POEMANDRES. III. 27 



in their stellar forms (a)j, being visible with all their signs, 

 and the constellations l were severally enumerated (6), with 

 the Gods in them, and the circumference was wrapped 

 around (c) with air borne onward in a circular course by | 

 Divine Spirit. 2 And they sowed (d) also the generations of 



(a) reti$ ivxarpois i%eott$. (b) ^nnpt&^6in TOC otarpa,. 



(c) TSpisihixdYi TO vrtptxvx'hiov. (d) faTrtppoKoyovv. 



1 " He telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by 

 their names" (Ps. cvii. 4). " He that maketh the seven Stars and Orion" 

 (Ainos v. 8). " He had in his right hand seven Stars" (Rev. i. 16). 

 " The mystery of the seven Stars. The Seven Stars are the Angels of 

 the Seven Churches " (ibid. 20). " He that holdeth the Seven Stars in 

 His right hand " (ibid. ii. 1). " He that hath the Seven Spirits of God 

 and the Seven Stars" (ibid. iii. 1); and see ante and note, ch. i. 9. 

 " And I saw an Angel standing in the Sun " (ibid. xix. 17). 



The wide-spread belief in the East, that the stars had great influence > 

 on the earth probably arose from the idea that Angels or Divinities 

 resided iti them. Josephus mentions that Berosus attributed to 

 Abraham great knowledge of astrology, in which he instructed the 

 Egyptians. Diodorus speaks of Heliadss (Easterns), who were great 

 astrologers. One of them built Hieropolis, and the Egyptians became 

 great astrologers, and were looked upon as its inventors, and, accord- 

 ing to A. Tatius, the Egyptians taught it to the Chaldaeans. In the 

 dialogue between Hermes and Asclepius (perhaps not a genuine work 

 of Hermes himself), in answer to a question of Asclepius, Hermes is j 

 represented as affirming that the stellar Angels, called Decans, have J 

 very great influence over men. (See Part II. xix., post.} 



Compare " The Stars in their courses fought against Sisera " (Judg. 

 v. 20, English Version). " From the heaven Stars from the array of 

 them" (I* 7% r%eu$ eivrw) "made war" (g^roA^weu/) "with Sisera" 

 (Sept.). " Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades " (' The 

 Seven Stars,' Heb.), " or loose the bands of Orion ? Canst thou bring 

 forth Mazzaroth " (' The twelve Signs,' Jerome) " in his season ? or 

 canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?" (Job xxxviii. 31, 32; see 

 also ibid. ix. 9). The Septuagint differs : " 2yj/jjx? %e Itapov IlAe/aBo?, 

 x.a.1 (Ppif/fiov flpiavo; %uoi%ec$; "H ^toivoi^is Ma^ovpad sv xoupy otvrov, 

 xoci "Ecrvtpov IKI xoftn; airrov oL&s aura" " Hast thou fastened the 

 bond of Pleiades, and hast thou opened the fence of Orion, or wilt 

 thou set open Mazzaroth in his season, and wilt thou bring Hesper to 

 his zenith ? " 



The Seven Stars are thus enumerated in a verse attributed to 

 Hermes by Stobaeus : *' MJJIJ, Zgyj, "Apns, Hatpin, Kpwo$, "Hx/oj, 

 'Eppj};." (Physica, 176; Meineke, i. 45). 



2 Plato (" Timseus," 37, Hermann's edition, iv. 340) thus writes : ; 



