Aratus · c. 315 – before 240 BC

Phaenomena

Φαινόμενα

A poem of 1,154 lines that describes the constellations as stories (the Bears, the Virgin of the Golden Age, Perseus and Andromeda, Orion and the Pleiades), then the circles of the heavens, the risings and settings, and the signs of the weather.

Text
Greek original with English translation, 8 passages, about 11000 words in English.
Translator
G. R. Mair (1921)
Edition
A. W. Mair and G. R. Mair (eds. and trs.), Callimachus and Lycophron, Aratus, Loeb Classical Library, London: Heinemann; New York: Putnam, 1921 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus, tlg0653.tlg001 perseus-grc2)
Cite as
Aratus, Phaenomena 1 (by line number)

Contents · 8 passages

  1. 1–115Zeus and the northern sky: the Bears and the Dragon1183 words
  2. 116–265Justice leaves the earth; Auriga, Andromeda and Perseus1411 words
  3. 266–420The Lyre, Orion, Argo and the southern constellations1589 words
  4. 421–570The Hydra, the celestial circles and the Zodiac1434 words
  5. 571–737Risings and settings of the constellations1603 words
  6. 738–891Weather signs from the Moon and the Sun1488 words
  7. 892–1028Weather signs from the Manger, birds and animals1219 words
  8. 1029–1154Weather signs from the mastich, cranes and flocks; the close1102 words

English translation by G. R. Mair (1921). Original text: A. W. Mair and G. R. Mair (eds. and trs.), Callimachus and Lycophron, Aratus, Loeb Classical Library, London: Heinemann; New York: Putnam, 1921 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus, tlg0653.tlg001 perseus-grc2).

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library, Greek text); translation public domain (OCR from the Internet Archive scan). Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.