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COSMOPOET

@cosmopoet.bsky.social

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COSMOPOET is MSCA PF research project by Divna Manolova @dulila.bsky.social. It is funded by the European Union and hosted by Ghent University. COSMOPOET aims to rethink the relationship between poetry and astronomy in the space of late Byzantine schools.

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COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

🧵🧵In the very first instalment of this guest author and fellow stargazer 🤩💫and skywalker 🌌👣series, it is my pleasure to introduce Stamatina Mastorakou (@smasto.bsky.social), the October Cosmopoet! Here's what she had to share about her chosen poem:

Byzantine Silver Plate Depicting Aratus and Urania

This Byzantine silver plate is on view at the Institute as part of the exhibition "Time and Cosmos in Greco-Roman Antiquity".

isaw.nyu.edu

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COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 5h

Indeed. There is a lot to be sad about the divorce of the scientific and the literary/the poetic and what this says about contemporary imagining of science, scientific practice, and those who perform it. It is astonishing how pervasive the idea that "this has always been so" is and how incorrect.

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 7h

I think someone is You!

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 7h

As for the lack of a hybrid option, I know it is frustrating but I wanted to preserve the workshop feeling as much as I could.

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 7h

You know me well because, of course, this was my "secret" agenda all along! If you have any suggestions for people to approach, please share and of course, if you would like to contribute an instrument poem or a poem on an instrument, it would be fab!

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

Previously, Stamatina led the working group Heavens in Your Hand at the @mpiwg.bsky.social , Berlin. Her research focuses on ancient astronomy and its material culture.

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

Stamatina Mastorakou (@smasto.bsky.social) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Pittsburgh (www.classics.pitt.edu/people/stama...). She holds a PhD in the history of ancient astronomy from Imperial College, London.

Stamatina Mastorakou | Department of Classics

www.classics.pitt.edu

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COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

She is pointing to the starry 💫🌌sphere above them. The book 📖lying on the ground before the globe perhaps represents Aratus' "Phaenomena". It seems that the celestial globe 🌐on the tripod is a mimesis of the real night sky 🌌above it.

Byzantine Silver Plate Depicting Aratus and Urania

This Byzantine silver plate is on view at the Institute as part of the exhibition "Time and Cosmos in Greco-Roman Antiquity".

isaw.nyu.edu

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

Aratus, whose name is written in Greek just above his head (ΑΡΑΤΟC), is pointing on a celestial globe🌐. The globe rests on a three-legged stand and has a few stars ✨on it. The muse of astronomy Urania is depicted on the other side of the globe 🌐with her name inscribed (ΟΥΡΑΝΙΑΙ).

Byzantine Silver Plate Depicting Aratus and Urania

This Byzantine silver plate is on view at the Institute as part of the exhibition "Time and Cosmos in Greco-Roman Antiquity".

isaw.nyu.edu

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

Beyond literary sources, material culture also depicts Aratus with celestial globes🌐 and manuscripts✍️, often alongside Urania, the Muse of Astronomy—cementing his role as the public face of astronomy, e.g. on this 6th-C silver plate (Private Collection, UK): isaw.nyu.edu/exhibitions/...

Byzantine Silver Plate Depicting Aratus and Urania

This Byzantine silver plate is on view at the Institute as part of the exhibition "Time and Cosmos in Greco-Roman Antiquity".

isaw.nyu.edu

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

Even Hipparchus, the famous astronomer, felt compelled to compare it with Eudoxus’ work, noting its widespread use, despite some errors he points out.

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

As I argue in my upcoming book, Aratus transformed the way people observed, visualized and consequently represented the sky🌌, and introduced a new astral vocabulary📖. The poem’s verses likely aided memorization and helped its popularity spread among both scholars and the general public.

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COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

In recent decades, however, scholars have increasingly recognized the poem not just for its poetic beauty and relationship to Homer and Hesiod, but also for its significance in the history of astronomy.

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

Despite Aratus’ prominence in ancient sources, both written and material, he remained surprisingly overlooked in modern scholarship.

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

It captivated audiences both in its written and oral form, from Hellenistic Macedonia through to the Byzantine Empire and beyond. It inspired many commentaries, translations, illustrations and it even appears in the New Testament.

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

This poem holds a special place in my research. When I first encountered it, I wondered why such a widely admired work in antiquity has become relatively unknown today. What is indeed fascinating is how extensively the "Phaenomena" was read and preserved over the centuries.

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

It belongs to a long tradition of observing the risings and settings of stars✨—a practice that was essential for timekeeping, navigation, meteorology, and healing.

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

the first describes the constellations in the night sky🌌, and the second interprets signs of the weather🌬️. "Phaenomena" is the earliest surviving Greek description of the 48 constellations that we still recognize today.

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

Around 276 BCE, the Greek poet Aratus of Soloi wrote an ✨astronomical poem✨ called "Phaenomena" at the court of King Antigonus Gonatas in Pella, Macedonia. Over a thousand lines long, the poem is divided into two parts:

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 1d

Byzantine Silver Plate Depicting Aratus and Urania

This Byzantine silver plate is on view at the Institute as part of the exhibition "Time and Cosmos in Greco-Roman Antiquity".

isaw.nyu.edu

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COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 2d

The first author in the series is historian of science @smasto.bsky.social (Stamatina Mastorakou) from the University of Pittsburgh: www.classics.pitt.edu/people/stama.... Her post will be up tomorrow so stay tuned! And if you like the format and have a poem in mind, do not hesitate to get in touch!

Stamatina Mastorakou | Department of Classics

www.classics.pitt.edu

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 2d

I was also thinking about how I could further explore the possibilities of Bsky as an outreach platform for the project et voilà, an idea was born. 📣📣Starting this month, this account will feature a monthly post by a guest author on an astral poem that they study or have written themselves.

COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 2d

🧵🧵As much as I find the research I am doing for this project fascinating and fun for me to do, I have been thinking that I am missing the collaborative community-building and fostering element that is usually not at the core of individual postdoc projects.

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COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 4d

Maybe 😏🤔 Still a good random find, don't you think ?

Reposted by COSMOPOET

Divna Manolova @dulila.bsky.social · 5d

A casual walk in Ghent and bam! - an armillary sphere ! 🤩🌌💫 @cosmopoet.bsky.social

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COSMOPOET @cosmopoet.bsky.social · 14d

My heartfelt thanks to the first Cosmopoets: Valeria Annunziata; Maggy Arco, Floris Bernard; Paula Caballero Sánchez; Matthieu Husson; Agathe Keller; Anuj Misra; Giulia Maria Paoletti; Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas; Wim Verbaal! ✨✨