τόπος
topos

Greek noun

Last edited: 2025-03-24
Primary meaning place
Literal translation place
Variants
τόπος topos
Edited by

place astrological concept

ὄγδοος τόπος θανάτου· παντοῖαι θεωρίαι· οἱ ἀγαθοποιοὶ παρόντες ἐν τούτῳ τῷ τόπῳ ἄπρακτοι καὶ ἀσθενεῖς καὶ ἀμέριστοι τῶν ἰδίων ἀγαθῶν

‘Eighth place, of death, all kinds of theoretical considerations: when the benefic (planets) are present in this place, they are ineffectual and weak and do not partake in their own benefits.’

— Vettius Valens 2.9.1

Genre: astrological treatise
Date: 2nd century CE


place spatial concept

Εἰσὶ μέντοι τόποι τινὲς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅπου συμβαίνει τὸν μὲν παρ’ ἡμῖν πόλον τὸν ἀεὶ φανερὸν ἐκείνοις ἀόρατον εἶναι, τὸν δὲ παρ’ ἡμῖν ἀόρατον ἐκείνοις φανερὸν εἶναι.

‘There are some places on the earth though, where it happens that the pole always visible for us is invisible to them, but that the invisible one for us is visible to them.’

— Geminus 4.3

Genre: astronomy
Date: 1st century BCE

Geminus. 1975. Géminos, Introduction aux Phénomènes, ed. G. Aujac. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 21


position spatial concept

space spatial concept

Διχῶς δὲ λέγεται ζῴδιον, καθ’ ἕνα μὲν τρόπον τὸ ιβʹον μέρος τοῦ ζῳδιακοῦ κύκλου, ὅ ἐστι διάστημά τι τόπου ἢ ἄστροις ἢ σημείοις ἀφοριζόμενον, καθ’ ἕτερον δὲ τὸ ἐκ τῶν ἀστέρων εἰδωλοπεποιημένον κατὰ τὴν ὁμοιότητα καὶ τὴν θέσιν τῶν ἀστέρῶν.

‘The word “zōidion” is uttered in two ways, according to one way as the 12th part of the zodiac, which is some interval of space marked off by either stars or points, and according to the other as the image formed from the stars according to the likeness and the position of the stars.’

— Geminus 1.3

Genre: astronomy
Date: 1st century BCE

Geminus. 1975. Géminos, Introduction aux Phénomènes, ed. G. Aujac. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 1

Τὰ δὲ κατηστεριγμένα ζῴδια οὔτε ἴσα ἐστὶ κατὰ τὸ μέγεθος οὔτε ἐξ ἴσων ἀστέρων συνέστηκεν οὔτε πάντα ἐκπληροῖ τοὺς ἰδίους τόπους τῶν δωδεκατημορίων· ἀλλ’ ἃ μὲν ἐλλείπει, καθάπερ ὁ Καρκίνος· μικρὸν γὰρ τόπον ἐπέχει τοῦ ἰδίου τόπου· ἃ δὲ ὑπερπίπτει καὶ μέρη τινὰ τῶν προηγουμένων καὶ τῶν ἑπομένων ζῳδίων ἐπιλαμβάνει, καθάπερ ὁ Λέων· (...)

‘But the constellations are not equal in size, nor are they put together from an equal amount of stars, nor do they all fill up their own spaces of the twelfth parts. Rather, some fall short, such as Cancer: for it occupies a small space of its own space; but others extend beyond and lay hold of some part of the preceding and the following zodiac signs, such as Leo; (...)’

— Geminus 1.4-5

Genre: astronomy
Date: 1st century BCE

Geminus. 1975. Géminos, Introduction aux Phénomènes, ed. G. Aujac. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 1

The manuscripts have “καθάπερ ὁ Λέων”, “such as Leo”. Aujac has “καθάπερ ἡ Παρθένος”, “such as Virgo”.


lot astrological concept

See also

θέσις thesisposition

KI qaqqaruposition

αἰτιατικὸς τόπος aitiatikos toposcausal place

βασιλικὸς τόπος basilikos toposroyal place

τρίτος τόπος tritos toposthird place

ἔνατος τόπος enatos toposninth place

ὁ περὶ τέκνων τόπος ho peri teknōn toposThe place concerning children

τόπος ἀργός topos argosidle place

θανατικὸς τόπος thanatikos toposplace of death

διανοητικὸς τόπος dianoētikos toposplace of intellect

ὁ περὶ δούλων τόπος ho peri doulōn toposthe place concerning slaves

locus place

templum astrological place

regnum astrological place

castrum astrological place

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Peeters, T., & Zellmann-Rohrer, M. (2025). τόπος (Lemma #1113). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1113/

Chicago (Author-Date)
Peeters, T., & Zellmann-Rohrer, M. (2025). τόπος (Lemma #1113). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1113/

MLA (9th)
Peeters, T., & Zellmann-Rohrer, M. (2025). τόπος (Lemma #1113). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1113/

Harvard
Peeters, T. and Zellmann-Rohrer, M. (2025) τόπος (Lemma #1113), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1113/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).

BibTeX
@misc{zodiac1113,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Peeters, Thomas and Zellmann-Rohrer, Michael},
	year = {2025},
	title = {τόπος ({Lemma} #1113)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1113/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1113/},
}