book: The Orphic Astrologer Critodemus
Book
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

The Orphic Astrologer Critodemus

Fragments with Annotated Translation and Commentary
  • Cristian Tolsa
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2024
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

About this book

Despite the relevance of astrology in Graeco-Roman mentality, our information about the early period of Hellenistic astrology is marred by the scarcity of original sources. Personal astrology did not take off until the late Hellenistic period, due to the more substantial Hellenization of Mesopotamia facilitating the import of Babylonian theories. The most relevant doctrines, mostly surviving as references and partial paraphrases in later authors and astrological miscellanies, are attached to the pseudepigraphical names of Nechepsos and Petosiris, which have been traced back to the Egyptian Demotic tradition. Critodemus, who is classified as a later author even if Firmicus Maternus invokes him as a founding authority, appears as a parallel to these Egyptian transmitters, in that he presented astrology, like them, in the form of a didactic poem, but employing an Orphic frame instead of Egyptian. By collecting, contextualizing, and analyzing all the evidence on this author, this book establishes a relatively early chronology for Critodemus and aims both at distinguishing his original contributions and at explaining the various forms in which his text was used and modified in the later tradition.

Author / Editor information

Cristian Tolsa, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain.


Publicly Available Download PDF
I

Publicly Available Download PDF
IX

Publicly Available Download PDF
XI

Publicly Available Download PDF
XV

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
1
First part: Fragments related to contextualization

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
19

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
45

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
69
Second part: Technical fragments

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
93

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
123

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
137

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
157

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
177

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
221

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
223

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
237

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
241

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
247

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
249

Requires Authentication Unlicensed

Licensed
251

Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
December 4, 2023
eBook ISBN:
9783111329147
Hardcover published on:
December 4, 2023
Hardcover ISBN:
9783111328768
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Front matter:
17
Main content:
251
Illustrations:
14
Tables:
44
Downloaded on 31.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111329147/html
Scroll to top button