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Hephaestion of Thebes: Apotelesmatica: Excerpt on Example Nativities

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This is an excerpt from the Apotelesmatica of Hephaestion of Thebes, the astrologer of the early fifth century AD, in a recension that differs from the main text. It comes from his section on the example nativities of the earlier astrologer Antigonus of Nicaea, whose charts include those of the emperor Hadrian and his great-nephew Pedanius Fuscus, and it explains how the planets accounted for a subject's prominence, wealth, injustice and violent end.

These example charts are rare cases in which an ancient astrologer applied his methods to identifiable figures of the imperial court. They are valuable both for the history of astrology and as evidence for how the fortunes of Hadrian's family were remembered in the second century.

About this edition. The Greek text comes from the Eulogikon open corpus of public-domain editions (standard reference: Pingree, Hephaestio Thebanus (Teubner 1973–74)). Every word has been analyzed with odyCy, a neural language model for Ancient Greek — click or tap any word for its dictionary form, part of speech, and complete morphology, together with the full entry from the Liddell–Scott–Jones Greek–English Lexicon (LSJ).

Ancient Greek · Science & Medicine
Apotelesmatica: Excerpt on Example Nativities
Hephaestion of Thebes · every word parsed
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Οὗτος γέγονε προφανὴς ἐκ προφανῶν, ἐξουσιαστικὸς καὶ πολλὰ ἐκόλασε, πολυχρήματος, ἄδικος καὶ κατηγορούμενος· 〈π〉ολυχρήματος γέγονεν οὗτος διὰ τὸ[ν] τρίγωνον (Διὸς καὶ Σελήνης ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ὄντων), ἄδικος δὲ καὶ κατηγορούμενος διὰ τὴν τοῦ Ἄρεως καὶ Ἑρμοῦ στάσιν ἐπὶ τοῦ μεσουρανήματος ἀμφοτέρων ὄντων ὑπαύγων, προφανὴς δὲ διὰ τὸ τοὺς δ ἀστέρας ἐπὶ τοῦ μεσουρανήματος τυγχάνειν καὶ τὴν προγενομένην σύνοδον· οὐ γὰρ μικρὰ δύναμίς ἐστιν ἡ προγενομένη σύνοδος ὁπόταν μάλιστα κατὰ κέντρον τύχῃ τό τε ὡροσκοποῦν καὶ μεσουρανοῦν. πρὸς δὲ τὰς θηλείας μίξεις ἀνεπίστροφος ἦν καὶ ῥυπαρὸς διὰ τὸ Ἄρεα μετὰ Ἀφροδίτης καὶ Διὸς τὴν στάσιν ἔχειν ἐν Κριῷ ἀσελγεῖ ζῳδίῳ καὶ ὁρᾶσθαι ἐκ διαμέτρου ὑπὸ Κρόνου, προσέτι διὰ τὸ πάντας αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἀστέρας ἐν ἀρρενικοῖς ζῳδίοις εἶναι. ὁ δὲ Ἥλιος ἐπὶ τοῦ ὑψώματος καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μεσουρανήματος ὢν καὶ δορυφορούμενος παρά τε τῶν προανη〈νε〉γμένων αὐτοῦ ἀστέρων ἔν τε τῷ αὐτῷ ζῳδίῳ καὶ τοῦ Διὸς ἐν Ὑδροχόῳ (ἀεὶ γὰρ δορυφορεῖ ἕως τετραγώνου στάσεως τῆς προανηνεγμένης) λαμπρὸν καὶ ἔνδοξον τοῦτον ἀπετέλεσεν. ὁμοίως καὶ ἡ Σελήνη πλήθουσα ἐν τριγώνῳ σχήματι πρός τε Κρόνον καὶ Δία εὐδαίμονα καὶ πολυχρήματον ἀπε〈ι〉ργάσατο, καὶ τῇ πατρίδι πολλὰ ἀναθήματα καὶ δῶρα ἐναπειργάσατο. μὴ λαθέτω δέ σε μηδὲ τοῦτο[ν] ὡς τῶν ἀστέρων τῶν πάντων ἢ τῶν πλείστων ἐν ἰδίοις ζῳδίοις ἢ τόποις ὄντων συμβαίνει ποιεῖν ἀξιωματικὸν καὶ ἐπίσημον ἄνδρα[ς], οἱ δὲ ζωτικοὶ τούτου προλογίζονται ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Ἡλίου ἀφ[ερ]έσεως καὶ τῆς τετραγώνου αὐτοῦ στάσεως διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἐν ἐπικαίρῳ τόπῳ καὶ τὴν προγενομένην σύνοδον ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ἐπιγενέσθαι. Οὗτος ἐκ μεγίστης γένης καὶ προφανοῦς, λέγω δὲ πατρὸς καὶ μητρὸς ἐνδοξοτάτων καὶ βιαιοθανάτων [τῇδε]· οὗτος γὰρ ἐλπίδων μεγάλων γεγονὼς καὶ δοκῶν ἤδη ἐπὶ βασιλείαν ἐλθεῖν, κακόβουλος γεγονὼς ἀνῃρέθη μετά τινος πρεσβύτου τῶν τοῦ γέν[εθλι]ου〈σ〉 αὐτοῦ (ἐν διαβολῇ καὶ αὐτὸς γενόμενος διʼ αὑτόν) πρὸς [δεʼ σκτ τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ γενεθλίου πάντων] ταπεινοὺς ἀπηλλαγμένων. [1]
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τὸ μὲν οὖν προφανῆ αὐτὸν γεννηθῆναι διὰ τὸ τὸν Ἥλιον εἶναι ἐν τῷ ὡροσκόπῳ καὶ δορυφορεῖσθαι, τὸ δὲ κακόβουλον γεγονέναι διὰ τὸ τὸν Ἑρμῆν καὶ Ἥλιον μετὰ Κρόνου ἐν Ἄρεως οἴκῳ εἶναι, καί τινα τῶν τοῦ γένους αὐτοῦ γεραιὸν ἀπώλεσεν διὰ τὸ συνεῖναι τούτῳ τὸν Κρόνον, τὸ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν κατακοπῆναι διὰ τὸ τὴν Σελήνην εἶναι ἐν Ταύρῳ μελεοκοπουμένῳ ζῳδίῳ καὶ ἀκτινοβολεῖν τὸν Ἄρεα ἐπὶ τῆς ἀναφορᾶς τοῦ ὡροσκόπου, τὸ δὲ καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εἶναι τὴν βλάβην διὰ τὸ τὸν Ἄρεα εἶναι ἐν ἀνθρωποειδεῖ ζῳδίῳ· ἐρωτικὸς δὲ οὗτος γέγονε καὶ φιλομόναχος, ἐρωτικὸς διὰ τὸν Δία καὶ τὴν Ἀφροδίτην, φιλομόναχος διὰ τὸ〈ν〉 Ἄρεα ὄντα ἐπὶ τῆς ἐπαναφορᾶς τοῦ μεσουρανήματος καὶ τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ ὄντος ἐν οἴκῳ Ἄρεως, τὸ δὲ περὶ κεʹ τεθνάναι αὐτὸν διὰ τὴν [ἐπ]ἀναφορὰν εἶναι τοῦ Ταύρου καὶ τοῦ Ὑδροχόου. [15]
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Text: Perseus Digital Library, licensed CC BY-SA. Dictionary: Liddell, Scott & Jones (Perseus, CC BY-SA). Morphology: odyCy — machine parsing, corrected against the AGDT & PROIEL treebanks and Morpheus.
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