Imagery and Narrative in an Ancient Horoscope

P.Lond. 130 (Greek Horoscopes No. 81)

Authors

  • Roger Beck University of Toronto, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v7i4.397

Keywords:

horoscopes, ancient astrology, narrative, poetic astronomy, narratology

Abstract

In a Greek papyrus horoscope from the first century CE, highly elaborate descriptions of planetary journeyings have replaced the usual matter-of-fact listing of celestial longitudes. An analysis of the horoscope’s language and narrative form demonstrates how ancient astrologers understood the stars and planets as agents that communicate by their appearances, configurations, and motions.

Author Biography

  • Roger Beck, University of Toronto, Canada
    Professor Emeritus, Classics

References

Bouché-Leclercq, A. 1963 [1899]. L’astrologie Grecque (Brussels: Culture et Civilisation).

Jones, Alexander (ed.). 1999. Astronomical Papyri from Oxyrhynchus (P. Oxy. 4133-4300a), vols. 1 and 2 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society).

Neugebauer, O., and H.B. van Hoesen. 1987. Greek Horoscopes (Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, 48; Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society).

Published

2014-03-13

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Beck, R. (2014). Imagery and Narrative in an Ancient Horoscope: P.Lond. 130 (Greek Horoscopes No. 81). Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 7(4), 397-406. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v7i4.397