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Aëtios (fl. C2nd CE). A rather shadowy figure who collected information about and quotations from the early Greek philosophers, and wrote a summary of their opinions called Placita 'Opinions/Maxims', thus forming part of the doxographical tradition. It is thought that he may have based his work largely on an earlier anonymous work of the C1st BCE which is known to modern scholarship as the Vetusta Placita ('Old Opinions') and that this, ultimately, derives from work of Aristotle's student Theophrastos. Aëtios' existence is attested solely by the C5th CE theologian Theodoretus who has quotes attributed to him that are found in shorter forms in two earlier works: On the Physical Opinions of the Philosophers (Περὶ τῶν ἀρεσκόντων φιλοσόφοις φυσικῶν δογμάτων) by the so called Pseudo-Plutarch (C3rd CE) and Physical and Moral Extracts (Ἐκλογαὶ φυσικαὶ καὶ ἠθικαί) by the anthologist Stobaios (C5th CE). Passages from Aëtios, whether found in Pseudo-Plutarch (designated P), Stobaios (designated S), provide information about many of the early Greek astronomers.
Apollodoros of Athens or Alexandria (c. 180 ‒ c. 120 BCE). A chronographer and polymath who studied with the critic and grammarian Aristarchos (not to be confused with the astronomer Aristarchos of Samos) who was the librarian of the famous library of Alexandria. He left Alexandria for Pergamon in 146 BCE, probably during the purge of Euergetes, and eventually settled in Athens. He wrote numerous works, the most famous of which was his Chronicle which related in verse the events of Greek history from the fall of Troy down to his own time. Dates in it are reckoned by reference to Athenian archons (senior magistrates) who only served for one year each. Most of the Chronicle is lost but a few fragments survive as quotations in later authors.
Aratos of Soloi (c. 310 – c. 240 BCE). Phaenomena. [Edited with Introduction, Translation and Commentary by Douglas Kidd. 1997. Cambridge]. See the Astronomers page for more information.
Aristophanes of Athens (c. 446 ‒ c. 386 BCE). Dramatist whose satirical works sometimes contain snippets of information relevant to astronomy as understood in the C5th BCE.
Dercillydes (fl. C1st BCE). Platonist philosopher whose work is quoted by Theon of Smyrna.
Demetrios of Phaleron (c. 350 ‒ c. 280 BCE).A student of Theophrastos, he became a politician and governed Athens from 317 to 307, at which point he went into exile and settled in Alexandria where he wrote works on history and philosophy, none of which survive, but are mentioned by Diogenes Laertios.
Diogenes Laertios. Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers. [Edited by Tiziano Dorandi, 2013. Cambridge]. A doxographer who wrote potted biographies of philosophers in the C3rd CE, which were based on numerous earlier works that are no longer extant such as the Successions by the C2nd BCE doxographer Sotion of Alexandria and the chronographies of Apollodoros of Alexandria and Sosikrates of Rhodes. In turn, these derive mostly from other lost works such as those written in the C4th BCE by Aristotle's students Aristoxenos and Theophrastos. Diogenes Laertios thus preserves some information which would otherwise be lost, and is important for that reason, but he has little philosophical understanding and mainly reports anecdotes and biographical details, coupled with extraneous matter, such as letters, which have usually been fabricated (though not necessarily by him).
Eudemos.
Geminos. Introduction to the Phenomena. [Edited by Carolus Manitius, 1898. Leipzig]. See the Astronomers page for more information.
Herodotos. The Histories. [Herodoti Historiae, in 2 volumes. Edited by N. G. Wilson, 2015. Oxford]. Born in Halikarnassos (modern Bodrum, Turkey) in about 485 BCE and died in Athens or Thurii around 425 BCE, Herodotos was the earliest Greek historian whose work survives largely intact and he was an important pioneer of historiography. Various people in antiquity, ranging from Thucydides (C5th BCE) to Plutarch (C1st CE), were skeptical about the truthfulness and value of his work. but modern scholars have largely restored his reputation, pointing out that whereas Herodotos may have had his assumptions and prejudices, so did his critics. It is certainly the case that anything Herodotos says must be treated with respect, if only because his large and wide ranging book on the Greco-Persian Wars (written c. 440‒430 BCE) antedates most other sources. He was a shrewd observer and interested in many things, but it has to be said that his scientific knowledge even by contemporary standards was not great. For example, he gives an account of the so called Eclipse of Xerxes (7.37) which has often been dismissed by scholars because no such solar eclipse happened in Sardis in 480 BCE. However, the Persian astronomers of the time knew that it might occur because of a preceding lunar eclipse on 25th March. The solar eclipse did in fact occur, but in the South Pacific on precisely the right date (9th April). Herodotos' garbled attempt to explain the matter and the Persian reaction to it shows his lack of scientific and ethnographic understanding, but his report does at least contain a kernel of truth.
Hesiod (fl. 700 BCE). Earliest Greek poet after Homer. His poems, particularly Works and Days [ed. M. L. West, 1978, Oxford], contain scattered astronomical references.
Hipparchos. The greatest astronomer before Ptolemy. He wrote several books but only one survives. The Commentary on the Phenomena of Aratos and Eudoxos.
Hippolytus of Rome (c. 170 ‒ 235 CE). The Refutation of All Heresies [Philosophumena, ed. W.J. Sparrow Simpson, W.K. Lowther Clarke, trans. F. Legge, 1915. New York]. This cheerily entitled work is a discussion of doctrines considered by the writer to be heretical to the Roman Catholic church. The first book (of ten) is an important source for early Greek philosophy.
Homer (fl. 750 BCE).
Plutarch (46 – c. 120 CE). Greek biographer, essayist and philosopher. He was a prolific writer and about one third of his estimated output survives.
Proklos (412 - 485). Neoplatonist philosopher. He wrote a number of commentaries on the works of Plato and a commentary on the first book of Euclid's Elements of Geometry in which, following Eudemos' History of Geometry (now lost), he sketched a history of early Greek mathematics. This passage is known as the Eudemian Summary.
Ptolemaios ('Ptolemy') of Alexandria (c. 100 ‒ c. 170 CE). The pre-eminent astronomer of antiquity. He wrote numerous books, the most important of which, the Almagest, survives in it entirety and became the standard textbook of astronomy until the European Renaissance. It offered a complete mathematical model of the sky, the first to account for the movements of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars in a systematic way.
Simplicius of Cilicia (c. 490 ‒ c. 560 CE). Often regard as the last important philosopher of antiquity. He was a neoplatonist but wrote commentaries on Aristotle which often preserve information about earlier philosophers.
Sosikrates of Rhodes (c. 200 ‒ c. 125 BCE). A historian chiefly known for his book Successions of Philosophers (now lost) which was one of the sources used by Diogenes Laertios.
Suda. A Byzantine Greek encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world dating from the C10th. Containing 30,000 entries, it is based on numerous lost sources and sometimes preserves information not found elsewhere.
Theon of Smyrna ().
Theophrastos.
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