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Didactic versification of the celestial sphere — Aratus of Soli

~270 BC · Transmission: Global
AstronomyTreatiseGreek

Aratus of Soli versifies Eudoxus's lost treatise into a didactic poem also called Phenomena. It becomes one of the most widely read works of antiquity, fusing Greek myths with the arrangement of constellations inherited from Eudoxus and popularizing the zodiac and the celestial sphere throughout the Hellenistic world.

InstitutionCourt of Antigonus II Gonatas of Macedon
Historical regionSoli, Cilicia (activity at the court of Pella, Macedon)
Primary sourceAncient manuscripts of the poem, transmitted via Hipparchus's commentary
Secondary sourceKidd, D. — Aratus: Phaenomena (Cambridge University Press, 1997)
Original languageAncient Greek (hexameters)
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