The Greeks, who came later to the study of astrology, were not as patient observers of the skies as the Babylonians. Not until the ninth century B.C. did the Grecian astrologers learn to differentiate between the stars and the planets. When they did discover there were five planets, they gave them names based on their appearance: Venus was the Herald of the Dawn because it appeared in the morning. (The Greeks did not yet realize that at times Venus also appeared in the evening. They thought that was a different planet, which they named Vespertine.) Mercury was the Twinkling Star. Mars was the Fiery Star. Jupiter was the Luminous Star, and Saturn the Brilliant Star.
In the sixth century B.C. the philosopher Pythagoras wrote his famous Harmony of the Spheres. He said that the universe was a giant sphere that contained the earth and the air around it. His thoughts on the subject are poetic:
The Sun, Moon, and planets revolve in concentric circles, each fastened to a sphere or wheel. The swift revolution of each of these bodies causes a swish, or musical hum, in the air. Evidently each planet will hum on a different pitch, depending on the ratios of their respective
orbits just as the tone of a string depends on its length. Thus the orbits in which the planets move form a kind of huge lyre whose strings are curved into circles.
Two hundred years after Pythagoras, in the fourth century B.C., a Greek astronomer and mathematician named Eudoxos introduced a calendar, based on the Babylonian one. Eudoxos also divided the sky into twelve equal signs. He was the first Greek astronomer to explain the movements of the planets in scientific terms. (Our word planet, incidentally, comes from the Greek plenetes, meaning “wanderer.” While the stars remain fixed in their positions in the firmament, the planets move in their orbits, so they were thought of as travelers who crossed the sky and collected souls.) Eudoxos’s theory was that the planets were held in place by spherical shells that kept them in their paths.
A turning point in Greek astrology came when Alexander the Great conquered Babylonia in 331 B.C. We know that Alexander consulted astrologers. There is a legend that when he was about to be born, an astrologer named Nektanebos stood by the bedside. Nektanebos asked Alexander’s mother to hold back the birth until all the stars and omens were propitious. At last Nektanebos said, “Queen, you will now give birth to a ruler of the world,” and Alexander was born.
There is another story about Alexander’s entry into Babylon. It seems that Babylonian astrologers had predicted Alexander would die in their city. To avoid this fate, he entered the city by the west gate, which was apparently not the expected route for a conqueror. The prediction did not come true, and Alexander went on to annex all of Babylonia, Persia, and India. However, when he did die, in June 323 B.C. at the age of thirty-three, it was in Babylon.
The Greeks took over Babylonian astrology and made it theirs. They gave the five planets new names, taken from the gods of their mythology. Later, the Romans renamed the planets again, according to their gods of mythology. The Roman names are the ones we use today. Or, to be precise, they are an English translation of a Latin translation of a Greek translation of the original Babylonian nomenclature.
The father of modern astrology is Claudius Ptolemy. In A.D. 140 this Greek astronomer from Alexandria wrote a four-volume treatise called the Tetrabiblos (meaning The Four Books), in which he set down his observations and theories about the universe. The Tetrabiblos is considered the first modern textbook on astrology. Ptolemy described the function of the planets, houses, and signs of the zodiac. He formulated the theory of aspects, in which the distances between the planets in one’s astrological chart have a good or bad influence. The study of aspects is still an important part of modern astrology.
Ptolemy’s teachings remained unchanged for the next 1,400 years. It was not until 1543, when Nicolaus Copernicus published his treatise, that Ptolemy’s vision of the earth as the center of the universe was seriously challenged.
In the sixth century B.C. the philosopher Pythagoras wrote his famous Harmony of the Spheres. He said that the universe was a giant sphere that contained the earth and the air around it. His thoughts on the subject are poetic:
The Sun, Moon, and planets revolve in concentric circles, each fastened to a sphere or wheel. The swift revolution of each of these bodies causes a swish, or musical hum, in the air. Evidently each planet will hum on a different pitch, depending on the ratios of their respective
orbits just as the tone of a string depends on its length. Thus the orbits in which the planets move form a kind of huge lyre whose strings are curved into circles.
Two hundred years after Pythagoras, in the fourth century B.C., a Greek astronomer and mathematician named Eudoxos introduced a calendar, based on the Babylonian one. Eudoxos also divided the sky into twelve equal signs. He was the first Greek astronomer to explain the movements of the planets in scientific terms. (Our word planet, incidentally, comes from the Greek plenetes, meaning “wanderer.” While the stars remain fixed in their positions in the firmament, the planets move in their orbits, so they were thought of as travelers who crossed the sky and collected souls.) Eudoxos’s theory was that the planets were held in place by spherical shells that kept them in their paths.
A turning point in Greek astrology came when Alexander the Great conquered Babylonia in 331 B.C. We know that Alexander consulted astrologers. There is a legend that when he was about to be born, an astrologer named Nektanebos stood by the bedside. Nektanebos asked Alexander’s mother to hold back the birth until all the stars and omens were propitious. At last Nektanebos said, “Queen, you will now give birth to a ruler of the world,” and Alexander was born.
There is another story about Alexander’s entry into Babylon. It seems that Babylonian astrologers had predicted Alexander would die in their city. To avoid this fate, he entered the city by the west gate, which was apparently not the expected route for a conqueror. The prediction did not come true, and Alexander went on to annex all of Babylonia, Persia, and India. However, when he did die, in June 323 B.C. at the age of thirty-three, it was in Babylon.
The Greeks took over Babylonian astrology and made it theirs. They gave the five planets new names, taken from the gods of their mythology. Later, the Romans renamed the planets again, according to their gods of mythology. The Roman names are the ones we use today. Or, to be precise, they are an English translation of a Latin translation of a Greek translation of the original Babylonian nomenclature.
The father of modern astrology is Claudius Ptolemy. In A.D. 140 this Greek astronomer from Alexandria wrote a four-volume treatise called the Tetrabiblos (meaning The Four Books), in which he set down his observations and theories about the universe. The Tetrabiblos is considered the first modern textbook on astrology. Ptolemy described the function of the planets, houses, and signs of the zodiac. He formulated the theory of aspects, in which the distances between the planets in one’s astrological chart have a good or bad influence. The study of aspects is still an important part of modern astrology.
Ptolemy’s teachings remained unchanged for the next 1,400 years. It was not until 1543, when Nicolaus Copernicus published his treatise, that Ptolemy’s vision of the earth as the center of the universe was seriously challenged.