Ovid, Aratus and Augustus Astronomy in Ovid's Fasti [Paperback]

The astronomical material in Ovid's Fasti has been overlooked. It is this material which is the subject of this book.This book explores how astronomy and power were linked in the early Roman Empire. This is achieved by careful study of the Fasti by the Roman poet Ovid--a poem about the Roman calendar which contains many references to and stories about the stars. The author does not study Ovid's stars by using the techniques of mathematical astronomy but aims to combine the methodology of recent genre-based readings with a broad cultural perspective.This book explores how astronomy and power were linked in the early Roman Empire. This is achieved by careful study of the Fasti by the Roman poet Ovid--a poem about the Roman calendar which contains many references to and stories about the stars. The author does not study Ovid's stars by using the techniques of mathematical astronomy but aims to combine the methodology of recent genre-based readings with a broad cultural perspective.This book explores how astronomy and power were linked in the early Roman Empire. This is achieved by careful study of the Fasti by the Roman poet Ovid--a poem about the Roman calendar that contains many references to and stories about the stars. The author does not study Ovid's stars by using the techniques of mathematical astronomy but aims to combine the methodology of recent genre-based readings with a broad cultural perspective.Introduction; 1. Calendrical astronomy?; 2. Astronomy and genre; 3. Verse and universe in Aratus' Phaenomena; 4. Vesta and the architecture of the Fasti; 5. Roman Aratus; 6. The metamorphosis of time; Epilogue; Appendices; Bibliography; Indexes. The book's editorirla work is generally excellent....The principal merit of G.'s study is that it provides a detailed and thoughtful analysis of Aratus' astropoetic and Augustus' propagandistic influence on Ovid's Fasti....(The book) deserves a place especially on the shelves of those interested in the Fasti and in the Nacl3Â