The ancient Greeks, along with many other cultures throughout history, wanted to explain the unexplainable. They believed in gods and goddesses, heroes and myths—and tied it all in with natural elements, such as constellations. One of these constellations, Aries, has many astronomical and mythological aspects. The Greeks’ myth about Aries revolved around King Athamus and his kids, Phixrus and Helle. The king’s second wife, Ino, hated the kids and sought to have them killed. When their mother
1. The Ancient Catalogs Astronomy was born in the five cradles of civilization, along the Nile Valley in Egypt, the Indus Valley along the western region of the Indian subcontinent, the Chinese city states on the banks of the Yellow River, the ancient regions of Me-soamerica from central Mexico down to the Andean South America and the an-cient city states of Mesopotamia in the fertile crescent. Each of these ancient cul-tures incorporated astronomy into calendar making, religion, mythology, and
While studying the solar system in our eighth grade science class, we were each assigned a constellation to research. The constellation that was assigned to me was Cepheus. In this paper my goal is to explain the myth behind this constellation and describe its features. To achieve my goal, I have organized my paper into three main sections, one of which has sub-sections. In the first section, I will explain the Greek mythology that is associated with the constellation Cepheus. In the second
Ptolemy of Alexandria, the Influential Astronomer Ptolemy of Alexandria was the most influential astronomer of the ancient world. The books and theories Ptolemy developed served as a major basis for future astronomers. It was during the Renaissance period that his work became thoroughly studied and revised. Ptolemy collected all ancient knowledge of astronomy and geography including it in his book Almagest around 140 A.D. It follows, he then wrote a four volume astrological study
Alexander the Great might be by far the most impressive conqueror of the ancient world. He adopted the progression of an empire that his father Philip II started and then created a cross continental empire. Heavily influenced by his father’s success Alexander the Great adopted many of the skills, mental and military, that King Philip II had. During his thirteen years of rule he achieved more as a conqueror than any man before him was ever able to accomplish. Although his short-lived reign was great
Although the Hellenistic Era started with the death of Alexander the Great in 323BCE it is important to explore its beginnings. Both Greek and Oriental philosophies greatly influenced the formation of the Hellenistic Age. The spread of Hellenistic culture and its substantial scientific contributions produced an impact on civilization that is still evident today. One of the most important aspects of the thought, culture, and religion during the Hellenistic Era was its impact on the Jewish culture
A Brief History of Clocks: From Thales to Ptolemy The clock is one of the most influential discoveries in the history of western science. The division of time into regular, predictable units is fundamental to the operation of society. Even in ancient times, humanity recognized the necessity of an orderly system of chronology. Hesiod, writing in the 8th century BC., used celestial bodies to indicate agricultural cycles: "When the Pleiads, Atlas' daughters, start to rise begin your harvest; plough
which we can date exactly was made by Ptolemy on 26 March 127 while the last was made on 2 February 141. It was claimed by Theodore Melitenotes in around 1360 that Ptolemy was born in Heriou but since this claim first appears long after Ptolemy had already died, it is very unlikely its actually true. In fact, there is no evidence that Ptolemy was anywhere other than Alexandria. His name, Claudius Ptolemy, is of course a mixture of the Greek Egyptian "Ptolemy" and the Roman "Claudius". This wound
born in Cyrene. Eratosthenes then spent some years studying in Athens. The library at Alexandria was planned by Ptolemy I Soter and the project came to fruition under his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus. The library was based on copies of the works in the library of Aristotle. Ptolemy II Philadelphus appointed one of Eratosthenes' teachers Callimachus as the second librarian. When Ptolemy III Euergetes succeeded his father in 245 BC and he persuaded Eratosthenes to go to Alexandria as the tutor of his
intellectual center of the known world. However, Alexander died before his vision could be realized. His next-in-command, General Ptolemy, took over Egypt after Alexander’s death. Ptolemy shared Alexander’s respect for knowledge and learning and was able to finish what Alexander started. Not only did he finish the library, he made Alexandria the capital of Egypt. Ptolemy and his descendants continued support of the library for almost 300 years. They spent their lifetimes collecting books. They
While this statement does hold some truth, it is not entirely accurate. It is true that much of Alexander the Great’s story was written long after his death, but that does not means “historians really do not know much about” him. It is often difficult to piece together the puzzle that makes up the life and times of Alexander, but to a large extent it can be done. Historians are able to piece together source material, histories, and archeological data to paint a portrait of the warrior king. This
art speaks for the leader’s life and their contributions. Cleopatra VII Philopator was an important aspect to the Egyptian dynasty and known as one of the most famous female ruler. She became ruler at the age of eighteen years old after her father Ptolemy XII Auletes died. Egyptian tradition focused her and her ten year old brother to share the role of pharaoh when she took the throne( Bio). Tension being to arise between the two and Cleopatra fled to Syria in hope of starting an army of mercenaries
their methods (Hodgkin, 40). Regardless of the motivation for pursuing mathematical astronomy, we see some impressive mathematical books written by Hippocrates, Plato, Eudoxus, Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius, Hipparchus, Heron and Ptolemy. I will argue that Ptolemy was the most integral part of the history of Greek astronomy. Mathematics and astronomy are very closely related. It is the mathematical procedures which help define time and space. However, Greek culture plays a role too. With a
years of living. Cleopatra was born in 69 BCE according to Biography.com editors. According to Joshua Mark of Ancient History Encyclopedia, Cleopatra ruled alongside her father Ptolemy XII. When Ptolemy XII died in 51 BCE, according to History.com staff, Cleopatra ruled and ceremonially married her younger brother Ptolemy XIII, since it was a custom of the time, at the age of 18.
Aside from that, almost nothing is known about Ptolemy's life, family background, or physical appearance. Virtually nothing is known about Ptolemy’s life except
Cleopatra was just eighteen. His will stated that Cleopatra and her ten year old brother would rule together. In order to keep the throne in the family, the Ptolemy dynasty married each other. Soon, Cleopatra married her brother Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator. In 49 BC, Cleopatra’s husband/brother’s advisers turned against Cleopatra. Cleopatra soon fled to Syria. She raised an army to oppose her brother. The next year, she went to battle her brother’s
Cleopatra is a name that was given to many Queens who ruled in Egypt. The most famous of these women was Cleopatra VII. She was the daughter of Ptolemy XII, King of Egypt. Cleopatra VII lived from 69-30 B.C. and reigned as queen of Egypt from 51-30 B.C. (Stanly). Cleopatra is said to be far from beautiful, her picture on ancient coins made her look like she had a long hooked nose and masculine features. She is also said to be very seductive with her enchanting musical voice and exuded charisma. She
and a queen after Ptolemy XII died. Ptolemy left the role of the pharaoh to Cleopatra and Ptolemy Xlll, soon after Ptolemy XII died Ptolemy Xlll and Cleopatra fell in love with each other and got married, that meant Cleopatra was a queen and a pharaoh. Life Timeline Cleopatra was born January, 69 b.c. in Alexandria, Egypt. Cleopatra was the seventh girl in her dynasty to be named Cleopatra. Cleopatra was about 18 years old when she started to rule ancient Egypt. Ptolemy XII died, soon after
ruled Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great. Cleopatra originally ruled with her father Ptolemy XII. She later had to rule with her brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV to whom she had to marry as part of her Egyptian family custom. Her marriage with her brother, Ptolemy XIV, ended quickly after he died from unknown sources. She had, even more, problems with her second marriage to brother, Ptolemy XIII. He had worked
Father, Ptolemy XII was the seventh Pharaoh in a line of unmemorable Ptolemaic rulers. Because of her father, she was exposed to royalty at an early age. This affected her decisions, as she always put Egypt before herself. Eventually, Ptolemy XII had to flee to Rome, because the people of Egypt hated him. The throne was left to Cleopatra’s sister Berenice. Berenice did her best to keep Ptolemy XII out of Egypt, and away from the throne. But Berenice was beheaded by Ptolemy XII’s army. Ptolemy had the