Aratus

Aratus (Greek Aratos) (circa 315 B.C./310 B.C. - 240 B.C.) was a Macedonian Greek mathematician, astronomer, meteorologist, botanist and poet.

Aratus was born in Soli on the island of Cyprus.

He wrote an astronomical epic The Phenomena (Fainomena) in 1154 hexameters. The poem is based on the work of Eudoxus of Cnidus and includes scientific subjects, animated with interesting myths. The epic was translated many times in Latin literature.

Aratus died in Pella, the capital of the Macedonian Kingdom (today central Macedonia in Greece).