reply to post by crankyoldman
Planets ARE discernible to the naked eye - a least the closer and the larger ones. And in a period of history when light pollution was pretty well
unknown, it was much easier too. Did you know that in pre-industrial times, many armies used a man's ability to count the moons of Jupiter with his
naked eye as a form of eyesight test for recruitment? And let's not even go into the many convincing theories about the ancients use of lenses...
which changes the whole equation if true...
Why did the ancient Greeks care so much about planetary movement? Other than the obvious political power that eclipse prediction would bring a ruler
over the people - ask yourself this simple question: Who did the ancient Greeks worship? That's all we really need to know to understand the answer
to your question.

