138
paper (1997), yet which recurs frequently in this volume. The Greeks defined the
equinox either geometrically, in terms of the intersection of the equator and the
ecliptic, or temporally, in terms of the equality of day and night. Boutsikas complements this textual evidence with measured data of the orientation of 131 Greek
temples, which leads her to the cautious conclusion that “If any general astronomical
concerns were responsible for the placement of Greek temples, the equinoxes seem
to be the most likely candidate.” Looking more closely at the possible equinoctial
data, she sees indications of a displacement toward the time when day and night was
of equal length, possibly reflecting the cosmological importance of the equality of
day and night in Greek religion.
Hannah provides another perspective on Greek astronomy. His discussion of
stars and constellations addresses the broader historical question of “why did the
Babylonians and Greeks … populate the sky with these particular figures?” Drawing
on a wide range of textual material from these cultures, he contrasts the Greek constellations, in which adjacent constellations were actors in mythological stories,
with the Babylonian ones, which lacked such mythological connections. He then
sketches out the usefulness of such connected groups of constellations for navigation, agriculture, and ritual. He sees the need to establish a calendar to synchronize
nature and agriculturally focussed religious rituals as a possible driving force in the
development of star calendars. A brief, preliminary, study of Euctemon’s Fifth
Century BCE parapegma suggests that by that time the relation of the constellations
could be established by calculation, not merely by observation.
Adjacent constellations and Greek mythology take a surprisingly new role in
Norris and Norris’s study of the Pleiades and Orion. They find very similar accounts
of the Pleiades as seven girls being chased by a man associated with the constellation Orion in both Greek mythology and Australian Aboriginal folklore. If these
stories have a common origin, it must date back some 100,000 years to the emigration of the ancestors of the Greek and Aboriginal Australian cultures from Africa.
This has astronomical consequences; due to proper motion of the component stars,
the Pleiades looked slightly different 100,000 years ago. In particular, at that time
there were seven perceptible stars. Since a lost seventh sister is present in many
cultures’ stories of the Pleiades, the authors suggest this theme reflects the great
historical depth of this mythological tradition.
The final case study considers the mathematically focused astronomies of
Mesoamerica. Iwaniszewski examines the relation between Maya lunar concepts
expressed in the eclipse table of the Dresden Codex and the lunar series recorded in
monumental inscriptions. He takes as a reference an inscribed record of a possible
solar eclipse dated 9.17.19.13.16 5 Kib 14 Ch’en (July 790) that was recorded on
Stela 3 at Santa Elena Poco Uinic. Analysis of these written records revealed the
similar, but subtly different concepts used in these approaches. The Eclipse Tables
incorporated a well-defined body of knowledge, including a regular lunar period of
5 or 6 lunar months, while the inscriptions recording a Lunar Series reflected locally
defined concepts for establishing the current age of the moon, the number of days in
the current month, and the place of that month in a 6 month “bundle” of lunar months.
Part II Case Studies
paper (1997), yet which recurs frequently in this volume. The Greeks defined the
equinox either geometrically, in terms of the intersection of the equator and the
ecliptic, or temporally, in terms of the equality of day and night. Boutsikas complements this textual evidence with measured data of the orientation of 131 Greek
temples, which leads her to the cautious conclusion that “If any general astronomical
concerns were responsible for the placement of Greek temples, the equinoxes seem
to be the most likely candidate.” Looking more closely at the possible equinoctial
data, she sees indications of a displacement toward the time when day and night was
of equal length, possibly reflecting the cosmological importance of the equality of
day and night in Greek religion.
Hannah provides another perspective on Greek astronomy. His discussion of
stars and constellations addresses the broader historical question of “why did the
Babylonians and Greeks … populate the sky with these particular figures?” Drawing
on a wide range of textual material from these cultures, he contrasts the Greek constellations, in which adjacent constellations were actors in mythological stories,
with the Babylonian ones, which lacked such mythological connections. He then
sketches out the usefulness of such connected groups of constellations for navigation, agriculture, and ritual. He sees the need to establish a calendar to synchronize
nature and agriculturally focussed religious rituals as a possible driving force in the
development of star calendars. A brief, preliminary, study of Euctemon’s Fifth
Century BCE parapegma suggests that by that time the relation of the constellations
could be established by calculation, not merely by observation.
Adjacent constellations and Greek mythology take a surprisingly new role in
Norris and Norris’s study of the Pleiades and Orion. They find very similar accounts
of the Pleiades as seven girls being chased by a man associated with the constellation Orion in both Greek mythology and Australian Aboriginal folklore. If these
stories have a common origin, it must date back some 100,000 years to the emigration of the ancestors of the Greek and Aboriginal Australian cultures from Africa.
This has astronomical consequences; due to proper motion of the component stars,
the Pleiades looked slightly different 100,000 years ago. In particular, at that time
there were seven perceptible stars. Since a lost seventh sister is present in many
cultures’ stories of the Pleiades, the authors suggest this theme reflects the great
historical depth of this mythological tradition.
The final case study considers the mathematically focused astronomies of
Mesoamerica. Iwaniszewski examines the relation between Maya lunar concepts
expressed in the eclipse table of the Dresden Codex and the lunar series recorded in
monumental inscriptions. He takes as a reference an inscribed record of a possible
solar eclipse dated 9.17.19.13.16 5 Kib 14 Ch’en (July 790) that was recorded on
Stela 3 at Santa Elena Poco Uinic. Analysis of these written records revealed the
similar, but subtly different concepts used in these approaches. The Eclipse Tables
incorporated a well-defined body of knowledge, including a regular lunar period of
5 or 6 lunar months, while the inscriptions recording a Lunar Series reflected locally
defined concepts for establishing the current age of the moon, the number of days in
the current month, and the place of that month in a 6 month “bundle” of lunar months.
Part II Case Studies