Colourful Planets: The Reception of an Astronomical Detail in the Myth of Er.
In the Myth of Er, Plato describes the 'Spindle of Necessity', a contraption presenting the cosmos as guided by Sirens and Fates, and ascribes different colours to the planets (Rep. 616e-617a). This paper argues that Plato probably used astronomical data for that passage, but possibly gave them a me...
| Publicado en: | Mnemosyne Vol. 75; no. 1; pp. 145 - 169 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Brill Academic Publishers
2022
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=154687067&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 154687067 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00267074 MNM jtl: Mnemosyne issn: 00267074 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: 2022 vid: 75 iid: 1 pid: 639 pub: Brill Academic Publishers artinfo: ui: 154687067 10.1163/1568525X-bja10135 ppf: 145 ppct: 24 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 1.7MB tig: atl: Colourful Planets: The Reception of an Astronomical Detail in the Myth of Er. aug: au: Martijn, Marije affil: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands su: Plato, 428-347 B.C. Cicero, Marcus Tullius, 106 B.C.-43 B.C. Apuleius Proclus, ca. 410-485 Myth of Er (Platonic legend) Astronomy sug: subj: Plato, 428-347 B.C. Cicero, Marcus Tullius, 106 B.C.-43 B.C. Apuleius Proclus, ca. 410-485 Myth of Er (Platonic legend) Astronomy keyword: astronomy Cicero colours Myth of Er planets Plato Proclus ab: In the Myth of Er, Plato describes the 'Spindle of Necessity', a contraption presenting the cosmos as guided by Sirens and Fates, and ascribes different colours to the planets (Rep. 616e-617a). This paper argues that Plato probably used astronomical data for that passage, but possibly gave them a metaphorical sense, and discusses the likelihood of his having used Mesopotamian sources. The second half of the paper studies receptions of and allusions to the image, with context-based astronomical, political, and metaphysical features. Cicero adjusted the image to contemporary astronomy, and to the political function of the cosmic structures in the Somnium Scipionis. His commentator Macrobius emphasizes empirical correctness, but possibly with metaphysical undertones. Apuleius' Metamorphoses alludes to the image in a portrait of Isis, perhaps to refer to her metaphysical role. Finally, Proclus interprets the Platonic passage as primarily metaphysical, and pointing to truths beyond astronomical phenomena. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Mnemosyne is the property of Brill Academic Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Mnemosyne holder: Brill Academic Publishers dt: @attributes: year: 2022 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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