I wonder if anyone back then, say an armchair astronomer, tried to argue that it was due to the atmosphere, and backed their argument up by comparing the atmosphere to how a pool of water bends light.
Interestingly enough, modern Greece - so presumably also ancient Greece but I'm not sure - are one of the very few places where the water can be so still and so clear as to appear absolutely transparent. I actually experienced this last October in Greece and I never imaged that seawater could be clearer than bottled spring water.
I wonder if anyone back then, say an armchair astronomer, tried to argue that it was due to the atmosphere, and backed their argument up by comparing the atmosphere to how a pool of water bends light.
We'll never know.