Historical Figures

Aglaonice, Mistress of the Stars

Aganice or Aglaonice of Thessaly is the first known female astronomer.

Daughter of Hegetor of Thessaly, Aglaonice of Thessaly lived in the 2nd century BC in Greece, where she spent for a witch. It is mentioned by Plutarch in his Conjugal Precepts . Of her, he says that she "knew the cause of complete lunar eclipses and foresaw the moment when it happened to this star to enter the shadow of the earth, she deceived other women by persuading them that she made the moon come down”.

She is said to have the power to command the moon, which is generally interpreted as being able to predict eclipses.

One of Venus' craters is named after her.