The Moon in the Greek and Roman Imagination: Myth, Literature, Science and Philosophy

Description

The Moon exerted a powerful influence on ancient intellectual history, as a playground for the scientific imagination. This book explores the history of the Moon in the Greco-Roman imaginary from Homer to Lucian, with special focus on those accounts of the Moon, its attributes, and its 'inhabitants' given by ancient philosophers, natural scientists and imaginative writers including Pythagoreans, Plato and the Old Academy, Varro, Plutarch and Lucian. ní Mheallaigh shows how the Moon's enigmatic presence made it a key site for thinking about the gaze (erotic, philosophical and scientific) and the relation between appearance and reality. It was also a site for hoax in antiquity as well as today. Central issues explored include the view from elsewhere (selēnoskopia), the relation of science and fiction, the interaction between the beginnings of science in the classical polis and the imperial period, and the limits of knowledge itself. Cover Half-title Series information Title page Copyright information Dedication Contents Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations, Text References and Translations Abbreviations Note on Text References DK, G and LM Translations Note on Text Part I The Moon in the Mythic Imagination Introduction: To the Moon! Journey into the Ancient Scientific Imagination Chapter 1 The Moon in Ritual, Myth and Magic The Moon and Time, Ritual, Religion Selene and Endymion: Desire and the Female Gaze Lunar Liquid: The Moon-Womb and Proto-philosophy Moon-Illusions Simaetha's Love-Spell: Magic, Lamps and the Moon The 'Thessalian Trick': Magic, Mirrors and the Moon The Marriage of Selene and Endymion Conclusion Part II The Moon in the Scientific Imagination Chapter 2 Making Sense of the Moon: Philosophy and Science What Is the Moon? The Lunar Artefact The Lunar Laboratory: Change and Epistemology Heliophotism and the Reflecting Eye The Moon Becomes a World Metaphysical Moon: The Old Academy and Pythagoreans Xenocrates, Philip and the Moon in the Middle The Moon in the Pythagorean Cosmos Eschatological Moon Conclusion Chapter 3 Life on the Moon: Between Philosophy, Science and Fantasy Pythagorean Moon-Creatures The Woman Who Fell to Earth: Helen of Troy The Nemean Lion and Other Lunar Creatures Conclusion: The Question of Belief Chapter 4 The Moon of Many Faces: Plutarch's Great Lunar Dialogue De Facie Plutarch's De Facie and the Duel of the Philosophies Plutarch's Inter-disciplinary Moon The Lunar Texture of De Facie Theon, Lamprias and Life on the Moon Sulla's Myth: The Moon as Metaphysical Junction Literary Coordinates and a Map to the Moon Conclusion: A Landmark in the Selenographical Tradition Part III The Moon in the Fantastic Imagination Chapter 5 The Imaginary Moon: Lunar Journeys The First Man to Go to the Moon? The Dream Hoax in Varro's Endymiones From Thule to the Moon: Antonius Diogenes's Scientific Fiction Astro-poetics: Icaromenippus, the Moon and Lucianic Mixis Disintegration, Dissent and Creative Hybridity: Lucian's Moon as 'Third Space' Lucian's Scientific Imagination: Cosmic War, Lunar Anatomy and a Proto-telescope Conclusion: Scientific Fiction and the Moon Chapter 6 Selenoskopia: The Moon-View from Fiction to Reality Lucian, Icaromenippus and the Ancient Telescopic Tradition Modern Selenoskopic Tradition: The First Wave 1966-1972 The Second Wave: Pale Blue Dot and The Day the Earth Smiled Conclusion: Between Entanglement and Detachment Envoi: The Legacy of Ancient Selenography Bibliography Index Index Locorum