The pun and the moon in the sky: Aratus' acrostic

Mathias Hanses

doi:10.1017/S0009838814000184

The pun and the moon in the sky: Aratus' acrostic

Mathias Hanses

Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

Aratus has been notorious for his wordplay since the first decades of his reception. Hellenistic readers such as Callimachus, Leonidas, or 'King Ptolemy' seem to have picked up on the pun on the author's own name at Phaenomena 2, as well as on the famous λπτ® acrostic at Phaen. 783-6 that will be revisited here. Three carefully placed occurrences of the adjective have so far been uncovered in the passage, but for a full appreciation of its elegance we must note that Aratus has set his readers up to notice a fourth.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	609-614
Number of pages	6
Journal	Classical Quarterly
Volume	64
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009838814000184
State	Published - Nov 20 2014

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Classics
History
Philosophy
Literature and Literary Theory

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10.1017/S0009838814000184

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abstract = "Aratus has been notorious for his wordplay since the first decades of his reception. Hellenistic readers such as Callimachus, Leonidas, or 'King Ptolemy' seem to have picked up on the pun on the author's own name at Phaenomena 2, as well as on the famous λπτ{\textregistered} acrostic at Phaen. 783-6 that will be revisited here. Three carefully placed occurrences of the adjective have so far been uncovered in the passage, but for a full appreciation of its elegance we must note that Aratus has set his readers up to notice a fourth.",

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The pun and the moon in the sky: Aratus' acrostic

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

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