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Hyginus · 1st century BC to 2nd century AD

De astronomia

De astronomia (Astronomica)
Ancient Sources / Hyginus / De astronomia

A handbook of the heavens in four books, written in plain Latin prose for a learned friend. Book 1 defines the sphere, its circles and the earth; Book 2, the heart of the work, tells for each constellation the myth by which it was placed among the stars; Book 3 describes the figure of each constellation and counts its stars; Book 4 treats the five circles, the course of the sun and moon and the planets, and breaks off unfinished. The English is a new GreekMythology.com translation of Bunte's Teubner-era text of 1875.

Read from the start
Text
Latin original with English translation, 29 passages, about 33000 words in English.
Translator
GreekMythology.com (2026)
Edition
Bernhard Bunte (ed.), Hygini Astronomica, ex codicibus a se primum collatis recensuit, prolegomena, commentarius, excerpta ex codicibus, index, epimetron adiecit, Leipzig: T. O. Weigel, 1875
Cite as
Hyginus, De astronomia 1.0.1 (by book, chapter, section)

Contents · 29 passages

  1. 1.0.1–4Book 1: The preface to Marcus Fabius994 words
  2. 1.1.1–1.8.5Book 1: The sphere, its circles and the earth2053 words
  3. 2.0.1–2.3.2Book 2: The two Bears and the Dragon1543 words
  4. 2.4.1–7Book 2: Arctophylax, Icarus and Erigone1282 words
  5. 2.5.1–2.6.3Book 2: The Crown and the Kneeler1251 words
  6. 2.7.1–2.8.1Book 2: The Lyre and the Swan877 words
  7. 2.9.1–2.13.7Book 2: Cepheus, Cassiepia, Andromeda, Perseus and the Charioteer1310 words
  8. 2.14.1–4Book 2: Ophiuchus958 words
  9. 2.15.1–5Book 2: The Arrow and Prometheus1016 words
  10. 2.16.1–2.17.3Book 2: The Eagle and the Dolphin852 words
  11. 2.18.1–2.20.4Book 2: The Horse, the Triangle and the Ram1417 words
  12. 2.21.1–2.24.2Book 2: The Bull, the Twins, the Crab and the Lion1580 words
  13. 2.25.1–2.33.2Book 2: From the Virgin to the Hare1516 words
  14. 2.34.1–2.36.1Book 2: Orion and the Dogs797 words
  15. 2.37.1–2.39.1Book 2: Argo, the Centaur and the Altar405 words
  16. 2.40.1–2.41.1Book 2: The Hydra, the Raven, the Cup and the Southern Fish749 words
  17. 2.42.1–2.43.1Book 2: The five planets and the Milky Way568 words
  18. 3.1.1–3.8.1Book 3: The northern constellations, from the Bears to Cepheus1223 words
  19. 3.9.1–3.15.1Book 3: Cassiepia to the Eagle1288 words
  20. 3.16.1–3.23.1Book 3: The Dolphin to the Lion1065 words
  21. 3.24.1–3.32.1Book 3: The Virgin to the Hare1181 words
  22. 3.33.1–3.40.1Book 3: Orion to the Southern Fish1010 words
  23. 4.1.1–4.3.3Book 4: The summer and equinoctial circles1904 words
  24. 4.4.1–4.7.1Book 4: The winter, zodiac, arctic, antarctic and Milky circles711 words
  25. 4.8.1–4.10.2Book 4: The turning of the world, day and night, the horizon940 words
  26. 4.11.1–4.12.12Book 4: Why stars set later, and what rises with each sign1580 words
  27. 4.13.1–4Book 4: The sun's course893 words
  28. 4.14.1–5Book 4: The moon, its eclipses and the spheres of the planets1509 words
  29. 4.15.1–4.19.2Book 4: The five planets and the end of the book485 words

More by Hyginus

English translation by GreekMythology.com (2026). Original text: Bernhard Bunte (ed.), Hygini Astronomica, ex codicibus a se primum collatis recensuit, prolegomena, commentarius, excerpta ex codicibus, index, epimetron adiecit, Leipzig: T. O. Weigel, 1875.

Text layer: Latin text: public domain (Bunte, 1875; our OCR correction of the Internet Archive scan bub_gb_vjQAAAAAQAAJ). English translation © GreekMythology.com.. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.