Aratus
Greek didactic poet
- Lived
- 314 BC–239 BC
Updated September 2026
About Aratus
Aratus was a Greek didactic poet. His major extant work is his hexameter poem Phenomena, the first half of which is a verse setting of a lost work of the same name by Eudoxus of Cnidus. It describes the constellations and other celestial phenomena. The second half is called the Diosemeia, and is chiefly about weather lore. Although Aratus was somewhat ignorant of Greek astronomy, his poem was very popular in the Greek and Roman world, as is proven by the large number of commentaries and Latin translations, some of which survive.
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Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.