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This seminar will explore two ancient Greek/Roman poems about the stars: Aratus’ ancient Greek poem Phaenomena (3rd century BCE) – which was second only to the Homeric epics in terms of popularity among ancient readers - Manilius’ Latin poem, Astronomica (1st century CE) - and ancient catasterism-literature (myths about figures who are converted into stars). Key points for discussion will include the politics and poetics of mapping the night sky, intersections with the scientific/philosophical tradition, the didactic voice, the interpretation of celestial phenomena and the stars’ perceived influence on terrestrial events, and the extraordinarily rich visual tradition that accompanies Aratus’ poem and the katasterismoi in particular. The seminar will include sessions working on early astronomical materials from our Special Collections. In order to guarantee maximum accessibility, we will approach these texts in translation, and extra provision will be made for Classics students and others who wish to study the texts in the original Greek and Latin language.