Constellations Thesis Book by Nesrin Zidan

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The basic terminologies used in astronomy
comes from Greek descriptions,
which can be explained through the etymology
of the word. Astronomy, which is
according to Cambridge Dictionary is often
defined as the study of stars and their
movements. Its Greek origin ἀστρονομία
or astronmia, when broken down, ἄστρον
(ástron, meaning “star”) and νόμος (nomos
or nomia, means “law.” Other terms
include Astrology or astrologia, where
ástron is again “stars” and logia which
translates to “versed in tales or stories”)
which roughly means “telling of the stars”
(Fletcher, 2009). Lastly, the term Zodiac
is also Greek in origin. Zodiakos is an ancient
term that means “circle of animals”
or “of little pictures of animals” (Gleadow,
2001).
They built a considerable amount
of their studies on the inherited practices
and findings of the Mesopotamians/ Babylonians
despite the general belief that it
was established by the Greeks in the Hellenistic
period (Van der Waerden, 1952).
The Greeks were able to apply this knowledge
to create models of the universe that
enabled them to understand it. The Greeks
were determined to solve the riddles of the
universe and answer its questions.
Like the ancient Egyptians, the
arts portrayed their views on astronomy.
In fact, circa 700 B.C., Homer, the illustrious
poet of the Iliad and the Odyssey,
referenced a few constellations in his two
epic poems, the Odyssey, and Iliad. The
Greeks’ most important astronomical
writings, nevertheless, didn’t appear until
much later. In a song titled Phaenomena
from the third century before our time,
the poet Aratus listed many of the constellations
known to the Greeks (The History
of Astronomy: A Timeline, 2019).
The seventh and eighth volumes
of Claudius Ptolemy’s Almagest (second
century A.D.) include records of 48 of the
constellations and 1022 of the stars that
they were aware of, together with estimations
of their brightness and visible patterns.
However, the precise origin of these
constellations is still unknown. Ptolemy’s
depictions were likely greatly inspired by
Eudoxus of Knidos’ writings around the
year 350 BC (The Constellations). It is
difficult to deny Ptolemy’s influence on
the development of astronomy. Based on
these arguments, he developed a solar system
model that was used for centuries and
generated precise predictions about the
locations of the planets.