In this article, I compare the astronomical poem by Aratus called Phaenomena (third century bc) with the citations of a work of the same name by Eudoxus that are found in Hipparchus’ only extant work, In Arati et Eudoxi phaenomena (second century bc). I argue that, contrary to what most scholars maintain, Aratus’ poem is not a mere versification of Eudoxus’ work but a version enriched in style, language, and content. Indeed, Aratus’ Phaenomena is a paradigmatic reflection of the astronomical knowledge of the period in which it was written and a comprehensive, non-technical presentation of the celestial phenomena known in his time. It was, as I show, a very popular work, so popular that Hipparchus was moved to correct it in the hope of establishing himself as the authority in astronomy and prose as its proper medium. Published Online (2021-04-30)Copyright © 2021 by Stamatina Mastorakou Article PDF Link: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/aestimatio/article/view/37591/28593 Corresponding Author: Stamatina MastorakouMax Planck Institute for the History of ScienceE-Mail: smastorakou@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Mastorakou, S., (2023), "Aratus’ Phaenomena beyond Its Sources", HSSCommons: (DOI: )

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Original publication: Mastorakou, Stamatina. "Aratus’ Phaenomena beyond Its Sources." Aestimatio: Sources and Studies in the History of Science 1: 2021. 55–70. DOI: 10.33137/aestimatio.v1i1.37591. This material has been re-published in an unmodified form on the Canadian HSS Commons with the permission of Iter Canada / Aestimatio: Sources and Studies in the History of Science. Copyright © the author(s). Aestimatio: Sources and Studies in the History of Science is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). For details, see creativecommons.org/licenses/.