Open AccessThe Transmission of Ptolemy’s Terms: An Historical Overview, Comparison and Interpretation
Author(s) -
Deborah Houlding
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
culture and cosmos
Language(s) - English
DOI - 10.46472/cc.01211.0225
Subject(s) - ptolemy's table of chords , interpretation (philosophy) , popularity , table (database) , history , classics , focus (optics) , middle ages , ancient history , philosophy , law , computer science , linguistics , political science , physics , optics , data mining
The planetary rulership of terms has always been a contentious issue. Astrologers such as Ptolemy and Valens recorded the heated disagreements of their time, and demonstrated the differences between competing national ‘systems’. The Egyptian system was clearly predominant in the preserved records of classical astrologers, but by the end of the medieval period its popularity waned as support moved to the table ‘deemed worthy of record’ by the illustrious Ptolemy. Supposed to have been his preferred choice, this table of ‘Ptolemaic terms’ was later said to have settled all disagreements and to have helped standardize European technique. Even if this were true (it is not), the inconsistency by which the Ptolemaic terms are recorded makes this table the most problematic and controversial of all! What the inconsistencies are, and why they exist, is the focus of this paper.