Metaphysics Λ.8
Book Lambda, chapter 8, 1073b17–1074a14
The earliest surviving account of Eudoxus' system of nested spheres. The Sun and Moon get three spheres each and each of the other five planets four; later commentators showed that the third and fourth, on inclined axes turning in opposite directions, trace the figure-of-eight 'hippopede' that produces periodic retrogradation. Aristotle then reports the spheres Callippus added and adds counteracting spheres of his own, for a total of 55.
- Author
- Aristotle
- Date
- c. 350–330 BCE
- Original language
- Greek
- Kind
- Theory / model
- Planets
- Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
Editions
2 editions.
| Year | Edition | © |
|---|---|---|
| 1908 | Aristotle, Metaphysics, tr. W. D. Ross, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908 (The Works of Aristotle Translated into English, vol. VIII) | ? |
| 1924 | Aristotle's Metaphysics, ed. W. D. Ross, 2 vols., Oxford, 1924 (Greek text with commentary) | PD |
Read it
One digitised copy.
- Metaphysics, Greek text (Ross, 1924) with Tredennick's EnglishPerseus Digital Library, Tufts UniversityCC BY-SAOpen ↗Archived copy
Copies stay with their holders; every link opens their site. Licence: PD public domain · CC BY · CC BY-SA · © rights reserved · ? not stated.
Myths we don’t repeat
Checked, and left out.
- Myth 01
Not Aristotle's explanation of retrogradation: he never spells out the mechanism; the hippopede account comes from Simplicius.
References
Also on the Greece and Rome shelf
| Date | Source | Planets | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 375 BCE (Republic); c. 360 BCE (Timaeus) | Republic X: the Spindle of NecessityPlatoTheory / model | General | Theory / model |
| c. 2nd–1st century BCE (debated); reconstruction 2021 | Antikythera Mechanism: Front Cover InscriptionAnonymous (Greek makers)Math. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| Hipparchus fl. c. 150–127 BCE; reported by Ptolemy c. 150 CE | Hipparchus in Almagest IX.2Hipparchus of NicaeaObservation | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Observation |
| c. 1st century BCE – 5th century CE (papyri); edition 1999 | Astronomical Papyri from OxyrhynchusAnonymous (Greco-Egyptian scribes)Math. astronomy | General | Math. astronomy |
| 1st century BCE (often placed c. 50 BCE) | Introduction to the PhenomenaGeminusMath. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| 1st century CE (Greek original); Arabic version c. 800 CE | Carmen AstrologicumDorotheus of SidonAstrological | General | Astrological |