Did the Classical Greecians have horoscopes?

Kim Gerbino: They invented horoscopic astrology. Prior to the Hellenistic Greeks* astrology was a reading of omens in the sky. The Greeks developed the horoscope pretty much the way we know it. The Greek word horosokpus referred to the rising degree. As late as the 17th century and possibly later writers referred to "the horoscope" when they meant the rising degree.Although Claudius Ptolemy is the best known of the Hellenistic Greek astrologers**, others in his era whose work has survived are Paul of Alexander, and the Roman Vetius Valens. Paul or Paulus as he is better known wrote a few hundred years after Ptolemy. Claudius Ptolemy's work called the Tetrabiblos (Greek) or Quadriparte (Latin) is the most influential astrology text ever written. Both words mean "Four Books."*Historians tend to date the Hellenistic period earlier than astrologers do. Historians date the period from the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC) to the conquest by Rome (146 BC). But the Hellenist! ic culture continued even under Roman rule. Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos was written about 125 AD. Valens wrote a couple of decades later. The Romans were in charge but the Greek culture continued. **Although his text is undoubtedly the most influential of all astrology works, it is not known if Ptolemy ever cast a chart in his life. We have no evidence that he was an astrologer. The Tetrabiblos is the foundation of Western astrology, there are a few eyebrow raising assertions, and a few glaring omissions for a basic text. Ptolemy never mentions houses or the concept of fire, earth air and water signs (he mentions triplicities but only as masculine or feminine) giving rise to the speculation that Ptolemy was an encyclopediaest, not an astrologer.*****************************************************************************************************************Hipparchus, or more correctly Hipparchos (c. 190 BC â€" c. 120 BC) did not invent the zodiac. He did catalog the constellation! s with reasonable accuracy and was perhaps the first western a! stronomer/astrologer do do so. The zodiac came from the ancient Babylonians (long story). He is credited with discovering the precession of the equinoxes - a subject modern astronomers think astrologers never knew until last month.It's not clear what sort of examples you're looking for. There is a book, written by a famous anthropologist titled "Greek Horoscopes," see below, that details astrology in the ancient Greek world. http://books.google.com/books?id=kEgnLpm06zQC&prin...This is a scholarly work, and I don't know how old you are, but it is well above high school level, and if you know the glyphs and understand some of the terminology, you might wade your way through it.Other books you may find online:Almagest, and Tetrabiblos by Claudius Ptolemy A History of Western Astrology by Jim TesterA History of Horoscopic Astrology by James HoldenA History of Western Astrology by Nicholas CampionGood luck....Show more

Madlyn Fallis: I am think of making some for a projec! t for school. So you have any examples? Thanks!

Tracy Huesso: Yes. In fact the word "horoscope" comes from the Greek "horoskopos," which means "hour watcher," and the word "zodiac" comes from two Greek words that mean "circle of animals." Ptolemy, a Greek, was both an astronomer and an astrologer, and Hipparchus (ca 125 BCE) was another. Hipparchus invented the zodiac system, in fact.This is just a taste, but I hope it helps....Show more