Leonid Zhmud The Origin of the History of Science in Classical Antiquity

Wissenschaft, 211f. Parmenides’ teacher was the Pythagorean Aminias
(D. L. IX, 21).
169
Aëtius associates this idea with Alcmaeon (24 A4, cf. A 12), who could hardly have
been its author (Heath.
Aristarchus, 49f.). In Aristotle’s Protrepticus, Pythagoras
stresses the importance of observing the sky (fr. 18, 20 Düring). Oenopides followed
the Pythagorean idea: the sun moves in the direction opposite to the revolution of the
heavenly sphere (41 A 7).
170
Goldstein, B. R., Bowen, A. C. A new view of early Greek astronomy,
Isis 74 (1983)
330–340, esp. 333f. assign the introduction of this model to Eudoxus, admitting,
however, that neither of its components was new. Their main argument in favor of
such a late date is the cosmological context in which these components still remain
in Plato. There are no grounds, however, to postulate such a context for the profes-
sional astronomical works on which Plato himself relied. In the same way, Aristotle
places the homocentric spheres of Eudoxus and Callippus in a physical and even
theological context, certainly alien to their original context.
171
42 A 5. See Burkert.
L & S, 305, 314. A still higher level of knowledge is presup-
posed by the astronomy of Meton and Euctemon (7.6). Cf. Bowen, Goldstein.
Meton, 54f.
172
In his commentary, Wehrli pointed out that Theon repeats verbatim the last part of
fr. 145 (from “that the stars move” to the end) immediately following his long ex-

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6. From Meton to Eudoxus. ‘Saving the phenomena’
267
To whom did Eudemus attribute the discoveries (c) and (d) made by ‘the others’
in the period between Anaxagoras and Oenopides? If one compares this evi-
dence with the accounts of Alcmaeon’s (24 A 4) and Philolaus’ (44 A 16) as-
tronomy as well as with Eudemus’ testimony that the Pythagoreans discovered
the correct order of the planets (fr. 146), one has to credit this school also with
the notion of the independent movement of the planets along the ecliptic. If
Eudemus treated the last three discoveries (c, d, e) in chronological order, as is
typical for him, this list suggests two important conclusions: 1) The Pythago-
reans discovered the order of planets before Oenopides, i.e., in the first half of
the fifth century. 2) Oenopides’ last discovery (e) not only closes the list, it also
relies on the two preceding ones, namely that the stars move around the axis of
the celestial sphere (c) and the planets around the axis perpendicular to the zo-
diac (d). It is very probable then that Oenopides’ work systematically treated
these and the other propositions of geometrical astronomy. That is what Eude-
mus actually had in mind when he mentioned Oenopides’ priority in expound-
ing astronomy in a methodical way.
If our picture of Oenopides’ astronomy does not seriously disagree with
reality, his contribution to this science is comparable to the first geometrical
El-
ements written by Hippocrates. Our information on both works is equally
meager. Hippocrates’
Elements, not a line of which has survived, is mentioned
only once, in Proclus’
Catalogue, whereas the level of geometry it represents is
known to us from a single long quotation from the
History of Geometry, pre-
served in Simplicius (fr. 140, on squaring the lunes). Against this background,
Eudemus’ evidence on Oenopides’ book that opened a new period in the devel-
opment of astronomy does not after all seem that insignificant.
6. From Meton to Eudoxus. ‘Saving the phenomena’
It is still not known whether the
History of Astronomy mentioned Hippocrates.
Though in the