Editing Aratus (section)

===''Phenomena''===
[[File:Aratus.png|thumb|right|Aratus and star-signs]]
[[File:Hug. Grotii Bataui Syntagma Arateorum 981373 00009.jpg|thumb|''Phenomena'']]

The ''Phenomena'' appears to be based on two prose works—''Phenomena'' and ''Enoptron'' (Ἔνοπτρον, "Mirror", presumably a descriptive image of the heavens)—by [[Eudoxus of Cnidus]], written about a century earlier. We are told by the biographers of Aratus that it was the desire of Antigonus to have them turned into verse, which gave rise to the ''Phenomena'' of Aratus; and it appears from the fragments of them preserved by [[Hipparchus]], that Aratus has in fact versified, or closely imitated parts of them both, but especially of the first.

The purpose of the ''Phenomena'' is to give an introduction to the [[constellation]]s, with the rules for their risings and settings; and of the circles of the sphere, amongst which the [[Milky Way]] is reckoned. The positions of the constellations, north of the [[ecliptic]], are described by reference to the principal groups surrounding the north pole ([[Ursa Major]], [[Ursa Minor]], [[Draco (constellation)|Draco]], and [[Cepheus (constellation)|Cepheus]]), whilst [[Orion (constellation)|Orion]] serves as a point of departure for those to the south. The immobility of the [[Earth]], and the revolution of the sky about a fixed axis are maintained; the path of the [[Sun]] in the [[zodiac]] is described; but the [[planet]]s are introduced merely as bodies having a motion of their own, without any attempt to define their periods; nor is anything said about the Moon's orbit. The opening of the poem asserts the dependence of all things upon [[Zeus]]. 

From the lack of precision in the descriptions, it would seem that Aratus was neither a mathematician nor observer<ref>comp. Cicero, ''de Orat.'' i. 16</ref> or, at any rate, that in this work he did not aim at scientific accuracy. He not only represents the configurations of particular groups incorrectly, but describes some phenomena which are inconsistent with any one supposed latitude of the spectator, and others which could not coexist at any one epoch. These errors are partly to be attributed to Eudoxus himself, and partly to the way in which Aratus has used the materials supplied by him. Hipparchus (about a century later), who was a scientific astronomer and observer, has left a commentary upon the ''Phenomenas'' of Eudoxus and Aratus, accompanied by the discrepancies which he had noticed between his own observations and their descriptions.

==== Published editions ====
* {{Cite book|title=Phaenomena|volume=|publisher=Officina Plantiniana|location=Leiden|year=1600|language=la|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=4781067}}