Editing Ephorus (section)

== Ephorus and astronomy ==

Ephorus reported that a [[comet]] split apart as far back as the [[Great Comet of 371 BC|winter of 372–373 BC]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Great Comets in History| first = Donald K. | last = Yeomans|work=Jet Propulsion Laboratory|url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?great_comets|year=1998|access-date=2007-03-15}}</ref>

The Roman philosopher [[Seneca the Younger]], whose ''[[Naturales quaestiones]]'' is the ancient source for Ephorus's comet report, is severe in his judgment (7.16):

{{Blockquote|It requires no great effort to strip Ephorus of his authority; he is a mere chronicler. ... Ephorus is not a person of any scrupulous honour; he is often duped, often he tries to dupe. For example, he asserts that the great comet which, by its rising, sank [[Helike|Helice]] and [[Boura (Achaea)|Buris]], which was carefully watched by the eyes of the whole world since it drew issues of great moment in its train, split up into two stars; but nobody besides him has recorded it. Who, I wonder, could observe the moment at which the comet broke up and was resolved into two parts? And if there is any one who saw it split up into two, how is it that no one saw it first formed out of the two? And why did Ephorus not add the names of the two stars into which it was broken up, since they must have been some of the five planets?<ref>Seneca the Younger ; Clarke, John, trans. (1910) [https://topostext.org/work/737#7.16 Naturales Quaestiones 7.16]</ref>}}