σφαῖρα
sphaira

Greek noun

Last edited: 2025-03-25
Primary meaning celestial sphere
Literal translation sphere
Variants
σφαῖρα sphaira
Edited by
celestial sphere cosmological concept, astral concept

Τῶν δὲ ἐν τῇ σφαίρᾳ κύκλων οἱ μὲν εἰσι παράλληλοι, οἱ δὲ λοξοί, οἱ δὲ διὰ τῶν πόλων.

‘Of the circles on the sphere, some are parallel, some are oblique, and some are [passing] through the poles.’

— Geminus 5.1

Genre: astronomy
Date: 1st century BCE

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

sphere geometrical shape
Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Peeters, T. (2025). σφαῖρα (Lemma #5438). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/5438/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Peeters, T. (2025). σφαῖρα (Lemma #5438). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/5438/
MLA (9th)
Peeters, T. (2025). σφαῖρα (Lemma #5438). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/5438/
Harvard
Peeters, T. (2025) σφαῖρα (Lemma #5438), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/5438/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac5438,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Peeters, Thomas},
	year = {2025},
	title = {σφαῖρα ({Lemma} #5438)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/5438/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/5438/},
}