THE MANIFESTATION OF A STAR AS THE GOD ARCTURUS’ PERSONIFICATION

Abstract

The figure of a divinity, in the case of Plautus’ Rudens, Arcturus, in the role of a persona prologans was very current in archaic Latin comedy. The god ― or star ― Arcturus appears to his audience as a magnificent vision: the costume worn by Arcturus is blinding. It is a white star splendens stella candida, even if there is no concrete evidence to state precisely how he was dressed in a manner corresponding to its description. The actor who played the star probably was wearing a white robe, white as the toga which worn by those aspiring to public office, the candidatus. Arcturus, or Alpha Bootis, is in fact the brightest star in the northern hemisphere and the fourth star in the sky in order of magnitude. The star is a red giant with a luminosity 113 times that of the Sun, and can be observed from all the regions of the earth. Starting from the definition that Hesiod attributed to the star Arcturus we will analyze the question about the brightness of the star which has proven to be stubbornly difficult and controversial: some say the word should be understood as 'bright' or 'shining'; according to others the emphasis is rather on the concept of the duration of the brightness of the star 'that shines all night', thus making Arcturus a celestial body that does not pass below the horizon.

The ancient astronomers both Greek and Latin are in agreement about the brightness of the star: from Homer, Aratus, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, Eudoxus, Manilius, Gaius Julius Caesar Claudianus Germanicus, Erotianus to Eusebius the star was bright.