SEYFFARTH — ON THE THEORY OF THE MOON'S MOTIONS. 419 



refer to oxcopa, and hence Homer (II. v. 3) calls Sirius expressly 

 aorqp OTtcopivoz, the star of the autumn. Consequently the sea- 

 son of autumn {oxtop a) must have contained the months July, 

 August, and September. Accordingly all other Greek seasons 

 must have begun with the aforesaid months. Even the Greek 

 name of our January, viz. WvQzoTzpuov, the month of flowers, 

 demonstrates that the Greek spring commenced three months 

 prior to our spring. Further, Thucydides (v. 49. 50) testifies that 

 yztpcov began soon after the Olympian games, which were always 

 held in ftipo^, and a short time prior to the summer solstice. 

 Thucydides, moreover, refers the rising of Arcturus after sunset 

 to the middle of &epo<;, and in that time Arcturus rose about the 

 end of March, and hence &epo<; must have contained the months 

 from January to July. Again, Plutarch (Symp. iii. 7, 1 ; viii. 10, 

 3) bears witness that Anthesterion, commencing with January 3d. 

 was " the first month after yzipcov." Still further, Harpocratio 

 (v. Macpaxr.) tells us that yecpcbv commenced with the month 

 Maemacterion, of which the first day, as we have seen (p. 408), 

 coincided with September 30th, Julian style. Hence this quarter 

 of the Greek year must have been followed by iap, beginning 

 with January 3d. Moreover, Xenophon (Hell. vii. 5, 14) testifies 

 that the Mantinean battle "on the 12th day of Scirophorion" 

 (May 15th) happened in &epoz, and prior to yecpcov. Add to this 

 that Thucydides (iv. 52) certifies the small solar eclipse in the 

 8th year of the Peloponnesian war to have taken place " soon 

 after the beginning of #i ( ooc," and about that time only one small 

 eclipse of the sun was possible in the early &epo<;, viz. that in 

 — 420, Jan. 28th, as we shall see hereafter. Finally, Plutarch 

 (/Era. Paul. c. 16) narrates that the battle near Pydna was pre- 

 ceded by a lunar eclipse in the last days of the summer (d-spo^ 

 (fdcvovTOc), and about that time only one eclipse of the moon 

 coincided with the end of #i,ooc, viz. that in — 166, June 10th ; 

 conseqnently %scpwv must have commenced with Metageitnion 

 (July 2d), whilst d-spo^ began on January 3d. 



These arguments will suffice to convince every intelligent 

 reader that the Greek seasons &epo$ and yzipoiv, of six months 

 each, commenced respectively on January 3d and July 2d. By 



