The Shelves · Epic and hexameter poetry

Phaenomena

Φαινόμενα

Known · Probablein Alexandria?Conjecturedvery likely class

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I · The entry, in his form

In the table of Epic and hexameter poetry: “didactic”

Conjecturedvery likely class

Aratus of Soli

Phaenomena

Φαινόμενα

Opening words

Ἐκ Διὸς ἀρχώμεσθα

From Zeus let us begin

Length: 1,154 lines

Above, his entry form, filled from what we know. Below, ours.

II · Does it survive? Where to read it

Survives whole

Was it in Alexandria?

Known · Probable

Probably held in the Library.

In the cupboard: no source names the Alexandrian copy, but its scholars' use of it makes one very likely.

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III · In the show

The show has not yet spoken of this work.

IV · Sources and the living entry

Ancient references (3)
  • Callimachus, Epigram 27
  • Hipparchus, Commentary on Aratus and Eudoxus
  • Acts 17:28
Modern scholarship (2)
  • D. Kidd, Aratus: Phaenomena (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).
  • R. Hard, Eratosthenes and Hyginus: Constellation Myths, with Aratus's Phaenomena (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015).

Entry checked 31 Oct 2026 · no corrections · Suggest a correction ›

ΦΑΙΝΟΜΕΝΑ

Beside it in the cupboard