Open AccessCalculating the Lots of Fortune and Daemon in Hellenistic Astrology
Author(s) -
Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
culture and cosmos
Language(s) - English
DOI - 10.46472/cc.01211.0217
Subject(s) - daemon , astrology , destiny (iss module) , classics , history , zoroastrianism , literature , philosophy , art , engineering , computer science , archaeology , islam , computer network , aerospace engineering
This paper looks at some of the contributions the Lots of Fortune and Daemon make to the practice of Hellenistic astrology. First, an overview on the role that Fortune and Daimon play for the individual in the Greco-Roman world, including in the perceived fate of an individual, is given. Next, how Fortune and Daimon help to create the system of astrological lots is discussed. The Lots of Fortune and Daemon may be a way of incorporating ideas of personal destiny into astrology, at least in determining length of life, if not in other areas. For this reason, the methods used in their calculation become important. The paper examines variations in these methods and the rationale behind them, what different astrologers say about them, and discusses the way an ancient astrologer (Titus Pitenius, in P. Lond. 130) may have calculated the Lot of Fortune.