DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13851#0417
of the religion of greece.
335
CHAP, XXVI.
of the greek year.
The writers of ancient fables report, that OJg>«voc, whom the Latins call
Coelus, king of the Atlantic islands, was reputed the father of all the
gods, and gave his name to the heavens, which from him, were by the
Greeks termed «£*vos, and by the Latins, Cerium, because he invented
astrology, which was unknown till his time (1). Others ascribe the in-
vention both of astrology, and the whole "kayos dQuigtxoS, science of the
celestial bodies, to Atlas : from him these discoveries were communicated
to Hercules, who first imparted them to the Greeks. Whence the au-
thors of fables took occasion to report, that both these heroes support-
ed the heavens with their shoulders (2). The Cretans pretended that
Hyperion first observed the motions of the sun, moon, and stars (3). He
was son to the primitive god Uranus, and from his knowledge of the celes-
tial motions, is sometimes taken by the poets and other fabulous authors
for the father of the sun, sometimes for the sun himself. The Arcadi-
ans reported, that their countryman Endymion first discovered the motion
of the moon (4) : which gave occasion to those early ages to feign, that
he was beloved by that goddess. Lastly others report that Actis, by
some called Actaeus, who flourished in the isle of Rhodes about the time
of Cecrops king of Athens, invented the science of astrology, which he
communicated to the Egyptians (5).
But to pass from fabulous to more authentic histories, the first improve-
ment and study of astronomy is generally ascribed to the Grecian colonies,
which inhabited Asia. And it is thought to have been first learned from
the Babylonians or Egyptians, and communicated to the Grecians either
by Thales of Miletus, Pythagoras of Samos, Anaximander of Miletus,
Anaximenes the scholar and fellow-citizen of Anaximander, Cleoetratus
of Tenedos, Oenopidas of Chios, or Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, the mas-
ter of Pericles, who was the first that taught the Ionic philosophy at Ath-
ens, where he opened his school in the same year that Xerxes invaded
Greece. Every one of these seems to have cultivated and improved this
science, and on that account by different men to have been reputed the
inventor, or first master of it in Greece (6). Before the time of these
philosophers, it is certain that the Greeks were entirely ignorant of the
motions of the heavenly bodies ; insomuch that Thales first observed
a solar eclipse in the fourth year of the 48th olympiad. A long time after
that, in the fourth year of the 90th olympiad, an eclipse of the moon
proved fatal to Nicias the Athenian general, and the army under his com-
mand, chiefly because the reason of it was not understood (7). And He-
rodotus seems to have been wholly unacquainted with this part of learn-
ing ; whence he describes the solar eclipses after the poetical manner,
(1) Diodorus Siculus, lib. iii. p. 132, et Scrip- (4) Lucianus in Comment, de Astrologia Apol-
tores Mythologici. lonii Scholiastes, in lib. iv.
(2) Diodorus Siculus, lib. iii. p. 136. b. iv. p. (5) Diodorus Siculus,lib. v. p. 227.
163. Clemens Alexandrinus Strom, i. p. 306. (6) Suidas, Diogenes Laertius in Vitis Philoso-
Plinius, lib. vii. cap. 56. phorum. Plinius, lib. ii. cap. 76.
(3) Diodorus Siculus, lib. v. p. 231. (7) Plutarchus Nicia.
335
CHAP, XXVI.
of the greek year.
The writers of ancient fables report, that OJg>«voc, whom the Latins call
Coelus, king of the Atlantic islands, was reputed the father of all the
gods, and gave his name to the heavens, which from him, were by the
Greeks termed «£*vos, and by the Latins, Cerium, because he invented
astrology, which was unknown till his time (1). Others ascribe the in-
vention both of astrology, and the whole "kayos dQuigtxoS, science of the
celestial bodies, to Atlas : from him these discoveries were communicated
to Hercules, who first imparted them to the Greeks. Whence the au-
thors of fables took occasion to report, that both these heroes support-
ed the heavens with their shoulders (2). The Cretans pretended that
Hyperion first observed the motions of the sun, moon, and stars (3). He
was son to the primitive god Uranus, and from his knowledge of the celes-
tial motions, is sometimes taken by the poets and other fabulous authors
for the father of the sun, sometimes for the sun himself. The Arcadi-
ans reported, that their countryman Endymion first discovered the motion
of the moon (4) : which gave occasion to those early ages to feign, that
he was beloved by that goddess. Lastly others report that Actis, by
some called Actaeus, who flourished in the isle of Rhodes about the time
of Cecrops king of Athens, invented the science of astrology, which he
communicated to the Egyptians (5).
But to pass from fabulous to more authentic histories, the first improve-
ment and study of astronomy is generally ascribed to the Grecian colonies,
which inhabited Asia. And it is thought to have been first learned from
the Babylonians or Egyptians, and communicated to the Grecians either
by Thales of Miletus, Pythagoras of Samos, Anaximander of Miletus,
Anaximenes the scholar and fellow-citizen of Anaximander, Cleoetratus
of Tenedos, Oenopidas of Chios, or Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, the mas-
ter of Pericles, who was the first that taught the Ionic philosophy at Ath-
ens, where he opened his school in the same year that Xerxes invaded
Greece. Every one of these seems to have cultivated and improved this
science, and on that account by different men to have been reputed the
inventor, or first master of it in Greece (6). Before the time of these
philosophers, it is certain that the Greeks were entirely ignorant of the
motions of the heavenly bodies ; insomuch that Thales first observed
a solar eclipse in the fourth year of the 48th olympiad. A long time after
that, in the fourth year of the 90th olympiad, an eclipse of the moon
proved fatal to Nicias the Athenian general, and the army under his com-
mand, chiefly because the reason of it was not understood (7). And He-
rodotus seems to have been wholly unacquainted with this part of learn-
ing ; whence he describes the solar eclipses after the poetical manner,
(1) Diodorus Siculus, lib. iii. p. 132, et Scrip- (4) Lucianus in Comment, de Astrologia Apol-
tores Mythologici. lonii Scholiastes, in lib. iv.
(2) Diodorus Siculus, lib. iii. p. 136. b. iv. p. (5) Diodorus Siculus,lib. v. p. 227.
163. Clemens Alexandrinus Strom, i. p. 306. (6) Suidas, Diogenes Laertius in Vitis Philoso-
Plinius, lib. vii. cap. 56. phorum. Plinius, lib. ii. cap. 76.
(3) Diodorus Siculus, lib. v. p. 231. (7) Plutarchus Nicia.