4.8 A&G•August2006•Vol.47 The orientation of the Greek temple of Epicurean Apollo

on the thesis that some ancient Greek temples were oriented towards the aurorae borealis is an appealing one. Even given that aurorae can be observed from Greece, it does not seem sufficient to infer from the unusual N–S orientation of a temple, that this must have been occasioned by the observation of aurorae. The aurorae are a diffuse atmospheric phenomenon, and from the latitude of Greece would have been restricted to a diffuse brighten-ing towards the northern horizon