Tetrabiblos

Tetrabiblos (Quadripartitum)

Opening page of Tetrabiblos: 15th-century Latin reproduction of the 12th-century translation of Plato of Tivoli; published in Venice by Erhard Ratdolt, 1484.
Author	Claudius Ptolemy
Original title	Apotelesmatika
Language	Greek
Subject	Astrology
Publication date	2nd century

Tetrabiblos (Τετράβιβλος) 'four books', also known in Greek as Apotelesmatiká (Ἀποτελεσματικά) "Effects", and in Latin as Quadripartitum "Four Parts", is a text on the philosophy and practice of astrology, written in the 2nd century AD by the Alexandrian scholar Claudius Ptolemy (c. AD 90–c. AD 168).

Ptolemy's Almagest was an authoritative text on astronomy for more than a thousand years, and the Tetrabiblos, its companion volume, was equally influential in astrology, the study of the effects of astronomical cycles on earthly matters. But whilst the Almagest as an astronomical authority was superseded by acceptance of the heliocentric model of the solar system, the Tetrabiblos remains an important theoretical work for astrology.

Besides outlining the techniques of astrological practice, Ptolemy's philosophical defense of the subject as a natural, beneficial study helped secure theological tolerance towards astrology in Western Europe during the Medieval era. This allowed Ptolemaic teachings on astrology to be included in universities during the Renaissance, which brought an associated impact upon medical studies and literary works. The book's intellectual standing had collapsed by the end of the 17th century, when Ptolemy's work and the principles it presented faced criticisms of being outmoded and based on superstition.

The historical importance of the Tetrabiblos is seen by the many ancient, Medieval and Renaissance commentaries that have been published about it. It was copied, commented on, paraphrased, abridged, and translated into many languages. The latest critical Greek edition, by Wolfgang Hübner, was published by Teubner in 1998.

"I know that I am mortal, the creature of one day; but when I explore the winding courses of the stars I no longer touch with my feet the Earth: I am standing near Zeus himself, drinking my fill of Ambrosia, the food of the gods."