Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stanley Lombardo's translation of the Phaenomena of Aratus, February 21, 2009
Published in 1983 by North Atlantic Books and long, long out of print, Sky Signs was Stanley Lombardo's second work of translation, following his "Parmenides and Empedocles" of 1982. Whereas that book was mind-blowing upon first reading and continues to be a source of inspiration for me, Sky Signs is more subdued and less enjoyable. This is not Lombardo's fault - perhaps it's moreso that Aratus's subject just isn't as appealing to me.
Flourishing during the height of the Alexandrian literary age of Callimachus and Apollonius of Rhodes, Aratus was a gifted Greek poet who took up the sky itself as his subject. His Phaenomena (aka Sky Signs) attempts to replicate the wondrous stars into verse, describing the various constellations, how they mingle with one another, and how they came about being named. There's no overlying plot or story here, just a recounting of the constellations, where they can be found, what their appearance in the sky foretells.
Lombardo translates into pristine English, however not as colloquially as his later translations of Hesiod and Homer, and not as majestically as his earlier translation of Parmenides. There's a stateliness to Aratus's verse, no doubt sign of the artifice the Alexandrian poets were known for. Certainly the poem lacks a bucolic verve such as one gets from Hesiod or Virgil or even Theocritus.
The book's just over fifty pages, complimented with black and white reproductions of artwork from 17th and 18th century star atlases, as well as new illustrations by Anita Volder Fredrick, crisp and detailed drawings of the constellations which illuminate Aratus's verse. Lombardo provides a notes section in the back, explaining more fully some of the things Aratus leaves vague. All in all it's a wonderfully-produced book, and it's a shame it's out of print. Even though it's my least favorite of Lombardo's translations, it should still be easily available to the masses. I'm thinking Hackett should bring it back into print.
As a sampling, here are the first several lines:
The sky is our song
and we begin with Zeus; for men cannot speak
without giving Him names: the streets are detailed
with the presence of Zeus, the forums are filled,
the sea and its harbors are flooded with Zeus,
and in Him we move and have all our being.
For we are His children, and He blesses our race
with beneficent signs, and wakes man to his work,
directing his mind to the means of his life. He shows
when the soil is ready for mattock and ox; He shows
what season is best for trenching circles round trees
and when to scatter every kind of seed.
For this is He who set the signs in the firmament,
who demarked constellations and devised for the year
the principal stars that signal to farmers
the march of the seasons, so their works might all prosper.
For this men propitiate Him both first and last,
and I praise Him as Father, man's great Benefactor,
and with Him our ancestors who first watched the skies.
But you, sweetest Muses,
may each one of you direct all my song,
for I pray for the sanction to sing of all the stars.
The stars: though scattered in crowds across the whole sky,
they share a constant diurnal motion;
but the Axis, in fixed and unvarying position,
holds the earth in mid-balance and wheels heaven around.
The two poles are its terminals: the southern pole turns
below our horizon, unseen; the other, high above
the northern Ocean, and round this pole together
trundle the BEARS, from their motion called also the WAGONS.
Their heads are forever towards each other's flanks,
forever their shoulders lead them through heaven
in alternate revolution.
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Consice guide to the Seasons, Stars and Animals, January 6, 1999
By A Customer
This book is an old Greek classic. It is a beautiful poem about the interrelationship of the stars and planets with the seasons of Earth. It is told in a lyrical style, and paints an entertaining and informative picture of traditional astronomy, revealing the relationships between the constellations themselves. It is a fascinating look back into the ancient literature inherited by Western society.Also interesting is noting the changes in the shape and location of the constellations in the sky over two thousand years...
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