Perseus - Revision history

YoulaAzkarrula at 11:58, 26 May 2026

2026-05-26T11:58:44Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:58, 26 May 2026
Line 978:		Line 978:

	[[Category:Eurasia]]		[[Category:Eurasia]]
	[[Category:Constellation]]		[[Category:Constellation]] [[Category:Asterism]]
	[[Category:Almagest]]		[[Category:Almagest]]
	[[Category:Mesopotamian]]		[[Category:Mesopotamian]]
	[[Category:West Asian]]		[[Category:West Asian]] [[Category:Asian]]
	[[Category:Modern]]		[[Category:Modern]]
	[[Category:88 IAU-Constellations]]		[[Category:88 IAU-Constellations]] [[Category:Per]]
	[[Category:European]]		[[Category:European]]

IanRidpath: /* Almagest Περσεύς */ OCR errors

2026-05-20T09:13:21Z

Almagest Περσεύς: OCR errors

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:13, 20 May 2026
Line 264:		Line 264:
	\|		\|
	\|ὁ ἐη τῷ δεξιῷ γόνατι.		\|ὁ ἐη τῷ δεξιῷ γόνατι.
	\|The star m the ~~nght~~ knee		\|The star in the right knee
	\|72 Per		\|72 Per
	\|-		\|-
Line 279:		Line 279:
	\|		\|
	\|ὁ ἐπόμενος καὶ κατ’ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀγκύλης.		\|ὁ ἐπόμενος καὶ κατ’ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀγκύλης.
	\|~~!he~~ rearmost of them, just over the bend in the knee		\|The rearmost of them, just over the bend in the knee
	\|mu Per		\|mu Per
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|
	\|ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς δεξιᾶς γαστροκυημίας.		\|ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς δεξιᾶς γαστροκυημίας.
	\|~~fhe~~ star on the right calf		\|The star on the right calf
	\|53 Per		\|53 Per
	\|-		\|-

IanRidpath: /* Weblinks */ Added Warburg link

2026-05-20T09:09:37Z

Weblinks: Added Warburg link

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:09, 20 May 2026
Line 968:		Line 968:
	==Weblinks==		==Weblinks==

	*		* [https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-017049 Warburg Institute Iconographic Database – Perseus]

	==References==		==References==

Sushoff at 12:50, 19 May 2026

2026-05-19T12:50:12Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:50, 19 May 2026
Line 985:		Line 985:
	[[Category:88 IAU-Constellations]]		[[Category:88 IAU-Constellations]]
	[[Category:European]]		[[Category:European]]
	~~[[Category:4work]]~~

Sushoff at 12:37, 27 February 2026

2026-02-27T12:37:26Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:37, 27 February 2026
Line 6:		Line 6:
	==Etymology and History==		==Etymology and History==
	===Origin of Constellation===		===Origin of Constellation===
	Eratosthenes adds that it is possible, however, to recognise Perseus' weapon, a metallic sickle, in a nebulous cluster. He holds the sickle with his hand raised near his head. By this nebulous mass, he means the double star clusters h and χ Persei in the Milky Way.		<ref>Hoffmann, Susanne M. Wie der Löwe an den Himmel kam. Franckh Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2021</ref>Eratosthenes adds that it is possible, however, to recognise Perseus' weapon, a metallic sickle, in a nebulous cluster. He holds the sickle with his hand raised near his head. By this nebulous mass, he means the double star clusters h and χ Persei in the Milky Way.

	In Ptolemy's Almagest, on the other hand, the star τ Per is identified with the hero's head. This is an excellent example of how ‘Greek’ constellations were never canonical, i.e. Eratosthenes draws the figures differently from Ptolemy, and Ptolemy differently from Hipparchus.		In Ptolemy's Almagest, on the other hand, the star τ Per is identified with the hero's head. This is an excellent example of how ‘Greek’ constellations were never canonical, i.e. Eratosthenes draws the figures differently from Ptolemy, and Ptolemy differently from Hipparchus.

Sushoff at 19:50, 26 February 2026

2026-02-26T19:50:41Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:50, 26 February 2026
Line 2:		Line 2:
	----		----
	[[File:Perseus IAU.svg\|alt=star chart\|thumb\|Per star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg).]]		[[File:Perseus IAU.svg\|alt=star chart\|thumb\|Per star chart (IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine, Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg).]]
	One of the [[:Category:88_IAU-Constellations\|88 IAU constellations]].		One of the [[:Category:88_IAU-Constellations\|88 IAU constellations]]. Perseus is a handsome hero – not an overly muscular colossus like Heracles, nor of outstanding beauty like Orion, but a strong and armed young man. Eratosthenes describes the stars in this figure on his stomach, knees, feet, hands and – because he carries Medusa's head with him – some around the Gorgon's head. In a postscript to one of the text versions, which may have been added later, it is explicitly stated that Perseus' own head is not marked by a bright star.

	==Etymology and History==		==Etymology and History==
	~~The Greek constellation~~ ...		===Origin of Constellation===
			Eratosthenes adds that it is possible, however, to recognise Perseus' weapon, a metallic sickle, in a nebulous cluster. He holds the sickle with his hand raised near his head. By this nebulous mass, he means the double star clusters h and χ Persei in the Milky Way.

			In Ptolemy's Almagest, on the other hand, the star τ Per is identified with the hero's head. This is an excellent example of how ‘Greek’ constellations were never canonical, i.e. Eratosthenes draws the figures differently from Ptolemy, and Ptolemy differently from Hipparchus.

	~~===Origin~~ of ~~Constellation===~~		The Babylonian constellation in this region of the sky was also a male figure, but the constellation was called ‘Old Man’ ([[ŠU.GI]]). It is associated with Enmescharra, a god of primeval times and the last primeval ancestor of the chief god Enlil. This association suggests that the constellation of a man is relatively old – perhaps older than written culture – but underwent significant changes in interpretation over the course of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE: When Enlil was made the chief god and earlier gods were abolished, the constellation ‘God Enmescharra’ was simply called ‘Old Man’. This allowed it to live on when Marduk was elevated to chief god in the 13th century BCE.

			Near the Old Man is the constellation of the Plough ([[APIN]]). The chief god Enlil ([[En-lil2\|<sup>d</sup>''En-lil'']]<sub>2</sub>) was a god of agriculture and thus a bringer of culture. The plough was his attribute. In the 2nd millennium, the seed drill plough was invented, which allowed seeds to be sown directly into the earth as the furrow was drawn. However, the star association in the constellation Old Man (Mel 20, a cluster around α Per, [[Mirfak]]) can easily be interpreted as seeds that he scatters in the field like the sower in van Gogh's painting.

			Ploughing requires enormous physical strength and can only be done by young men. The lighter work of walking behind the plough and scattering the seeds can also be done by an old man. This suggests that the Old Man may originally have been a sower who became obsolete with the invention of the seed plough. Then one of the stars in the plough was renamed the ‘seed funnel’ and the Old Man was able to stand alone. Even in Eratosthenes, α Per is the star on the figure's belly, where the sower once held his cloth with the grains.

			The Old Man in MUL.APIN walks bent over, so his head is not pointing upwards like the Greek hero, but diagonally forwards, where there are indeed a few stars to imagine him.

			The constellation of the Old Man became the image of a young hero named Perseus, as people imagined a pair of lovers in this region of the sky. This has always been the case, but the exact location of the lovers in the stars has changed over the course of the history of constellations: in MUL.APIN, the neighbouring constellation ‘Wage Labourer’ (where Aries is today) is associated with the god Dumuzi. Dumuzi is the lover of the goddess of love, Ishtar, who became the princess [[Andromeda]] in Greek mythology. When a Babylonian pun turned the labourer into a ram (and thus deprived it of any visual clarity), the goddess of love was left without her lover. So it made sense to reinterpret the Old Man as a young man.

			The upright man (wage labourer in Ari+Tri) next to the upright goddess (northern fish ellipse in Psc plus western part of And) became a ram ([[Aries]]), a fish ([[Pisces]]) and a reclining princess ([[Andromeda\|Androemda]]), whose lover now stands a little further to the northeast: in the figure of Perseus.

	==== Babylonian ====		==== Babylonian ====
			see

			* [[ŠU.GI]]

	[[File:Kugel family.JPG\|thumb\|Kugel Globe (1st c.BCE): Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Perseus, Cepheus, drawing by SMH 2024.]]		[[File:Kugel family.JPG\|thumb\|Kugel Globe (1st c.BCE): Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Perseus, Cepheus, drawing by SMH 2024.]]

Sushoff: /* Setting (Lib II Cap VI §10) */

2026-02-24T08:16:26Z

Setting (Lib II Cap VI §10)

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:16, 24 February 2026
Line 73:		Line 73:
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|
	\|		\|Tau 2
	\|		\|Tau 29
	\|		\|Leo 5 1/2
	\|		\|Vir 9 1/2
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|
Line 85:		Line 85:
	\|-		\|-
	\|star		\|star
	\|		\|of those in the head of Gorgo the northern and front one (pi)
	\|		\|the one in the right knee (b)
	\|		\|
	\|		\|
	\|-		\|-
	\|duration		\|duration
	\| colspan="4" \|2 2/3 hours = ~~160~~ min = ~~40°~~		\| colspan="4" \|2 1/3 hours = 140 min = 35°
	\|}		\|}

Sushoff at 16:30, 23 February 2026

2026-02-23T16:30:10Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:30, 23 February 2026
Line 39:		Line 39:
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|
	\|		\|Cap 25
	\|		\|Ari 13 1/2
	\|		\|Sco 15 1/2
	\|		\|Cap 7 1/2
	\|-		\|-
	\|		\|
Line 51:		Line 51:
	\|-		\|-
	\|star		\|star
	\|		\|the nebulous of those in the sword
	\|		\|those above the Pleiades in the left foot
	\|		\|
	\|		\|
	\|-		\|-
	\|duration		\|duration
	\| colspan="4" \|~~2 1~~/8 hours = ~~127.5~~ min = ~~31 7~~/8 degree		\| colspan="4" \|3 5/6 hours = 230 min = 57 1/2 degree
	\|}		\|}

Sushoff: /* Hipparchus */

2026-02-22T17:53:53Z

Hipparchus

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:53, 22 February 2026
Line 23:		Line 23:

	===== Hipparchus =====		===== Hipparchus =====

			====== Rising (Lib II Cap V §10) ======
			<blockquote>The Rising of ...</blockquote>
			{\| class="wikitable"
			\|+
			!
			! colspan="2" \|east
			! colspan="2" \|south
			\|-
			!
			!lam1
			!lam2
			!lam1
			!lam2
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|star
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|duration
			\| colspan="4" \|2 1/8 hours = 127.5 min = 31 7/8 degree
			\|}

			====== Setting (Lib II Cap VI §10) ======
			{\| class="wikitable"
			!
			! colspan="2" \|west
			! colspan="2" \|south
			\|-
			!
			!lam1
			!lam2
			!lam1
			!lam2
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|star
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|-
			\|duration
			\| colspan="4" \|2 2/3 hours = 160 min = 40°
			\|}

			====== Stars Mentioned ======
			{\| class="wikitable"
			\|+
			!
			!Greek
			!German
			!English
			!ident.
			!src
			!
			!lam_culm
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib II Cap V §10
			\|rising, east, first
			\|
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib II Cap V §10
			\|rising, east, last
			\|
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib II Cap VI §2
			\|setting CrB, south, last
			\|Psc 13.5
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib II Cap VI §13
			\|setting Aql, south, first
			\|Ari 2
			\|-
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|
			\|Lib III Cap I §9
			\|rising Ori, south, last
			\|Psc 13
			\|}

	===== Hyginus, Astronomica =====		===== Hyginus, Astronomica =====

YoulaAzkarrula: /* Almagest Περσεύς */

2026-02-06T10:48:55Z

Almagest Περσεύς

Show changes