κατὰ τετράγωνον
kata tetragōnon

Greek adverb

Last edited: 2025-01-29
Primary meaning in quartile
Literal translation in a square
Variants
κατὰ τετράγωνον kata tetragōnon
Edited by
in quartile astrological concept, aspect

Τῆς δὲ πρὸς ἄλληλα τάξεως καὶ θέσεως τῶν ιβʹ ζῳδίων διαφοραί εἰσι τέσσαρες. Ἃ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν λέγεται κατὰ διάμετρον, ἃ δὲ κατὰ τρίγωνον, ἃ δὲ κατὰ τετράγωνον, ἃ δὲ κατὰ συζυγίαν, ὑπό τινων δὲ ἀντισυζυγίαν.

‘Of the arrangement in comparison with each other and position of the 12 zodiac signs, there are four distinctions. One of them is called “in opposition”, another one “in trine”, another one “in quartile” and another one “in syzygy”, but according to some “(in) antisyzygy”.’

— Geminus 2.1

Genre: astronomy
Date: 1st century BCE

Geminus. 1975. Géminos, Introduction aux Phénomènes, ed. G. Aujac. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 9-10

Κατὰ τετράγωνον δέ ἐστι Κριὸς Καρκίνος Ζυγὸς Αἰγόκερως, Ταῦρος Λέων Σκορπίος Ὑδροχόος, Δίδυμοι Παρθένος Τοξότης Ἰχθύες, τὰ πάντα τετράγωνα γʹ· ὑποτείνει δὲ ἡ τοῦ τετραγώνου πλευρὰ ὑπὸ ζῴδια μὲν γʹ, μοίρας δὲ ϙʹ.

‘“In quartile” are Aries - Cancer - Libra - Capricorn, Taurus - Leo - Scorpio - Aquarius, Gemini - Virgo - Sagittarius - Pisces, all 3 squares; the side of the square subtends 3 zodiac signs, or 90 degrees.’

— Geminus 2.16

Genre: astronomy
Date: 1st century BCE

Geminus. 1975. Géminos, Introduction aux Phénomènes, ed. G. Aujac. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 12

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Peeters, T. (2025). κατὰ τετράγωνον (Lemma #2776). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2776/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Peeters, T. (2025). κατὰ τετράγωνον (Lemma #2776). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2776/
MLA (9th)
Peeters, T. (2025). κατὰ τετράγωνον (Lemma #2776). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2776/
Harvard
Peeters, T. (2025) κατὰ τετράγωνον (Lemma #2776), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2776/ (Accessed: February 2, 2026).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac2776,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-02-02]},
	author = {Peeters, Thomas},
	year = {2025},
	title = {κατὰ τετράγωνον ({Lemma} #2776)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2776/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2776/},
}