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| Paper: |
The Antikythera Mechanism: An Archaeoastronomical Artefact in its Literary and Religious Context |
| Volume: |
409, Cosmology Across Cultures |
| Page: |
160 |
| Authors: |
Campion, N. |
| Abstract: |
This paper asks whether the textual evidence for first and second century BCE Hellenistic religion, particularly the presumed relationship between the soul and the stars in Platonism, may provide a philosophical context for the period’s major archaeoastronomical artefact, the Antikythera mechanism. The wider question posed by the paper is the extent to which literary texts can support archaeological evidence. Regarding the mechanism itself, my purpose is to extend the discussion of its possible applications by examining the astraltheology of the second century BCE. My concern is with the consideration of textual evidence to inform our understanding of the material record, that is, with cultural astronomy rather than archaeoastronomy. |
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