AboutTom Horne Expertise I`m well versed in classical literature, from Greek mythology up to the Pre-Renaissance, including Homer, Dante, Bocaccio, Virgil. I`m currently a writer who incorporates many classical references in my work, so I constantly keep myself involved, and I`d be happy to help anyone in need of some help, a reference, etc.
I'd be extremely grateful if you could help me to find a quote from Classical
Literature, Ancient Greek or Roman, which endeavors to explain why the sky
is blue through metaphor or description.
Thank you very much and I look forward to your response,
Michael
Answer Hello, Michael.
I have checked through almost everything I can think of, including some really old encyclopedias I have here, and I can't seem to find a specific line from mythology about why the sky is blue. I concetrated mostly in Roman myths, because there was no word in ancient Greek for "blue." In fact, the Greeks had very few words for individual colors, and instead used words instead like "colorful" and "variety of hues" and the like. In the Iliad, Homer says the sky is the color of bronze, so that shows you just how far they were from having a "blue" word.
The planet Uranus is blue, and the Roman god Uranus was the god of the sky. His Greek counterpart was Ouranos (spelling varies). So the idea of a blue planet being named after the god of the blue sky makes sense, but still doesn't answer your intriguing question about who might have first answered that question in classical literature.
I will keep looking and follow up if I find something, and I apologize for not finding an example for you. I have dozens of old classical books I've been digging through, but nothing is coming up unfortunately.
Tom
