. Hevelius' Prodromus Astronomiae / Firmamentum Sobiescianum
This is another detailed depiction, although not as detailed as Jamieson's.
Wikipedia page

3. Urania's Mirror; or, a view of the Heavens
This is a set of 32 astronomical star chart cards, first published in November 1824 and based on Jamieson's illustrations. They are slightly "cartoony" to my taste, but it's nice to see a different style of illustrations. Wikipedia page
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ii. Photos from a 1482 copy of Hyginus' Poeticon astronomicon in Venice

iii. Cellarius' Harmonia Macrocosmica
A star atlas containing some very interesting illustrations.
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If you find any other depictions of constellations, feel free to link to them as a comment.

3.75

Even though this work is partly listed as being ascribed to Eratosthenes, it’s actually partially a translation of a work that relied so heavily on Eratosthenes that he is owed much of the credit for the astrological mythology contained here. Hyginus is the one that this first work is actually ascribed to. I had previously read Hyginus’ mythological handbook, which is a fairly good collection of Hellenistic mythology. This seems to have been a companion work to that, where astrological/constellational mythology is dealt with. The second work included here is Aratus’ Phenomena, another work that deals with astrological lore and mythology. Also included are some extracts from the so-called Vatican fragments that also rely on Eratosthenes to a large degree. An appendix is also included that served as an introduction to the Phenomena.

The two primary works are worth reading, although Hyginus’ work was a little more interesting for me. Tacked on to his work in various places are extracts from the Vatican fragments. I wanted to read Aratus’ Phenomena because Saint Paul quoted it in his Areopagus sermon in Acts 14:28 (i.e. “for we are also his offspring”). Paul also apparently quoted the Cretan writer Epimenides as well in that same verse. Aratus was known to have been schooled in Stoic thought, so as I said in my last review, Paul’s connection to Stoicism is circ*mstantial, but an interesting possibility, nonetheless. The Phenomena is taken up with constellational lore and bizarre weather forecasting that could only seem a bit passé by today’s standards. Although, there seems to be some Stoic allegory lurking behind some of the astrological thought and lore.

I give the work around 4 stars. After reading Ptolemy’s Almagest, I decided to follow it up with another work that deals with astronomical/astrological topics. It also coincides with my study of Greco-Roman myth. Recommended for those interested in such topics.

This book is great! Basically it provides myth for every constellation and planet known in the ancient world through the work of Eratosthenes, a Greek author, and the usually more detailed Hyginus, a Roman author. After these two, the book provides a modern commentary to make more sense of the ancient texts and provide further insight or context based on other myths or what not. This is super cool, especially because nearly every name we have to this day to identify major constellations and celestial bodies comes from ancient myths, and it’s so fun to find out their meanings! This also of course includes the zodiac, which I personally loved finding out more about. This is a clever little book for people who love astronomy, astrology and greek myths in general, especially because some of these hardly ever make it into other mythology collections.

"Athena seized the writhing serpent and hurled it into the sky, fixing it to the very pole of the heavens."

Constellation Myths is, as the title suggests, a collection of mythological stories relating different constellations, stars and planets. This book collects stories from Eratosthenes as well as Hyginus, and through their writings and the commentaries offered by the translators, you get a solid picture of the connection between mythology and astrology, and learn the ancient greek explanations to why we have pictures of dogs, archers, cups and beasts in the sky.

This was one of those books that was more interesting than enjoyable. I loved learning the myths behind the constellations - especially the myths behind the zodiacs - but the text was sometimes hard to get through and because the book contains writings from two authors on the same things, you had to read the same stories multiple times - first Eratosthenes's text and then Hyginus's text, the same story but in different words. I do appreciate the thoroughness of this book, but it did make the reading experience a bit jarring at times. But even when I wasn't necessarily enjoying the way the stories were told, I always liked learning the stories themselves. So yeah, very interesting, not so enjoyable.

I would recommend this still. There's a lot to learn in this book and if you are interested in stars, astrology and constellations, why not read the ancient greek takes on the stories written in the night sky?

a bit of a slog but now i’m a qualified astrophysicist

A fun and fast read that has found a place on my reference shelf for future use. I loved reading the summaries of the astronomical myths by Eratosthenes, the 3rd director of the Great Library at Alexandria. Sadly, his writings are lost, but two sets of summaries of his work survive and give us insight into the myths surrounding the constellations. Hyginus also wrote on astronomy and myths, using Eratosthenes as his primary source but also drawing from other places. The introduction was great, as they often are in these Oxford World's Classics editions.

One neat fact regarding one of my favorite constellations, Orion, talks about its relationship with the constellation Scorpios. "Since the Scorpion rises as Orion sets, it could be imagined that Orion is being pursued by it, and it was this thought that inspired the myth in which he was said to have been killed by a huge scorpion, which was sent against him by Earth or perhaps by Artemis" (p. xii). This process was called catasterism, by which people or things were set in the sky as constellations (p. xii).

Another neat technique described was using the twelve constellations of the zodiac to determine how much time has elapsed at night. "For since six signs of the zodiac rise each night, and six set irrespective of the time of year, this enables the observer to form an accurate estimate of the stages of the night" (p. xxii).

The book also covers the five planets the Greek knew that they thought of as wandering stars. Their name derivations are so cool. The Brilliant (Phainon) was said to be Zeus (Jupiter to the Romans). The second was The Radiant (Phaethon) and it takes its name from Helios or Cronos (Saturn). The third was Ares (Mars), the fourth Aphrodite (Venus) and lastly, Hermes (Mercury) (pp. 130-132).

The Milky Way has its own amazing origin mythology. It was called Galaxia (the milky circle). "It was not possible for sons of Zeus to have any share in the honours of the sky unless they had been suckled at Hera's breast; and that is why Hermes, so they say, brought Heracles along after his birth and placed him at Hera's breast, for him to be suckled at it; but when Hera became aware of it, she thrust him away, and the rest of her milk spilled out accordingly to make up the milky circle" (p. 133).

As an amateur astronomer, I do science outreach to the public. This book scratched my itch to learn more about the stories behind the stars and constellations as we know them today. Beyond the myths, the book contains a lot of info about the historical references we have, as well the differences between the various versions of each myth they tell. The details can almost be too much to deal with when one just wants a nice narrative. As well, it would be good to have a background in Greek and Roman mythology in general to best appreciate the stories in this book. But it's a good base resource for those who seek to present these stories to the public.

Well organized and complete

TITLE: Eratosthenes & Hyginus - Constellation Myths: with Aratus's Phaenomena
TRANSLATOR: Robin Hard
PUBLICATION DATE: 2015
EDITION: Oxford World's Classics
__________________________
This book translates four texts: (i) the Epitome and (ii) the Fragmenta Vaticana, which are versions of the Catasterisms of Eratosthenes, (iii) the Astronomica of Hyginus, and (iv) the Phaenomena of Aratus.

The translations and commentary about the mythological origins of the constellations are interesting, though somewhat repetitive. Under each of the book's 50 constellations are set out the sections of Eratosthenes and Hygenius, followed by a short commentary. The layout of this book does not follow the layout of the originals and is concerned primarily with the mythology of the constellations and not any additional material. This book lacks sufficient diagrams - there are only two fuzzy diagrams at the beginning of the book which are inadequate. Additional diagrams of each constellation should have been included, especially in light of the modern reader's presumed lack of star gazing knowledge. The prose translation of Aratus's Phaenomena consists of: (i) The Constellations, (ii) Measuring of Time through Observation of the Heavens, and (iii) Weather Signs, followed by extracts from Geminos' Introduction to the 'Phaenomena' included as an appendix.

This is a nice introduction to stellar mythology, but I suggest having a star atlas or constellation map on hand while reading it.

Constellation Myths takes us on a journey through the many constellations we admire today, which were mapped by the ancient Greeks, who arranged the stars into patterns.

In the third century, BC Eratosthenes compiled a handbook of astral mythology in which the constellations were associated with figures from legend, and myths were provided to explain how each person, creature, or object came to be placed in the sky. Thus we can see Heracles killing the Dragon, and Perseus slaying the sea monster to save Andromeda; Orion chases the seven maidens transformed by Zeus into the Pleiades, and Aries, the golden ram, is identified flying up to the heavens.

This translation brings together the later summaries from Eratosthenes' lost handbook with a guide to astronomy compiled by Hyginus, librarian to Augustus. Together with Aratus's astronomical poem the Phaenomena, these texts provide a complete collection of Greek astral myths; imaginative and picturesque, they also offer an intriguing insight into ancient science and culture.

My opinion will be biased as I have had an obsession with the sky, constellations and astrology since a young age. I enjoyed picking this book up and reading about the different constellations and learning all the century-old myths that accompany the many different shapes of stars in our planet's sky. Similar to my recent read “The Library of Greek Mythology” this is a very information-dense book and will be best served as a reference to continue to go back to refresh my memory when exploring mythology further.

Used as a reference for my current WIP. The myths, although very factual and descriptive in constellation positioning, were very interesting and gave a historical insight into the minds of our pre-restorers minds / guiding compasses. Very excited to use my research & references within my work. Highly recommend for gathering research. Not so much if you are looking for a fast story.

(Put it this way.... it took me ages to read & I'm very proud of myself for reading it. It is not for the light-hearted or easily distracted! Go into this book with gathering information in mind or having a passion/purpose.)

The introduction to this work is one of the most comprehensive introductions to Eratosthenes Catasterisms that exists in English. The work is not as in-depth as Theony Condos’s from over a decade earlier, which spends much more time that Mr. Hard on the origin of the constellation myths, but Hard’s understanding of the influence and authenticity of Eratosthenes authorship and the history of the epitome itself is vastly superior. -Highly recommended.

/Ursa Major
"This constellation, as is commonly remarked, never sets, and those who want to find an explantation for this say that Tethys, the wife of Ocean, refuses to receive it when the other starts come to their setting because she had been the nurse of Hera, whose place Callisto had usurped as mistress." (p.5).

Really interesting stuff, and a fun read when you have a hearty background knowledge of Greek mythology. If you don’t, it may be a bit of a trudge, as you would need to do a lot of cross checking. I learned new things about almost every constellation, and will probably revisit this book the next time I’m away from light pollution.

An interesting exploration of myth outside the usual suspects. I found this book very intriguing, if repetitive. Part of this repetitiveness was due to editing choices. I'm not sure how I'd have done it differently. Overall, I don't have much to say about this book. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in Greek myths.

!!!!!!!!!! yassss

Nor will dawn come soon if you are overcome by fear at night, in spite of all your cries.

A good book for reference of the constellations of the night sky

Well, this collection of sources/commentary on the myths didn't quite meet my expectations: I was expecting a more affirmative explanation of the myths, but what I got instead were an explanation of why you couldn't have one concrete version - there are several different versions of myths. It was rather interesting.

The other thing that was rather interesting was just how much farming is tied to astronomy.