The Pleiades in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / The Pleiades

9 passages from 5 ancient authors that tell of The Pleiades, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. The Pleiades were the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas and the nymph Pleione. They were in the service of goddess Artemis. They were Maia, mother of... For the story in one place, read our article on The Pleiades.

Hesiod (3)

Hesiod, Works and Days 605–674Vintage, laying up the ship and Hesiod's own voyage (605-674)After the harvest Hesiod tells Perses to cut the grapes when Orion and Sirius are in mid-heaven, showing them to the sun for ten days before drawing off the wine. When the Pleiades set, gales rage, so the ship is to be hauled ashore, its tackle stowed and its rudder hung over the smoke. He recalls how his father left Aeolian Cyme and settled at Ascra by Helicon, and says that his only sea-voyage was to Chalcis, where he won a tripod with a song at the games of Amphidamas and dedicated it to the Muses.
Hesiod, Fragments 8.1–5AstronomyThe Astronomy, a poem attributed to Hesiod, is cited for the stars and constellations. The fragments name the Pleiades and the Hyades, the Great Bear and Callisto, Boötes and Orion.
Hesiod, Works and Days 365–444Thrift, the Pleiades and equipping for the plough (365-444)Hesiod advises sparing the cask in the middle, fixing a friend's wage and taking a witness even with a brother, and distrusting a flaunting woman who is after your barn. He fixes harvest and ploughing by the rising and setting of the Pleiades, and tells Perses, who has already come begging, that he will give no more. He lists what a farmer needs: a house, a woman and an ox, well-cut timber for the mortar, wagon and ploughs, two oxen of nine years and a steady man of forty to drive them.

Ovid (3)

Ovid, Fasti 4.133–178Fasti 4: Venus Verticordia and Fortuna Virilis; the Pleiades (1-2 April)On 1 April Ovid describes the washing of Aphrodite's (Venus') statue, the myrtle bathing, and the rites of Fortuna Virilis in the warm bath. He gives the Cumaean oracle behind the temple of Venus Verticordia. On 2 April he lists the Pleiades and offers two explanations for why only six are seen.
Ovid, Fasti 5.1–110Fasti 5: The name of May: the Muses' three answersOvid asks the Muses where May's name comes from. Polyhymnia says it comes from Majesty, born of Honour and Reverence, who stood by Zeus (Jupiter) against the Giants. Urania says it honours the old (maiores), whom Romulus made Fathers, and Calliope says it honours Maia, mother of Hermes (Mercury). The Muses' votes are tied and Ovid declines to choose.
Ovid, Fasti 5.545–602Fasti 5: Mars the Avenger (12 May)On 12 May Ovid describes Ares (Mars) coming down to see his temple in the forum of Augustus, with its statues of Aeneas, Romulus and the Julian line. He recalls Augustus's vow to build it as Avenger, and Mars's second title won by recovering the standards the Parthians took after Crassus's defeat. A note on the Pleiades on 13 May follows.

Aratus (1)

Aratus, Phaenomena 116–265Justice leaves the earth; Auriga, Andromeda and PerseusThe Maiden Justice leaves the earth as the Golden, Silver and Bronze Races succeed one another, and takes her place in the sky. Aratus then places the Twins, the Crab and the Lion, and describes Auriga with the Goat and the Kids, the Bull and the Hyades, and the family of Cepheus: Cepheus, Cassiepeia and Andromeda. He continues with the Horse and the spring Hippocrene, the Ram, the Deltoton and the Fishes, and with Perseus and the Pleiades, whose seven names are given.

Strabo (1)

Strabo, Geography 15.1.16–20India: rains, floods, rice and caneStrabo compares the accounts of Nearchus and Aristobulus on rainfall and the summer rise of the Indian rivers, which turn cities into islands as in Egypt. He describes how rice and bosmorum are grown, the swampy coast, and the report of Aristobulus that the Indus left its channel and abandoned a tract of more than a thousand cities, which he explains by earthquakes and loose, hollow ground. He also records the fertility of the soil, the plants that bear wool, and reeds that give honey.

Virgil (1)

Virgil, Georgics 1.204–310The farmer's calendar: the stars and the zones of heavenThe farmer should watch the stars, sowing barley, flax and poppy when the Scales balance day and night, beans and millet in spring, and wheat after the Pleiades set. The poem describes the sun's path through twelve constellations and the five zones of heaven. It lists indoor work for rainy days and winter nights, and names lucky and unlucky days of the moon, saying the fifth day saw the birth of the Eumenides and of the rebels who tried to pile mountains up to heaven.