The Birth of Astronomy

Abstract

Abstract The oldest surviving works of Greek literature are the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, which were put into written form probably around the end of the eighth century B.C. Only a little younger is Hesiod’s Works and Days, which dates from about 650 B.C. When Homer and Hesiod were writing, the Greeks were just emerging from their dark age. Literacy had been gained, then lost in the convulsions of the twelfth century B.C., then regained. Historians turn to Homer and Hesiod for insight into the Greek societies about 700 B.c. —for insight into the Greeks’ economic life, their social organization, and their religious practices. We can profitably inquire of Homer and Hesiod just what the Greeks knew of astronomy.