Science and Poetry in the Early Reception of Aratus''phaenomena
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Science and Poetry in the Early Reception of Aratus' Phaenomena A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Classics of the College of Arts and Sciences by John Ryan M.A. University of Cincinnati March 2016 Committee Chair: Kathryn Gutzwiller, PhD. ii Abstract This dissertation locates three moments in the history of the ancient reception of the Greek astronomical poem, the Phaenomena, written by Aratus of Soloe in the third century BC. I argue that Aratus achieves his appeal and authority by reinforcing the precision of his scientific material with the stylistic precision of his poetry. Several intellectual communities engage at length with his poem, which enjoyed a wide, learned readership on account of its polyvalent appeal to scientific, literary, and philosophical communities. In the first chapter I introduce the dissertation by demonstrating that Aratus' fusion of prosaic science and archaic poetry is marked in the poem itself, and that Aratus invites his readers to meditate on the merit of poetics in scientific discourse. In the second chapter I argue that the Phaenomena's reputation for poetic precision and vividness among his third century audience lends him authority as a technical, scientific writer. In the third chapter I argue that the second century BC astronomer and commentator Hipparchus of Nicaea responds to a tradition of scientific commentary that assents to Aratus as an authoritative source. Hipparchus criticizes the readership of Aratus by seeking precise means to read, interpret, and then check the astronomical claims of the Phaenomena. In the fourth chapter I argue that the Latin translations of Cicero and Germanicus Caesar from the first centuries BC and AD continue the Hellenistic Greek reception of the Phaenomena. Cicero promotes the vividness of Aratus' poetic style, while Germanicus accommodates the scientific corrections of Hipparchus all while insisting on the Phaenomena's poetic form. The dissertation concludes that Aratus' reputation for vividness and precision as a poet secured him a prominent place in astronomical literature for centuries to come. i ii Acknowledgments This dissertation would not have been possible, were it not for the support I received from colleagues, friends, and family. I would like to thank library staff: Mike Braunlin, Jacquie Riley, Cade Stevens, and the late David Ball. All went beyond the call of duty to help me at a moment's notice. I would like to thank the Classics Department faculty for their support and wisdom over the years. Both Daniel Markovic and Valeria Sergueenkova have patiently waded through many drafts to help me develop and clarify my thoughts and points. Kathryn Gutzwiller has patiently guided me through my career as a graduate student. She has generously offered her scholarly and professional wisdom throughout the outlining, writing, and revising of this dissertation. I could not have hoped for a finer committee. Tommy Sheehan was kind enough to spare a small fraction of his immense talent either to re-draw or touch up the images on which I rely to illustrate points of central importance. Kate Brown and Anne Sheehan have loved me unconditionally since the day I was born. Their support throughout my time as a graduate student has taken too many forms to name, but I am forever grateful. Finally, thanks to John Ryan and Rae Ryan, whose unwavering support and love were indispensible in the present undertaking. iii Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction......................................................................................................1 Constellations in the Phaenomena.........................................................................7 The Present Work.................................................................................................15 Chapter 2: Poetic and Scientific Refinement of the Phaenomena in Contemporary Epigram............................................................................................................................20 Λεπτότης in the Phaenomena.............................................................................23 The Epigram Tradition.........................................................................................32 Chapter 3: Philology and Astronomy: The Commentary Tradition.................................51 Hipparchus Philologus.........................................................................................60 Hipparchus Mathematicus....................................................................................93 The Reception of the Phaenomena as Evidence of a Second-century Scientific Community.........................................................................................................113 Chapter 4: Aratus in Rome: The Reception of the Phaenomena in Translation............116 The Phaenomena in Cicero's Rhetorical Thought..............................................126 The Phaenomena in the Astronomical Tradition................................................139 Aratea..................................................................................................................152 Chapter 5: Conclusion.....................................................................................................156 Bibliography:...................................................................................................................159 iv Chapter 1 Introduction Written by Aratus of Soloe in the 270's BC, the Phaenomena is a 1,154-line versification of the fourth-century astronomical work of Eudoxus of Cnidus and meteorological material drawn from an unknown source.1 Aratus cast his scientific source text in the mold of the epic tradition of Hesiod and Homer and so fused together the two apparently odd bedfellows of scientific astronomy and archaic epic. The poem was an immediate and lasting success, celebrated throughout the Hellenistic age and translated into Latin a number of times.2 Scholars have variously interpreted the Phaenomena as a display of erudition,3 a comment on humankind's relationship with the larger cosmos,4 and a Stoicizing account of the celestial sphere whose movement is dictated by divine order.5 Each approach 1 Vita 1 (Martin 1974, 8) names only Eudoxus as the source of the Phaenomena. 2 See Sale 1965, Lewis 1992, and Gee 2013, 12-16 for explanations of the popularity of Aratus in antiquity. Cribiore 2001, 142-3 discusses the Phaenomena's place in the educational canon. The Phaenomena was translated into Latin several times: Avienus’ entire translation has been preserved by manuscript tradition (Soubiran 1981); considerable portions of translations by Cicero and Germanicus survive in their own tradition (Soubiran 1972, Gain 1976); Varro of Atax certainly wrote a translation, at least of the weather signs, which only survives in scant fragments (Courtney 1993, 244-5), and there is evidence to suggest that Ovid, Quintus Cicero, and the emperor Gordian I produced translations as well (Gee 2000, 68-70; Courtney 1993, 179-81; Soubiran 1981, 6). 3 Kroll 1925, 1847-50; Fakas 2001 treats the bookish nature of the Phaenomena. 4 Erren 1967, Effe 1977, 40-56; Fantuzzi and Hunter 2004, 224-5; Hunter 1995. 5 Erren 1967; Gee 2000, 70-91. Gee 2013, 57-109 argues that Lucretius responded to Cicero's translation of the Phaenomena as an endorsement of Stoic cosmology. For the 1 brings to the fore important features of the poem: Aratus writes in the tradition of Hesiod's didactic poetry, although he updates that tradition by treating a subject whose precision is not really possible in the archaic world of oral composition. At the same time, his traditional constellation of mankind and Zeus within the cosmos at large is naturally attractive to a Stoic philosophy concerned with describing a divine cosmos. The versification of a cosmological poem, moreover, coheres well with Stoic notions of poetry: Cleanthes is reported to have claimed that philosophical truths demand to be expressed in verse, and a poem about cosmological order might similarly dispose the soul of its reader.6 Traditional ties to Hesiod, contemporary technical astronomy, and strong cosmological assertions made the Phaenomena an attractive text for poets, astronomy enthusiasts, and philosophical communities alike. Each approach tackles one or two sides of a dynamic reception. The present work treats the ancient reception7 of the Phaenomena in literary and scientific circles, from its composition in the 270's BC to the beginning of the first century BC. Emma Gee has examined threads of a Roman reception of Aratus, which identify the Phaenomena as a symbol of a generally Stoic sympathy for what we might term an "intelligent design" account of the cosmos. Although Gee's studies offer extensive commentary on responses to the Phaenomena's cosmological claims in Latin Zeus of the Phaenomena as pervasive Stoic pneuma, see James 1972, 36, Kidd 1997, 162, and Gee 2000, 72-3. Maass 1958, 335-6: scholia to Phaen. 3 identify this Zeus with pronoia. 6 On Cleanthes, see SVF 1.109 with discussion in DeLacy 1948, 270-71. On the disposition of a poem effecting a certain disposition in its reader, see the discussion in DeLacy 1948, 248. 7 See Graziosi 2002, 1-10 for my basic approach. I am similarly committed to the idea that ancient documents can in fact be used to reconstruct a history of how Aratus was received in antiquity. Cf. Martindale 1993