Aglaonike

Aglaonike (Gr. Ἀγλαονίκη, fl. 2nd century BC), also known as Aganice of Thessaly is cited as the first female astronomer in ancient Greece. She is mentioned in the writings of Plutarch and Apollonius of Rhodes as the daughter of Hegetor of Thessaly.^[1] She was regarded as a sorceress for her ability to make the moon disappear from the sky, which has been taken to mean she could predict the time and general area where a lunar eclipse would occur.^[2]^[3]

Legacy

Aglaonike is a featured figure on Judy Chicago's installation piece The Dinner Party, being represented as one of the 999 names on the Heritage Floor.^[4]

References

^ Plutarch, de Off. Conjug. p. 145, de Defect. Orac. p. 417.
^ Ogilvie, M. B. 1986. Women in Science. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-15031-X
^ Schmitz, Leonhard (1867), "Aganice", in Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1, Boston, pp. 59, http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0068.html
^ "Aglaonice". Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: The Dinner Party: Heritage Floor: Aglaonice. Brooklyn Museum. 2007. http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/aglaonice.php. Retrieved 17 December 2011.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology by William Smith (1870).

Greek astronomy

Astronomers	Acoreus Aglaonike Agrippa Anaximander Andronicus Apollonius Aratus Aristarchus Aristillus Attalus Autolycus Bion Callippus Cleomedes Cleostratus Conon Eratosthenes Euctemon Eudoxus Geminus Heraclides Hicetas Hipparchus Hippocrates of Chios Hypsicles Menelaus Meton Oenopides Philip of Opus Philolaus Posidonius Ptolemy Pytheas Seleucus Sosigenes of Alexandria Sosigenes the Peripatetic Strabo Thales Theodosius Theon of Alexandria Theon of Smyrna Timocharis

Works	Almagest (Ptolemy) On Sizes and Distances (Hipparchus) On the Sizes and Distances (Aristarchus) On the Heavens (Aristotle)

Instruments	Antikythera mechanism Armillary sphere Astrolabe Dioptra Equatorial ring Gnomon Mural instrument Triquetrum

Concepts	Callippic cycle Celestial spheres Circle of latitude Counter-Earth Deferent and epicycle Equant Geocentrism Heliocentrism Hipparchic cycle Metonic cycle Octaeteris Solstice Spherical Earth Sublunary sphere Zodiac

Influences	Babylonian astronomy Egyptian astronomy

Influenced	European astronomy Indian astronomy Islamic astronomy