Aratus (315 BC - 240 BC)

Aratus

Aratus Solensis was an ancient Greek didactic poet.

It is known that he was a native of the ancient city of Soli in Cilicia, and studied under the famous philosophers of his time in Ephesus, Cos and Athens. Around 276 BC, Aratus was invited to the court of the Macedonian king Antigonus II Gonatus and expounded in verse his victory over the Gauls. Here he also wrote his most famous work in modern times, the hexameter poem Phenomena, which sets forth the astronomical knowledge of the time. He then spent some time at the court of Antiochus I Soter of Syria and returned to Macedonia.

The poet's second extant poem is Diosemeia ("On the Omens of the Weather"). These two poems by Aratus were very popular in both the Greek and Roman worlds. He was translated and quoted by Ovid and Cicerone, and a translation into Arabic was made in the 9th century.

In addition to poetry, Aratus practiced medicine, grammar, and philosophy.