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CALLIMACHUS, ARATUS, LYCOPHRON Hymns, Epigrams. Phaenomena. Alexandra
The division of the sky into named star
constellations that has come down to us is the work of
Eudoxus (ca. 390-340 B.C.), who
codified and extended earlier Greek and Mesopotamian
systems. Eudoxus' work itself has not survived, but is
captured in the Phaenomena of Aratus. The first and longest
part of Phaenomena is a versification of Eudoxus' treatise,
giving a detailed description of the constellations and
their relative positions. This naturally leads to a section
on weather signs (based perhaps on Theophrastus' Concerning
Weather Signs). Aratus' poem was among the most
widely read in antiquity and was one of the few Greek poems
translated into Arabic. This volume also contains the Hymns
and Epigrams of Callimachus and the monodrama Alexandra
attributed to Lycophron.
OTHER HARVARD BOOKS BY CALLIMACHUS
Aetia, Iambi, Hecale and Other Fragments. Hero and Leander Series No. 129 / 480 pages / ISBN 0-674-99143-5 |