Ancient Greece

Astronomy is present from the beginning of Greek literature. In Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, stars and constellations are mentioned, including Orion, the Great Bear (Ursa Major), Boötes, Sirius, and the Pleiades. More-detailed astronomical knowledge is found in Hesiod’s Works and Days, from perhaps a generation later than Homer. Hesiod used the appearances and disappearances of important fixed stars in the course of the annual cycle in order to prescribe the work to be done around the farm or the seasons for safe sailing. Much of the astronomical knowledge in Hesiod paralleled the knowledge of the contemporary Babylonians, but the Greeks were substantially less advanced.