Page:Aratus The Phenomena and Diosemeia.pdf/21

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ON THE

CELESTIAL SPHERE.

————

IN endeavouring to ascertain the nation to which we are indebted for the celestial sphere, and the date of its introduction, we have very little historical information to rely upon. The earliest writer we are acquainted with, who mentions the heavenly constellations, is Homer^[1]. The following passage occurs in the description of Vulcan's shield:

Ἐν μὲν γαῖαν ἔτευξ', ἐν δ' οὐρανόν, ἐν δὲ θάλασσαν,
ἠέλιόν τ' ἀκάμαντα, σελήνην τε πλήθουσαν,
ἐν δὲ τὰ τείρεα πάντα, τά τ' οὐρανὸς ἐστεφάνωται,
Πληϊάδας θ' Ὑάδας τε, τό τε σθένος Ὠρίωνος
Ἄρκτόν θ', ἣν καὶ Ἄμαξαν ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν,
ἥ τ' αὐτοῦ στρέφεται, καί τ' Ὠρίωνα δοκεύει,
οἴη δ' ἄμμορός ἐστι λοετρῶν Ὠκεανοῖο.

"There shone the image of the master mind;
There earth, there heaven, there ocean he design'd;
The unwearied sun, the moon completely round;
The starry lights that heaven's high convex crown'd;
The Pleiads, Hyads, with the northern team;

And great Orion's more refulgent beam;

↑ See note at the end.

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[1] See note at the end.

[1]