Episode 774
Astronomica (Manilius)
Tue, 2019-Jun-18 01:39 UTC
Length - 2:54
Direct Link
Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of the featured Wikipedia article every day.
The featured article for Tuesday, 18 June 2019 is Astronomica (Manilius).
The Astronomica (Latin: [as.troˈno.mi.ka] or [as.trɔˈnɔ.mɪ.ka]), also known as the Astronomicon, is a Latin didactic poem about celestial phenomena, written in hexameters and divided into five books. The Astronomica was penned c. AD 10–20 by a Roman poet whose name was likely Marcus Manilius; little is known of Manilius, and although there is evidence that the Astronomica was probably read by many other Roman writers, no surviving works explicitly quote him.
The earliest work on astrology that is extensive, comprehensible, and mostly intact, the Astronomica describes celestial phenomena, and, in particular, the zodiac and astrology. The poem—which seems to have been inspired by Lucretius's Epicurean poem De rerum natura—espouses a Stoic, deterministic understanding of a universe overseen by a god and governed by reason. The fifth book of the Astronomica features a lacuna, which has led to debate about the original size of the poem; some scholars have argued that whole books have been lost over the years, whereas others believe only a small section of the work is missing.
The poem was rediscovered c. 1416–1417 by the Italian humanist and scholar Poggio Bracciolini, who had a copy made from which the modern text derives. Upon its rediscovery, the Astronomica was read, commented upon, and edited by a number of scholars. Nevertheless, it failed to become as popular as other classical Latin poems and was neglected for centuries. This started to change during the early 20th century when, between 1903 and 1930, the classicist A. E. Housman published a critically acclaimed edition of the poem in five books. Housman's work was followed by the Latinist G. P. Goold's lauded English translation in 1977. Today, scholars consider the Astronomica to be highly technical, complicated, and occasionally contradictory. At the same time, many have praised Manilius's ability to translate highly technical astronomical concepts and complex mathematical computations into poetry.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:39 UTC on Tuesday, 18 June 2019.
For the full current version of the article, see Astronomica (Manilius) on Wikipedia.
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This has been Russell. Thank you for listening to featured Wiki of the Day.
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