Opus arcanis Musis creditum: Approaching Astrological Sources in Germanicus’ Fragments (original) (raw)
This paper considers evidence for the transmission of the Babylonian zodiac to Greece. The so-called 'Nativity Omens', dating to the early fifth century, describe a zodiac which, represented through zodiacal relationships with the planets, possesses personality and meaning in much the same manner as the Greek zodiac portrayed in texts such as Claudius Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos in the 2nd c CE, and the visual concept of the zodiac as a living image. This paper will argue that what is normally considered a feature of Greek cosmology should now be seen as Babylonian, and is significant for our understanding of the late Babylonian conception of the zodiac. Continuity between Babylonian and modern astrology is also discussed. This paper concerns the relationship between Babylonian and Greek astrology, one which, for modern scholars, has often been controversial: for most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, classical scholars emphasised the differences between the two cultures, while students of cuneiform have increasingly emphasised the similarities. The issue can be seen as one of discontinuity versus continuity. I also extend the discussion to modern astrology, raising the possibility of continuity between Babylonian astrology and the schemes taught in the astrological schools of the twentieth century. The ancient material I consider in this paper is fragmentary and my discussion therefore necessarily speculative, but I hope not excessively so.
The Zodiac on Church Portals: Astrology and the Medieval Cosmos
Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture, 2021
Acknowledgements: This article would not have been published if it were not for the vision, generosity and wisdom of Dr. Sarah Blick, a wonderful editor and mentor. I am also grateful to Dr. Elliott Wise, who so kindly read drafts, listened to ideas and sustained such meaningful friendship with me for so many years. Thanks are also due to Linda Priest, who taught me think with imagination, and to Jeffrey Priest, who taught me to study the stars. Finally, I wish to thank my patient and supportive husband Trevor, for his love and encouragement.
Aries or the Agnus Dei: is the zodiac pagan or Christian in medieval art
Culture & Cosmos, 2022
The title for this article is inspired by the questions repeatedly asked by my students, and this study attempts to break the question apart and reconsider the language used to study the zodiac in medieval art. The terms 'pagan', 'Christian' and 'Christianising' are problematic and create misleading binaries, so first I reframed the question by carefully redefining the terms used to describe the zodiac in medieval art. I further refined the query to one central question: Why did the signs of the zodiac, and the constellations generally, persist in their Hellenistic renderings in art and texts into the Christian era and beyond, and not reinvented with more religiously-appropriate signifiers? Drawing from contemporary texts and art, I suggest that there were two cultural forces perpetuating the Hellenistic zodiac: the methods of dissemination of astronomical knowledge from classical sources, and the active creation of zodiacal art. I explore how the folkloric authority of the zodiac signs synergistically combined with the visual arts to stimulate astrological practices. I argue that art production was crucial as an advancing influence and not simply a by-product of a classical inheritance.
A History of Astrology Part I: Origins to the Romans
The origins of astrology could be said to date back as far as 15, 000 BCE, to the Stone Age, when humans carved markings on animal bones to record the lunar phases. Although a very basic form of astrology, it is evident that human beings identified a relationship with the movement of the 'stars' from a very early time.
INITIATIC RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE IN NEOPLATONISM. From Late Antiquity To The Renaissance. Edited by Andreea-Maria Lemnaru, Luciano Albanese, José-Maria Zamora Calvo and Giuseppe Muscolino. Mimesis International. , 2023
It is necessary that I speak astrologically about the rising and the setting of the Sun and the stars … to exhibit publicly all the constellations of the zodiacal wheel … whose names are this: Ram, Bull, Twins, Crab, Lion, Virgin… Proclus, Ouranodromou, f. 11. the wisdom of the Chaldeans, a polytheist and singular human group, they are full of piety and practice astrology more than anyone M. Psellus, Scripta minora I, 446, 8-10.
Greek stars and Chaldaean hours: a bouquet of Aratean emendations from Franz Boll's library
2017
SERIES OF HANDWRITTEN NOTES by Franz Boll (1867-1924) 1 is published here for the first time. These shed new light both on their author's philological and historical work and on the history of the Aratean corpus. 2 Franz Boll was one of the most prominent figures of Altertumswissenschaften in the first quarter of the twentieth century. The main focus of his prolific research activity was ancient astronomy, especially the history of the constellations and of astrology.