XLII.
Reliquum est nobis disputare de stellis quinque, quas complures ut erraticas, ita planetas Graeci dixerunt. quarum una est Iouis, nomine Phaenon, quem Heraclides Ponticus ait, quo tempore Prometheus homines finxerit, hunc pulchritudine corporis reliquos praestantem fecisse; cumque supprimere cogitaret, neque, Ioui ut ceteros redderet, Cupidinem Ioui nuntiasse. quo facto missum Mercurium ad Phaenonem persuasisse, ut ad Iouem ueniret et inmortalis fieret. itaque eum inter astra collocatum.
XLII. The Five Wandering Stars
It remains for us to discuss the five stars, which very many have called wandering (erraticae), and the Greeks planets. One of them is Zeus's, named Phaenon, which Heraclides Ponticus says, at the time when Prometheus fashioned men, made him surpassing the rest in beauty of body; and when he [Prometheus] was thinking of keeping him hidden, and not returning him to Zeus as he did the rest, Eros reported it to Zeus [?]. Hermes, sent to Phaenon, persuaded him to come to Zeus and become immortal. And so he was set among the stars.
Secunda stella dicitur Solis, quam alii Saturni dixerunt. Hanc Eratosthenes a Solis filio Phaethonta appellatam dicit. de quo complures scripserunt, ut patris inscienter curru uectus, incenderit terras; quo facto ab Ioue fulmine percussus, in Eridanum deciderit et a Sole inter sidera sit perlatus.
The second star is said to be the Sun's, which others have called Cronus's. Eratosthenes says that it was named Phaethon after the Sun's son. About him very many have written, how, borne unwittingly in his father's chariot, he set the lands on fire; for which, struck by Zeus with a thunderbolt, he fell into the Eridanus, and was carried among the stars by the Sun.
Tertia est stella Martis, quam alii Herculis dixerant, Ueneris sequens stellam hac, ut Eratosthenes ait, de causa. quod Uulcanus cum uxorem Uenerem duxisset, et propter eius obseruantiam Marti copia non fieret, ut nihil aliud adsequi uideretur, nisi sua stella Ueneris sidus persequi a Uenere impetrauit. itaque cum uehementer amore eum incenderet, significans e facto stellam Pyroenta appellauit.
The third star is Ares's, which others have called Heracles's, following the star of Aphrodite for this reason, as Eratosthenes says: when Hephaestus had taken Aphrodite as his wife, and because of his watchfulness Ares could have no access, so that he seemed to achieve nothing else but to pursue the star of Aphrodite with his own star [?], he obtained it from Aphrodite. And so, since it inflamed him violently with love, signifying this from the event, she called the star Pyroeis (the Fiery) [?].
Quarta stella est Ueneris, Lucifer nomine; quam nonnulli Iunonis esse dixerunt. hanc eandem Hesperum appellari, multis traditum est historiis. hic autem omnium siderum maximus esse uidetur. nonnulli hunc Aurorae et Cephali filium dixerunt, pulchritudine multos praestantem. ex qua re etiam cum Uenere dicitur certasse, ut etiam Eratosthenes dicit eum hac de causa Ueneris appellari, et exoriente sole et occidente uideri. quare, ut ante diximus, iure hunc et Luciferum et Hesperum nominatum.
The fourth star is Aphrodite's, Lucifer by name; some have said that it is Hera's. That it is also called Hesperus has been handed down in many stories. This appears the greatest of all the stars. Some have called him the son of Aurora (Eos) and Cephalus, surpassing many in beauty; from which he is said even to have contended with Aphrodite, so that Eratosthenes says that for this reason he is called Aphrodite's, and is seen at the rising of the sun and at its setting. Wherefore, as we said before, he is rightly named both Lucifer and Hesperus.
Quinta stella est Mercurii, nomine Stilbon. sed haec est breuis et clara. haec autem Mercurio data existimatur, quod primus menses instituerit et peruiderit siderum cursus. Euhemerus autem Uenerem primam ait sidera constituisse et Mercurio demonstrasse.
The fifth star is Hermes's, named Stilbon. But this is small and bright. It is thought to have been given to Hermes because he first instituted the months and observed the courses of the stars. Euhemerus, however, says that Aphrodite first established the stars and showed them to Hermes.
XLIII.
Praeterea ostenditur circulus quidam in sideribus, candido colore, quem lacteum esse nonnulli dixerunt. Eratosthenes enim dicit Mercurio infanti puero insciam Iunonem dedisse lacte; sed postquam rescierit eum Maiae filium esse, reiecisse eum ab se; ita lactis profusi splendorem inter sidera apparere. alii dixerunt dormienti Iunoni Herculem suppositum, et experrectam id quod supra diximus fecisse. alii autem Herculem propter nimiam auiditatem multitudinem lactis adpetisse neque in ore continere potuisse: quod ex ore eius profusum, circulum significasse. alii dicunt, quo tempore Ops Saturno lapidem pro partu attulit, iussisse ei lacte praebere. quae cum pressisset mammam, profuso lacte circulum deformatum, quem supra demonstrauimus. Nos autem omnium corporum deformationem dicere instituimus.
XLIII. The Milky Way
Further, a certain circle is shown among the stars, of white colour, which some have said is the Milky Way. For Eratosthenes says that Hera, not knowing, gave milk to the infant Hermes; but after she learned that he was Maia's son, she cast him off from her; so the brightness of the spilled milk appears among the stars. Others have said that Heracles was put to the sleeping Hera, and that on waking she did what we said above. Others, however, say that Heracles, from excessive greed, sought a great quantity of milk and could not hold it in his mouth; what poured from his mouth marked out the circle. Others say that at the time when Ops brought Cronus a stone in place of the child, he ordered her to give him milk; she, pressing her breast, the milk poured out, and the circle was formed which we described above. We, however, have undertaken to speak of the shaping of all the bodies (constellations).
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