ExcerptἘκλογή
Hephaestion of Thebes Excerpt PDF
The Excerpt is a concise astrological treatise composed in Koine Greek by Hephaestion of Thebes, likely around 415 CE. It comprises two passages that are themselves extracts from a longer work, concentrating on specific predictive astrological techniques. The text survives in its entirety within the manuscript tradition of Hephaestion's more extensive and renowned work, the Apotelesmatics, a five-book compendium of astrological knowledge. Active in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, a period of significant scholarly activity in late antique astrology, Hephaestion systematized doctrines drawn from earlier authorities such as Ptolemy and Dorotheus of Sidon. Modern scholarship interprets the Excerpt as a distilled guide or quick reference, intended for students and practitioners already versed in the technical methodologies of Greco-Roman astrology. Hephaestion's writings, including this brief treatise, played a notable role in transmitting Hellenistic astrological knowledge to subsequent Byzantine and Arabic traditions.
| vi | Τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ κεʹ κεφαλαίου Μαξίμου καὶ Ἡφαιστίωνος περὶ γονέων Ὡροσκόπος ♏ ϛʹ κβʹ, Ἀφροδίτη ϛʹ ιηʹ· βʹ τόπος ♐ ηʹ νʹ, ☋ ιʹ μʹ καὶ γʹ, Ἄρης ιηʹ καὶ θʹ· γʹ ♑ ιζʹ ιαʹ· δʹ ♒ ιγʹ καὶ εʹ, ιϛʹ νʹ καὶ αʹ· εʹ ♓ ιζʹ ιαʹ, π ☾ ιζʹ ιʹ καὶ εʹ· ϛʹ ♈ ηʹ νʹ· ζʹ ♉ ϛʹ κʹ καὶ βʹ· ηʹ ♊ ηʹ νʹ, ♌ ιʹ μγʹ, ☾ ιβʹ μϛʹ, τύχη ιβʹ νʹ· θʹ ♋ ιζʹ ιαʹ· μεσουράνημα ♌ ιγʹ μʹ καὶ εʹ, ♃ εʹ λγʹ, ♄ κγʹ εʹ· ιαʹ ♍ ιαʹ ιζʹ, κγʹ ιζʹ· ιβʹ ♎ ιζʹ ιβʹ, κλῆρος πατρὸς ϛʹ ιγʹ, ☿ ϛʹ κβʹ. |
| vii | Ὁ Ἥλιος καὶ ὁ Κρόνος τῷ πατρικῷ προσώπῳ οἰκοῦνται κατὰ φύσιν ὥσπερ ἡ Σελήνη καὶ ἡ Ἀφροδίτη τῷ μητρικῷ, ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ ἡμέρας ἔτυχεν ἡ γένεσις προκρίνεται μᾶλλον ὁ Ἥλιος. ἔτυχεν οὖν ἐν εὐτυχεῖ τόπῳ καὶ ἐπισήμῳ, καὶ ἡ κυρία τούτου τριγώνου ἥτις ἐστὶν Ἀφροδίτη ὡροσκοποῦσα ἔξαυγος καὶ προσθετικὴ καὶ ὑπὸ Διὸς καθυπερτερουμένη, ὁ δὲ τοῦ οἴκου κύριος Ἑρμῆς ἔξαυγος μὲν καὶ προσθετικὸς καὶ ὑπὸ Διὸς ὁρώμενος, ἐν ἀσήμῳ δὲ τόπῳ τῷ λεγομένῳ κακοδαίμονι καὶ ὑπὸ Κρόνου καὶ Ἄρεως μαρτυρούμενος—τρισὶ λόγοις ἀγαθυνόμενος καὶ τρισὶ βλαπτόμενος· οὐκοῦν ἑρμαϊκὴ βλάβη περὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ χρηματικά. οὐχ ἡγήσεται δὲ βλάβη〈ν〉 τὴν βλάβην ὡς δευτέρου ταύτην θεραπευσόμενος διὰ τὸ μηδ’ ἐσοτέρωθεν ῥέπειν ἀλλ’ ἴσως φυγεῖν τὸν Ἑρμῆν, ἢ ἐλθὼν εἰς τοιαύτας ἐλπίδας ῥυσθήσεται. ἐπεὶ δὲ αἱ μὲν ἀπόρροιαι τῶν ἀστέρων τὸν παρῳχηκότα καιρόν, αἱ δὲ συναφαὶ τὸν μέλλοντα δηλοῦσιν, ὁρῶμεν τὸν Ἄρην τῆς Ἡλίου ἀπορροίας κρατοῦντα καὶ λέγομεν πρὸ τῆς γενέ σεως τῆς παρούσης ἐξ ἐπαναστάσεών τινων ἢ νόσου ἀρεϊκῆς σφοδρότερον κλιμακτηρισθῆναι τὸν πατέρα, ἔστι παχυμερῶς εἰκάσαι πρὸ ϛ ἐτῶν τῆς παρούσης γενέσεως. καὶ ἐπεὶ ὁ Ἥλιος ὁ τὸ πατρικὸν ἐπέχων πρόσωπον πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Διὸς καὶ Ἑρμοῦ ἐπιμαρτυρίαν καὶ κόλλησιν φέρεται ἔστιν εὐτυχίας ἐλπίς· μετὰ γὰρ ἔτη ιγ πλήρη καὶ ἡμέρας κδ ὁ τοῦ Διὸς ἐπέρχεται τῷ ἡλιακῷ τόπῳ, καὶ ἔστιν ὁ καιρὸς τῆς ἐπερχομένης ἰνδικτιῶνος γʹ περὶ τὸν Ὀκτώβριον· εἴτε γὰρ εἰς κριτικὸν ἀξίωμα ἢ χαρτουλαρικὸν ἢ βασιλικὸν νοτάριον ἢ εἰς ἀναστροφὰς δημοσίων πραγμάτων ἤ τι τοιοῦτον προβληθείη. ἐπεὶ γὰρ καὶ ὁ Ἥλιος καὶ ἡ κυρία τούτου τριγώνου Ἀφροδίτη ἐν εὐσήμοις καὶ εὐτυχέσι τόποις εὑρέθη, ἐμφανῆ καὶ ἔνδοξα σημαίνει τὰ πρῶτα, καὶ μάλιστα τῆς Ἀφροδίτης κυριευσάσης καὶ τοῦ πατρικοῦ, καὶ ὁ Κρόνος δὲ β λόγους ἔχων εἰς τὸν πατρικὸν κλῆρον τὸν ἐξουσιαστικὸν ἔλαχε τόπον, ἐν βασιλικῷ τε ζῳδίῳ πάρεστι καὶ μετὰ Διός. |