Chapter XIV: Introduction (9)

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [287] “The needle which guides mariners, for by the virtue of the heavens it is attracted and turned towards that star which is called the North Star.” _Composizione del Mondo_, Bk. VII. part iv. ch. 2. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Albertus Magnus speaks of it in the same way, as something well known to mariners.

It seems strange to us how Dante and his contemporaries failed to see the importance of this discovery; Brunetto Latini, when the ugly stone was shown to him on his visit to Roger Bacon at Oxford, even professing to regard it as a mere toy, of no practical use. Dante discusses the number of the stars known to Ptolemy, and describes the last mad voyage of Ulysses, who saw all the stars of the other pole, while ours sank low on the ocean floor;[288] but he does not seem to guess that the new toy would make possible even longer voyages than these, and that in time the blank in his celestial globe would be filled.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [288] _Inf._ xxvi. 127-129. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yet even in his own life-time plucky little Genoa fitted out two galleys which ventured through the forbidden Straits, with intent to circumnavigate Africa and find a new route to India. And meanwhile, travelling by old overland or coasting routes, Italian missionary monks, and Italian traders, were visiting southern countries and describing southern skies. Friar Giovanni de Monte Corvino, who was in South India with Nicolo of Pistoia, writes home in 1291, telling of his disappointment that he had never been able to see “the other pole star” (l’altra tramontana), though he saw new stars moving round and evidently near to it, close to the southern horizon. A few years later Marco Polo the Venetian was dictating the story of his travels to a Pisan in Genoa: he had been further south than the missionaries, for in a certain island (probably Sumatra) he had seen the south pole “a spear’s length” above the horizon; and in the land of Zinzi (Zanzibar?) he had seen a marvellous star as big as a sack (which was evidently the Greater Magellanic Cloud). This he drew a picture of with his own hand.

Dante’s silence, and probable incredulity, regarding these experiences of his own countrymen and contemporaries is characteristic of his age; for scholars were too eager to explore the precious classical lore lately recovered from oblivion, to realize that they were on the threshold of a new era in knowledge, of which these men were pioneers.

It is sometimes thought, however, that Dante made use of contemporary observations of southern skies in his description of the stars he feigned himself to have seen when the Wain disappeared under his northern horizon.[289] Quite correctly, he does not place any single bright star to mark the south pole; his two constellations, one of four bright stars seen above the pole in the morning,[290] one of three which takes its place after sunset,[291] are these real or fictitious?

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [289] _Purg._ i. 30.

[290] _Purg._ i. 26.

[291] _Purg._ viii. 89. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is a fact that there are four bright stars in the form of a cross, lying between 56° and 63° south: are these Dante’s “quattro chiare stelle,” “quattro luci sante?”[292] They were not recognized as a separate constellation until the beginning of the sixteenth century, when Amerigo Vespucci described them in his letters about his southern voyages, and the Florentine Andrea Corsali wrote about the marvellous Cross which was so beautiful that in his opinion no other constellation in the sky was worthy to be compared with it. This, he believed, was the very cross of which Dante had spoken in a prophecy.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [292] “Four bright stars, four sacred lights.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even among Dante’s most enthusiastic admirers, I suppose none will be found to-day to support this view; but many think that he must have heard of the Cross from travellers. True, these stars are visible during at least part of the year in all places south of 34° north, and therefore in North Africa, and they had been catalogued by Ptolemy as part of the Centaur, so that no astronomer could take them to be a newly-found constellation, but might not some unscientific traveller like Marco Polo have brought a vague report of their position?

To this we might reply that Dante never says his four stars were in the form of a Cross; that there had to be four to represent the four Pagan virtues, the other constellation of three representing the three Christian virtues (compare the group of four handmaidens who sing, “Noi siam qui ninfe, e nel ciel siamo stelle,”[293] and are followed by a group of three);[294] and that this other constellation was certainly imaginary, since there is no group of three bright stars anywhere near the south pole.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[293]
“We are nymphs here, and in heaven we are stars.”
_Purg._ xxxi. 104-106.

[294] _Purg._ xxxi. 111. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

But the fact is that conjectures and arguments are unnecessary, since Dante has expressly said that his four stars had never been seen before by anyone except the first people—“non viste mai fuor che alla prima gente,” (_Purg._ i. 24)—that is, our first parents, in that Eden of his imagining which was in the southern hemisphere, and on the island where he was then standing in his vision.

As a matter of curiosity I have included a map showing what stars would have been really visible to Dante at the supposed latitude of Purgatory, when Pisces was on the eastern horizon, as described in _Purg._ i. It will be seen that the Southern Cross is low, and would have been hidden behind the Mountain of Purgatory at five o’clock in the morning.[295]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [295] Antonelli thinks the four stars were α and β Crucis, α and β Centauri, all of which had been mentioned by Ptolemy, and all lie near the circle which marks the limit of circumpolar stars in the supposed latitude of Purgatory (32° south). The three stars he says were ζ Navis, Canopus, and Achernar:—Antonelli, _Accenni alle Dottrine Astronomiche nella Divina Commedia_. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Among northern constellations, Ursa Major is frequently spoken of by Dante, under different names, but always with reference to its high northern latitude. As the Wain, “il Carro,” it is said to be lying in the north-west when Pisces is on the eastern horizon, and to have disappeared from view in the southern hemisphere.[296] The wain-pole or shaft is pictured as sweeping round in the diurnal revolution, but always remaining above our horizon day and night, throughout its turning:

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [296] _Inf._ xi. 113, 114; _Purg._ i. 30.

“Quel Carro, a cui il seno
Basta del nostro cielo e notte e giorno,
Sì ch’ al volger del temo non vien meno.”[297]

[297]
“The Wain, that in the bosom of our sky
Spins ever on its axle, night and day.”
_Par._ xiii. 7-9. (_Carey_).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The same idea is expressed in the Midwinter Ode, where the constellation is called the Seven Frosty Stars, never lost to sight in Europe:—

“Fuggito è ogni augel che ’l caldo segue
Dal paese d’Europa, che non perde
Le sette stelle gelide unquemai.”[298]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[298]
“Fled is every bird that seeks the warmth,
From European lands which never lose
The seven cold stars.”
_Canz._ xv. 27-29.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a reminiscence of some lines of Boëthius quoted by Dante in _De Monarchia_, in which the northern nations are described as under the sway of the “septem gelidi triones.”[299] The Septem Triones, the Seven Ploughing Oxen, was one of the Latin names for Ursa Major, whence comes “septentrional” for North. This name also is used by Dante in _Purg._ xxx. 1, where the Seven Candlesticks of the mystic procession seen in the Garden of Eden are likened to these seven stars, and are named the Septentrion of the First Heaven (the Empyrean). This divine Septentrion was guiding the Procession, as the starry Septentrion of a lower heaven guides the mariner into port:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[299]
“Seven cold oxen.”
_De Mon._ II. ix. 96.

“faceva lì ciascuno accorto
Di suo dover, come il più basso face
Qual timon gira per venire a porto.”[300]

[300]
“To duty there
Each one convoying, as that lower doth
The steersman to his port.”
_Purg._ xxx. 4-6. (_Carey_).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like the seven stars, also, the heavenly Septentrion is said figuratively to know neither setting nor rising, but unlike them it knows no cloud except of sin.[301] Because it is spoken of as guiding mariners, some commentators have taken the above to refer rather to Septentrio Minor (Ursa Minor), which also has seven chief stars, and is a better guide because nearer the Pole, as Thales taught; but the comparatively faint stars of the Little Bear would not be so apt a comparison with the celestial lights.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [301] _Purg._ xxx. 1-3. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the name of the Bears, both Ursa Major and Minor are referred to as guides at sea in _Par._ ii. 9. In the strange new seas on which Dante warns his readers he is about to enter, Minerva will blow a favouring wind, Apollo will steer the barque, and the nine Muses will guide his course by the Bears. They are also spoken of together in _Purg._ iv. 65, to indicate the northern part of the sky.

A fifth name for Ursa Major is derived from the fable (known to Dante probably from Ovid’s _Metamorphoses_) of the nymph Helice, who was turned into a she-bear by Juno, and was hunted by her own son, Orcas. Jupiter transformed them into Ursa Major and Boötes.

“Se i barbari, venendo di tal plaga
Che ciascun giorno d’Elice si copra,
Rotante col suo figlio ond’ ell’ è vaga,
Vedendo Rome e l’ ardua sua opra,
Stupefaciensi....”[302]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[302]
“If the barbarians coming from some region
That every day by Helice is covered,
Revolving with her son whom she delights in,
Beholding Rome and all her noble works
Were wonder-struck....”
_Par._ xxxi. 31-35. (_Longfellow_).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here we have the same idea as of the Wain wheeling round but never setting, with the addition of a neighbouring constellation describing a circle in the same time.

The Barbarians who lived in a region always dominated by Ursa Major, and came to marvel at the mighty buildings of ancient Rome, are probably the races of northern Europe in general; and this reminds us again of the lines of Boëthius quoted above, for it is among the peoples ruled by Rome that he mentions “quos premunt septem gelidi triones.”[303] If, however, Dante meant a country where the seven stars pass exactly overhead, the barbarians must have inhabited Scotland, or southern Scandinavia, or central Russia. If he means that Boötes also remained always above the horizon, they must have come from within the Arctic Circle, but this is not likely.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [303] “Those under the sway of the seven cold oxen.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------

In one of the passages just quoted other constellations and stars are mentioned together with Ursa Major. In _Par._ xii. Dante has compared the two circles of spirits which surround Beatrice and himself to a double rainbow, and to two garlands of immortal roses. In the next canto he finds a new simile: in imagination he takes some of the brightest and most familiar stars from our sky, and makes of them two new constellations in the form of two crowns. The stars are these: fifteen from different parts of the sky, which are so brilliant that they shine through air dense enough to quench lesser orbs; the Wain, which never sets in our sky; and the mouth of the horn whose tip is the axis on which the Primum Mobile revolves. That is to say, as we have before remarked, Dante takes the fifteen first-magnitude stars and the stars instanced by Alfraganus as of second magnitude. Ursa Minor is aptly compared to a horn, the wide mouth of which is formed by its two bright stars Beta and Gamma,[304] while the narrow end is Alpha, the Pole Star. These twenty-four bright stars we must then imagine to group themselves into two constellations like that into which Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, was changed when she died; this is Corona Borealis or the Northern Crown, otherwise called Ariadne’s Crown, which suggests a circle, though it is not a perfect one. Dante uses the word “segni” for any constellations, a custom we find in Ristoro also, although the modern usage is to restrict “signs” to mean only divisions of the zodiac.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [304] I do not know whether this comparison originated with Dante, but it was well known to Spanish sailors two centuries later. In the _Arte of Navigation_ which was “Englished out of the Spanyshe,” by Richard Eden in 1561, Beta and Gamma of Ursa Minor are referred to as “two starres called the Guardians, or the mouth of the horne.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------

The star-like spirits, thus grouped into a surpassingly brilliant double constellation, begin to sing their ineffable heavenly song, and to circle round the centre where Dante stands, in a marvellous dance, whose swiftness, when compared with anything known on earth, is as the movement of that swift heaven which carries with it all the rest, when compared with the flowing of the sluggish river Chiana.[305]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [305] _Par._ xiii. 1-28. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

This passage helps us to understand expressions which often strike one as very strange, describing the circling movements of the spirits in Paradise. For the likeness to stars is clear throughout. Their brightness is an expression of their happiness,[306] and increases in each succeeding heaven. Only in the lowest can Dante see the forms and features of Piccarda and the other blessed spirits; in the next they clothe themselves in light, and although at first the radiant eyes of Justinian are seen, the first words addressed to him cause him to shine more brilliantly than before, and as the sun conceals himself by his own light, so the spirit conceals himself by the splendour which grows with his joy.[307] In the third heaven the spirits shine in the star of Venus like sparks seen in flame;[308] in the fourth they are called suns, and surpass the sun in brilliancy;[309] in the fifth they are compared with the Galaxy[310] and with shooting stars,[311] in the seventh and eighth with stars[312] and with spheres of light, turning on fixed poles and flaming like comets.[313]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [306] _Par._ viii. 52, 53.

[307] _Par._ v. 136, 137.

[308] _Par._ viii. 16.

[309] _Par._ x. 76, 40-42.

[310] _Par._ xiv. 97-101.

[311] _Par._ xv. 13, 14.

[312] _Par._ xxi. 32, 33; xxiii. 26, 27.

[313] _Par._ xxii 23; xxiv. 11, 12. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

In like manner the swiftness of their motion increases in proportion to the clearness with which each beholds eternal truth.[314] The almost incredible speed with which Dante himself soars from sphere to sphere, and with which the spirits move—whether in coming towards him, impelled by Divine charity, in returning to the heaven of heavens, or in circling with one another in mystic dance—is frequently dwelt upon, and illustrated by many striking similes. The dance is always a circling or wheeling movement (“il giro,” “la rota,” _Par._ viii. 20 and 26; ix. 65). And besides this, individual spirits turn with a rapid motion, remaining on the same spot. Descending the celestial Ladder in the heaven of Saturn, step by step, they revolve:—

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [314] _Par._ viii. 20, 21; and xxviii. 100-102.

“Vid’ io più fiamelle
Di grado in grado scendere e girarsi,
Ed ogni giro le facea più belle.”[315]

[315]
“Saw I many little flames
From step to step descending and revolving,
And every revolution made them fairer.”
_Par._ xxi. 136-138. (_Longfellow_).

Compare 80, 81 and 39; and _Par._ xxiv. 10, 11. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now these two things, their light and their movements, were all the facts concerning the stars which mediæval astronomers could observe; and the movements were thought to be in circles and inconceivably rapid. Motion in circles, and especially the movement of rotation on an axis, remaining in the same place, had been said by Aristotle to be the most noble form of motion, and the fittest for celestial bodies. Therefore, when Dante represents the redeemed and the angels as expressing their bliss by radiance and marvellously rapid motion in circles, he makes them resemble the heavenly spheres and stars among which they manifest themselves to him. The motions are directly compared with those of stars in the passage already quoted:—

“Poi, sì cantando, quegli ardenti soli
Si fur girati intorno a noi tre volte,
Come stelle vicine ai fermi poli.”[316]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[316]
“As soon as singing thus those burning Suns
Had round about us whirled themselves three times,
Like unto stars neighbouring the steadfast poles.”
_Par._ x. 76-78. (_Longfellow_).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remembering this significance of circular motion we shall feel a little less strange the similes of a mill and a top applied to the spirits of Paradise.[317]

A third way in which the spirits express their joy is by the sweetness of their song,[318] and here also they resemble the heavenly bodies, which make sweet music as they circle. This doctrine of Pythagoras was very popular throughout the Middle Ages.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [317] _Par._ xxi. 80, 81; xii. 3; xviii. 41, 42.

[318] _Par._ xxiv. 22-24, x. 73, and many others. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. THE GALAXY.

The Galaxy or Milky Way is twice referred to in the _Divine Comedy_. In _Inf._ xvii. 106-108, it is in connection with the myth of Phaeton, who being allowed by his father Jove to drive the chariot of the sun for one day, lost control of his chargers, and going all astray, burned the sky in a part which still shows signs of this catastrophe, _i.e._ the Milky Way.

“Quando Fetòn abbandonò li freni,
Per che il ciel, come pare ancor, si cosse.”[319]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[319]
“What time abandoned Phaëton the reins,
Whereby the heavens, as still appears, were scorched.”
_Inf._ xvii. 107-108. (_Longfellow_).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This of course is only a poetical myth. But in the _Paradiso_, in three lines the appearance, colour, and approximate position of the Galaxy are described, and allusion is made to the difference of opinions between learned men with regard to the puzzling question of its nature. Dante is in the heaven of Mars. He sees the soldier saints, star-like and fiery red, some larger and some less, thronging thick in two great bands, which, crossing one another in the depths of the planet, form a marvellous Crucifix. The crowded lights make him think of the Galaxy, with its multitudinous points of light, differing in brightness, although that is white, and lies in a great circle between the celestial poles.

“Come, distinta da minori e maggi
Lumi, biancheggia tra i poli del mondo
Galassia sì che fa dubbiar ben saggi,
Sì costellati facean nel profondo
Marte quei rai il venerabil segno
Che fan giunture di quadranti in tondo.”[320]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[320]
“Even as, distinct with less and greater lights,
Glimmers between the two poles of the world
The Galaxy that maketh wise men doubt,
Thus constellated in the depths of Mars
Those rays described the venerable sign
That quadrants joining in a circle make.”
_Par._ xiv. 97-102. (_Longfellow_).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

If we now turn to the fifteenth chapter of Treatise II. of the _Convivio_, we shall find the Phaeton myth and the various theories about the Milky Way set forth in due order, and shall learn which of these Dante considered to be true.

He is comparing the two sciences of Metaphysics and Physics with the Heaven of the Fixed Stars, and takes the opportunity to tell us some of the most important facts known about it. Here he calls the Galaxy a circle:—“La Galassia, cioè quello bianco cerchio che il vulgo chiama la Via de Santo Jacopo.”[321] This popular name perhaps arose through a confusion of Galaxy and Galicia, where was a famous shrine of St. James, and hence came the belief in Italy that the _Galassia_ was a sign by night to guide pilgrims on their way to this shrine at Compostella in _Galizia_.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [321] “The Galaxy, that is, the white circle commonly called St. James’s Way.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dante proceeds as follows with his comparison:—

“E per la Galassia, ha questo cielo grande
similitudine colla Metafisica. Perchè è da sapere
che di quella Galassia li filosofi hanno avuto
diverse opinioni. Chè li Pittagorici dissero che ’l
sole alcuna fiata errò nella sua via, e, passando
per altre parti non convenienti al suo fervore,
arse il luogo, per lo quale passò; e rimasevi
quell’ apparenza dell’ arsura. E credo che
si mossero dalla favola di Fetonte, la quale
narra Ovidio nel principio del secondo di
_Metamorfoseos_. Altri dissero (siccome fu
Anassagora e Democrito) che ciò era lume del sole
ripercosso in quella parte. E queste opinioni
con ragioni dimostrative riprovarono. Quello che
Aristotile si dicesse di ciò, non si può bene
sapere, perchè la sua sentenza non si trova cotale
nell’ una traslazione come nell’ altra. E credo
che fosse l’errore de’ traslatori; che nella
Nuova par dicere che ciò sia uno raunamento di
vapori sotto le stelle di quelle parte, che sempre
traggono quelli; e questa non pare avere ragione
vera. Nella Vecchia dice, che la Galassia non è
altro che multitudine di stelle fisse in quella
parte, tanto picciole che distinguere di quaggiù
non le potemo, ma di loro apparisce quello albore
il quale noi chiamiamo Galassia. [E puote essere
che il cielo in quella parte è più spesso, e
però ritiene e ripresenta quello lume] e questa
opinione pare avere, con Aristotile, Avicenna e
Tolommeo. Onde conciossiacosachè la Galassia sia
uno effetto di quelle stelle le quali non potemo
vedere, se non per lo effetto loro intendiamo
quelle cose, e la Metafisica tratta delle prime
sustanze, le quali noi non potemo simigliantemente
intendere se non per li loro effetti; manifesto è
che ’l cielo stellato ha grande similitudine colla
Metafisica.”[322]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[322]
“And in the Galaxy this heaven has a close
resemblance to Metaphysics. Wherefore it must be
known that the Philosophers have had different
opinions about this Galaxy. For the Pythagoreans
affirmed that the sun at one time wandered in its
course, and in passing through other regions not
suited to sustain its heat, set on fire the place
through which it passed; and so these traces of the
conflagration remain there. And I believe that they
were influenced by the fable of Phaëton, which Ovid
tells at the beginning of the second book of the
_Metamorphoses_. Others (as for instance Anaxagoras
and Democritus) said that the Galaxy was the light
of the sun reflected in that region. And these
opinions they confirmed by demonstrative reasons.
What Aristotle may have said about it cannot be
accurately known, because the two translations give
different accounts of his opinion. And I think that
any mistake may have been due to the translators,
for in the _New Translation_ he is made to say
that the Galaxy is a congregation, under the stars
of this part of the heaven, of the vapours which
are always being attracted by them; and this
opinion does not appear to be right. In the _Old
Translation_ he says that the Galaxy is nothing but
a multitude of fixed stars in that region, stars
so small that they are not separately visible from
our earth, but the appearance of whiteness which
we call the Galaxy is due to them. [And it may be
that the heaven in that part is more dense, and
therefore retains and reproduces that light] and
this opinion Avicenna and Ptolemy appear to share
with Aristotle. Therefore, since the Galaxy is an
effect of those stars which cannot be perceived
except so far as we apprehend these things by
their effect, and since Metaphysics treats of
primal substances which in the same way we cannot
apprehend except by their effects, it is plain that
there is a close resemblance between the starry
heaven and Metaphysics.”
_Conv._ II. xv. 44-86. (_Jackson_).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This characteristic passage is interesting for several reasons. It illustrates the mediæval fondness for allegory, the reluctance to believe that Aristotle could ever be wrong, and the interest in ancient Greek speculations, in all of which Dante expresses the feelings of his age: and it brings vividly before us the methods and the difficulties of mediæval authors. For Dante is repeating from Albertus Magnus all these ancient speculations: the officious copyist who altered Aristotle’s words, the fact that Aristotle could only be read in Latin, and the variety of translations, were all everyday obstacles to study; and Dante’s own book has suffered from one of them in this very passage. The words placed between brackets are evidently an interpolation (as Mr. Wicksteed observes in the “Temple” _Convivio_): without them the passage goes on smoothly and logically to its end. On the assumption that the Galaxy is composed of a multitude of small stars, but not that the sky is denser in that part, the parallel with Metaphysics holds good.

Dante therefore held the true opinion about the Milky Way, but he was mistaken in thinking that he had the support of Aristotle. It was the “New Translation” (made by Aquinas from the Greek) which gave his opinion correctly; in the “Old” (made by Michael Scot from the Arabic) his statement had been apparently changed without comment into one which seems to Dante—and also to us—to represent the truth about the Galaxy.

5. THE PLANETS.

All the planets which were known before the days of the telescope are mentioned by Dante several times. Each has its peculiar beauty, but “la lucentissima stella di Venere”[323] is brighter and more beautiful than any other. He speaks of “la chiarezza del suo aspetto, ch ’è soavissima a vedere più che altra stella.”[324]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [323] “That most brilliant star, Venus.” _Conv._ II. iv. 88.

[324] “The brightness of her appearance, which is more lovely to behold than that of any other star.” _Conv._ II. xiv. 112, 113. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

No reader of the _Purgatorio_ can ever forget that matchless morning on which Dante, escaping at last from the murky gloom of the _Inferno_, sees the sky once more, pure blue even to its furthest limits, and the planet of love shining in the east.

“Dolce color d’oriental zaffiro,
Che s’accoglieva nel sereno aspetto
Dell’ aer, puro infino al primo giro,
Agli occhi miei ricominciò diletto,
Tosto ch’ i’ uscii fuor dell’ aura morta,
Che m’avea contristati gli occhi e il petto,
Lo bel pianeta che ad amar conforta
Faceva rider tutto l’oriente,
Velando i Pesci ch’erano in sua scorta.”[325]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[325]
“Sweet colour of oriental sapphire,
Which was gathering in the serene aspect
Of the sky, pure even to the first circle,
To my eyes restored delight,
So soon as I had come forth from that dead air,
Which had troubled eyes and breast.
The fair planet that inspires love
Was making all the orient smile,
Veiling the Fishes which were in her train.”

Alternative rendering of the first three lines:—

“Sweet colour of oriental sapphire,
Which was diffused over the tranquil scene,
From mid-heaven even to the first circle.”
_Purg._ i. 13-21.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Strange to say, the beginning of the above beautiful passage which conveys so direct and vivid an impression of blue sky and pure air, presents some difficulties when one comes to translate it word by word, especially as the texts offer more than one reading. By some commentators the “primo giro”[326] has been understood to mean the sphere of the moon,[327] or even the highest sphere (the Primum Mobile); but this is certainly inadmissible, as Dante supposed the atmosphere to reach only as far as the sphere of Fire, which came between it and the moon. The prime circle is here evidently the horizon, the fundamental circle of observers, the First Circle of the astrologers, from which they reckoned all the rest. It is here that the sky usually becomes pale and misty, however blue and clear it may be above. The colour was gathering and deepening,[328] especially in the east, where Dante was looking, as dawn began to appear in a perfectly cloudless sky; for during the darkness of the night it would have appeared almost black.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [326] First, or prime, circle.

[327] _Conv._, II. iv. 1-3.

[328] Literally, “was assembling,” or “was being collected.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Moore thinks the authority better for a different reading, viz. “Dal mezzo”[329] instead of “Dell’ aer.”[330] In this case, we must take “mezzo puro” to mean mid-heaven, that is the zenith, “puro” being used as a noun, and meaning a cloudless sky (like “sereno” in _Purg._ v. 38); and “il sereno aspetto” must mean “the quiet scene.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [329] “From the middle.”

[330] “Of the air.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Venus appears again in the _Purgatorio_, shining upon the Mountain from the east before sunrise; and this time she is called Cytherea, after the island near which she was fabled to have risen from the sea, and in which she received a special worship.

“Dell’ oriente ... raggiò nel monte Citerea,
Che di foco d’amor par sempre ardente.”[331]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [331] “From the east there shone upon the Mountain Cytherea, who in the flame of love seems to be always burning.” _Purg._ xxvii. 94-96. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

The position of Venus in her course through the zodiac is indicated in the previous passage by the expression “velando i Pesci.”[332] The oscillating motion, by which she appears first on the morning and then on the evening side of the sun is referred to several times. In prose Dante speaks of her two apparitions, the morning and the evening: “la sua apparenza, or da mane, or da sera;”[333] in poetry, he describes her as wooing the sun, first following and then facing him:—

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [332] “Veiling the Fishes” (the zodiacal constellation).

[333] “Her appearance, now in the morning, and now in the evening.” _Conv._ II. xiv. 114, 115. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

“la stella
Che il sol vagheggia or da coppa or da ciglio.”[334]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[334]
“The star
That woos the sun, now following, now in front.”
_Par._ viii. 11-12. (_Longfellow_).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mercury and Venus (called rather oddly after their mothers), are said both to move closely round the sun:—

... “vidi com’ si move
Circa e vicino a lui Maia e Dione.”[335]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[335]
“I saw how move themselves,
Around and near him, Maia and Dione.”
_Par._ xxii. 143-144.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Quel bel pianeta di Mercuro”[336] keeps closest, for he is more hidden than any other in the rays of the sun. Here again the fact is expressed in simple prose in the _Convivio_:—

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [336] “That fair planet, Mercury.” _Son._ xxviii. 9. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Mercurio ... più va velata de’ raggi del sole che
null’ altra stella.”[337]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [337] “Mercury ... as it moves is more veiled by the rays of the sun than any other star.” _Conv._ II. xiv. 99-100. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

which explains (if necessary) the more poetical language of the _Paradiso_:—

“La spera,
Che si vela ai mortal con altrui raggi.”[338]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[338]
... “The sphere
That veils itself from men in alien rays.”
_Par._ v. 128, 129.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the same way we may compare the descriptions of Mars in the _Paradiso_ with a statement in the _Convivio_:—

“Questo fuoco,”[339] and “l’affocato riso della
stella,”[340] and “Marte rosseggia,”[341] with

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [339] “This Fire.” _Par._ xvi. 38.

[340] “The burning smile of the star.” _Par._ xiv. 86.

[341] “Mars shows red.” _Purg._ ii. 14. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Esso Marte ... il suo calore è simile a quello del
fuoco; ... esso appare affocato di colore.”[342]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[342]
“This Mars ... his heat is like the heat of a fire ...
his colour is as if he were on fire.”
_Conv._ II. xiv. 162-165.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The famous occultation of Mars by the moon, seen by Aristotle, is quoted by Dante in _Conv._ II. iii. 59-65.

Jupiter is the “dolce stella”[343] and the “giovial facella.”[344] He is silvery white, the whitest of all the stars:—“Intra tutte le stelle bianca si mostra, quasi argentata.”[345]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [343] “Sweet star.” _Par._ xviii. 115.

[344] “The torch of Jove.” _Par._ xviii. 70.

[345] “Amongst all the stars it shows white, as if silvered over.” _Conv._ II. xiv. 202-204. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Therefore when Dante saw the planet filled with brilliant spirits, he says: “Giove pareva argento lì d’ oro distinto.”[346] Comparisons between the colours of Jupiter and Mars are made in _Par._ xviii. 64-69, and xxvii. 13-15.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[346]
“Jupiter
Seemed to be silver there with gold inlaid.”
_Par._ xviii. 95-96. (_Longfellow_).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally Saturn is the slowest and the most distant of all the planets. These two characteristics are thus described in the _Convivio_:—

“L’una si è la tardezza del suo movimento per li
dodici segni; chè ventinove anni e più, secondo le
scritture degli astrologi, vuole di tempo lo suo
cerchio: l’altra si è che esso è alto sopra tutti
gli altri pianeti.”[347]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [347] “One is the slowness of its movement through the twelve signs; for twenty-nine years and more, according to the writings of the astrologers, are required for its revolution: the other is that it is high above all other planets.” _Conv._ II. xiv. 226-231. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the _Paradiso_ Saturn is called a Mirror,[348] a Crystal,[349] a splendour;[350] his circling motion is alluded to, and his position at the time in the zodiac:—

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [348] _Par._ xxi. 18.

[349] _Par._ xxi. 25.

[350] _Par._ xxi. 13. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Cerchiando il mondo.”[351]
“Sotto il petto del Leone ardente.”[352]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [351] “Circling the world.” _Par._ xxi. 26.

[352] “Beneath the burning Lion’s breast.” _Par._ xxi. 14. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some of the most beautiful similes in the _Divine Comedy_ are drawn from the planets. The angel-pilot of Purgatory, when first seen far off over the sea, is likened to the planet Mars, glowing red through morning mists, low in the west above the ocean floor;[353] and the angel that welcomes the poet to the second circle on the Mountain is beautiful as the Morning Star.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[353] _Purg._ ii. 13-15.
“A noi venia la creatura bella,
Bianco vestita, e nella faccia quale
Par tremolando mattutina stella.”[354]

[354]
“Towards us came the being beautiful,
Vested in white, and in his countenance
Such as appears the tremulous morning star.”
_Purg._ xii. 88-90. (_Longfellow_).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although any of the planets when rising just before the sun may be called a morning star, Venus is probably intended here, as also where St. Bernard, in his devotion to the Virgin, is compared with the Morning Star which takes its beauty from the sun:—

“Colui ch’abbelliva di Maria,
Come del sole stella mattutina.”[355]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [355] “He who drew beauty from Mary, as the Morning Star does from the Sun.” _Par._ xxxii. 107, 108. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

All the seven planets (that is, including sun and moon), are occasionally mentioned together, “tutti e sette,”[356] and their movement in the ecliptic is referred to in _Par._ x, 14: “L’obbliquo cerchio che i pianeti porta.”[357] In the 14th and 15th chapters of the second treatise of the _Convivio_, already so often quoted, Dante draws an elaborate comparison between the seven planets and the seven sciences of the Trivium and Quadrivium. The moon is Grammar, Mercury Dialectic, Venus Rhetoric, the Sun Arithmetic, Mars Music, Jupiter Geometry, and Saturn Astrology. The reasons given for the latter are the slow movement and the height (_i.e._ distance from Earth) of Saturn, which Dante compares with the length of the time taken in learning astronomy, and the loftiness of its subject.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [356] “All the seven.” _Son._ xxviii. 14, and _Par._ xxii. 148.

[357] “The oblique circle which carries the planets.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the same way the star sphere is said to resemble Physics and Metaphysics, the Primum Mobile Ethics, and the Empyrean Theology. The argument is very fanciful, but just what would appeal to readers of Dante’s day, who loved to find allegories everywhere; and it gives him an opportunity of instructing them very simply in his beloved science.

He sometimes uses the planetary periods as divisions of time (as Plato said they should be used), for computing earthly events, and in him this does not seem affectation, as it would with almost anyone else. It seems quite natural that Cacciaguida, when speaking in the heaven of Mars, and answering a question regarding the date of his birth, should count the time not by solar but by Martian years, saying that from the beginning of the Christian Era to the day of his birth, Mars had returned to his Lion (the constellation of Leo) five hundred and eighty times.[358] The length of the Martian year according to Alfraganus is 1 Persian year, 10 months, and 22 days nearly. The Persian year (as he tells us in the first chapter of the _Elementa_) consists of 12 months of 30 days each plus 5 extra days, making 365 days exactly (not 365¼ days like the Roman), so the Martian year is 687 days (the modern estimate is 686·9). 687 days × 580 gives us 1091 a.d. as the date of Cacciaguida’s birth. This is consistent with the date of his death, for he had just told Dante that he fell in the Crusade to which he followed the Emperor Conrad, and we know that this was fought in the year 1147.

Some commentators think that Dante did not intend the Martian year to be taken so precisely, but only as approximately two solar years, since he gave it thus in _Conv._ II. xv. 145. But there he specially states that he is quoting an approximate figure only (“uno anno quasi”[359] is half the period of Mars) whereas in the _Paradiso_ it is used to fix a date. Since by taking 580 × 2 years we get 1160, an impossible date of birth for a man who died in 1147, the only way to support this theory that Dante was speaking loosely here is to adopt another reading of the passage, and substitute “tre” for “trenta.”[360] Then 553 (instead of 580) × 2 years would give the date 1106; but the reading is not supported by good authority.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [358] _Par._ xvi. 34-39.

[359] “About a year.”

[360] “Three,” for “thirty.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------

The period of Venus is used with equal appropriateness when Dante is relating how love for the Gentil Donna found a way to his heart, coming on the rays of Venus,[361] the star of love.

“La stella di Venere due fiate ere rivolta in
quello suo cerchio che la fa parere serotina e
mattutina, secondo i due diversi tempi, appresso
lo transpassamento di quella Beatrice beata, che
vive in cielo con gli angioli e in terra colla mia
anima, quando quella Gentil Donna, di cui feci
menzione nella fine della _Vita Nuova_, apparve
primamente accompagnata d’Amore agli occhi miei, e
prese alcuno luogo nella mia mente.”[362]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [361] _Conv._ II. vii. 88, 89.

[362] “The star of Venus had twice revolved in that circle of hers which makes her appear as evening and morning star, according to her two seasons, since the translation of that holy Beatrice who lives in heaven with the angels and on earth in my soul, when that Gentle Lady, of whom I made mention at the end of the ‘New Life,’ appeared first before my eyes, escorted by Love, and took some place in my mind.” _Conv._ II. ii. 1-12. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Venus runs through her changes, appearing first as Evening and then as Morning star, in 584 days; and, as the reader will remember, this movement was ascribed by Ptolemy to her epicycle (“quello suo cerchio,” “that circle of hers”). Dante would find 584 days given for it in his Alfraganus.[363] Twice 584 is 1168 days, or three years and a little more than 2 months. Therefore, since we know from _V. N._ xxx. that Beatrice died in June 1290, Dante wishes to say that he first saw the Lady of Pity in August 1293.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [363] “Venus [ambitum epicycli peragit] anno Persico 1, mensibus 7, et diebus prope 9,” that is, the period of Venus on her epicycle is 365 + 210 + 9 = 584 days nearly, according to Alfraganus. The modern mean value is also 584 days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

The period has been taken by some modern commentators to refer to the 225 days in which Venus revolves round the sun, but this period has no place in the Ptolemaic system. We cannot here discuss Dante’s allegory of the Gentle Lady and Philosophy, but in this passage he has stated without ambiguity or uncertainty the date of her first appearance.[364]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [364] See Lubin’s _Dante e gli Astronomi Italiani_. The period of 225 days may be easily deduced from Ptolemy’s system, for it is the time in which the epicycle of Venus would make an absolute revolution round its centre, the diameter becoming parallel to its former position. But the Greeks invariably reckoned the period as the time in which it revolved relatively to Earth, that is 584 days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. ECLIPSES.

We find solar eclipses mentioned six times in Dante’s works. As in all old records, there is no allusion to the features which chiefly strike modern astronomers—the pearly corona, and the blood-red prominences standing out like flames round the black disc. The terror of the sudden darkness, even when foreseen, seems to have absorbed all attention, and only the appearance of stars in the daytime and the frightened behaviour of animals was noted by Ristoro, and by others until quite modern times.

In his letter to the Cardinals of Italy, Dante speaks of the shameful and grievous removal of the Papacy from Rome to Avignon as an eclipse of the sun.[365] In his dream of the death of Beatrice, he sees the sun so darkened that the stars appear, to his great terror:—

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [365] _Ep._ viii. 158, 159.

“Poi mi parve vedere appoco appoco
Turbar lo Sole ed apparir la stella.”[366]

[366]
“The while, little by little, as I thought,
The sun ceased, and the stars began to gather.”
_V. N._ xxiii. 176, 177. (_Rossetti_).

See also the prose description just before, lines 35-37. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

He also refers to the disputed idea that the darkness at the time of the Crucifixion was caused by an eclipse of the sun,[367] and to the figurative eclipse which then took place in heaven.[368]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [367] _Par._ xxix. 97-102.

[368] _Par._ xxvii. 35, 36. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

If he had ever seen one in reality, it would have made more impression upon him, and we should surely have found it referred to several times and vividly described. The only suggestion of a personal experience is where he temporarily loses the power of sight by gazing too fixedly upon the spirit of St. John; and he compares this to a man who looks so intently at the sun, just before an eclipse, that he becomes incapable of seeing it at the critical moment.[369] This incident may have been told him by an observer of the total eclipse of June 1239, which was visible in Italy, and seems to be the one described by Ristoro.

Lastly, he mentions the discovery that the moon comes between us and the sun, which we have learned from eclipses, as an example of the proper method of reasoning: for we must first ask whether a thing is, and afterwards why it is. Thus man’s wonder leads him to knowledge.[370]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [369] _Par._ xxv. 118-121.

[370] _Qu._ xx. 3-5, 26-29. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

The eclipsed moon is only once mentioned, viz. in _De Mon._ III. iv. 140-142, where she is described as not wholly dark. With his usual indifference to her Dante fails to note the often extraordinary beauty of her colouring when the eclipse is total.

7. COMETS AND METEORS.

The connection between these two classes of heavenly bodies seems to be real, though its exact nature is still a mystery. In old days little or no distinction was drawn between them, so that it is sometimes difficult to know whether a writer is describing a large meteor, or a comet, or a shower of falling stars.

Dante only mentions comets once, very briefly, when he describes spirits in Paradise as “fiammando forte a guisa di comete.”[371] He says nothing of the magnificent comet described by Ristoro, which rose at three o’clock in the morning, huge as a mountain, and with great rays like a mane; but travelling always towards the south grew gradually fainter, and disappeared after 60 days. Yet it was seen in Tuscany shortly before Dante’s birth, and it was thought to herald the death of the Pope (Urban IV. in 1264) and the terrible war in which first Manfred and afterwards Conradin were slain. These events are familiar to every reader of the _Divine Comedy_,[372] but there is never any mention of the comet.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [371] “Blazing brilliantly like comets.” _Par._ xxiv. 12.

[372] _Inf._ xxviii. 16-17; _Purg._ iii. 112-132. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nor does he describe in any detail the fiery cross which was seen in the sky above Florence “in the beginning of her destruction,” which does not mean, as one might think, the legendary sack of the city by Totila, but the treacherous entry of Charles of Valois, “Totila secundus,”[373] in November 1301. This portent was of course considered as of ill omen for the Republic, and although Dante was still absent on his embassy to Rome, and cannot have seen it himself, it is rather remarkable that he says so little about it. It is described by an eye-witness, “Io, che chiaramente la viddi”[374] as a red cross which appeared in the evening over the Priors’ Palace; the vertical arm seemed to be 20 ells long, the transverse one a little shorter, and it remained visible for as long as it would take a horse to gallop two furlongs. Villani the historian describes it as like a comet with an immense trail, as of smoke, behind it. Dante merely mentions it, together with the ball of fire seen by Seneca at the death of Augustus, which, judging by Seneca’s own words, was also a large meteor, for he describes it as flashing into sight and moving very rapidly, disappearing as it moved.[375]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [373] _V. E._ II. vi. 48.

[374] “I, who saw it clearly.”

[375] _Naturales Quæstiones_, Bk. I. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dante calls meteors “kindled vapours,”[376] in accordance with the doctrines of Aristotle, but the popular idea of them is shown by his observation that they might be taken for stars in motion, only that no star vanishes from its place, and they are only seen for a short time.[377] Ristoro d’Arezzo had already alluded to this fallacy:—

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [376] _Conv._ II. xiv. 168-171, and _Purg._ v. 37.

[377] _Par._ xv. 16-18.
“Alquanti non savi credono ch’elle sieno stelle,
che caggino del cielo e vengano meno.”[378]

[378] “Some ignorant people think that they are stars which fall from heaven and vanish.” _Comp. del Mondo_, VII. v. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

He gives the same reason as Dante for disbelieving this, and Seneca had expressed it more forcibly, saying that if true there would be no more stars in the sky, for some meteors are seen every night.

Albertus Magnus, who seems to have had a genius for mistaking his authorities, quotes Alfraganus as stating that shooting stars are most frequent in evening twilight, though nothing of the kind is said in the _Elementa._ Dante perhaps accepted the statement, though it is by no means necessarily implied in his “di prima notte:”[379] moreover there is some authority for the alternative reading of “mezza notte.”[380] Wherever the idea originated, its sole foundation must have been the circumstance that more persons are awake in the early than in the late hours of the night: the fact is that more meteorites are captured by the morning side of the earth, which is turned in the direction towards which she is moving in her orbit.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [379] “Early in the night.”

[380] “Midnight.” _Purg._ v. 38. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shooting stars were necessarily familiar to a lover of starry skies, and Dante has given us an exquisite description of the suddenness with which they startle quiet eyes, while their brilliancy and swiftness of flight provides him with two beautiful similes.

In the first he compares them, and also flashes of summer lightning, with messenger spirits in Purgatory hastening to bring their friends to him:—

“Vapori accesi non vid’ io sì tosto
Di prima notte mai fender sereno,
Nè, sol calando, nuvole d’agosto,
Che color non tornasser suso in meno,
E giunti là, con gli altri a noi dier volta.”[381]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[381]
“Vapours enkindled saw I ne’er so swiftly
At early nightfall cleave the air serene,
Nor, at the set of sun, the clouds of August,
But upward they returned in briefer time,
And on arriving with the others, wheeled
Towards us.”
_Purg._ v. 37-41. (_Longfellow_).

(By “vapours that cleave the clouds of August,” flashes of lightning without thunder are meant. Aristotle believed both these and meteorites to be ignited vapours). ------------------------------------------------------------------------

The second illustrates the brightness and beauty, as well as the movement, of the star-like spirits in Mars:—

“Quale per li seren tranquilli e puri
Discorre ad ora ad or subito foco,
Movendo gli occhi che stavan sicuri,
E pare stella che tramuti loco,
Se non che dalla parte ond’ ei s’ accende
Nulla sen perde, ed esso dura poco ...”[382]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[382]
“As through the pure and tranquil evening air
There shoots from time to time a sudden fire,
Moving the eyes that steadfast were before,
And seems to be a star that changeth place,
Except that in the place where it is kindled
Nothing is missed, and this endureth little.”
_Par._ xv. 13-18. (_Longfellow_).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

8. THE SUN’S PATH IN THE SKY SEEN FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE EARTH.

We have now seen how familiar Dante was with the aspects of the skies above his head. His writings show also that he had pictured clearly to himself what they must be in other parts of the world—in regions far east or west, in the southern hemisphere, at the equator, and at either pole. Science could not tell him all that he would have liked to know about the stars, so that although he can speak of regions where Ursa Major passes overhead, and where it sinks out of sight below the horizon, he has to fall back upon his imagination and invent new constellations for the southern hemisphere.

But astronomy could tell him, and his habit of accurate thought, as well as his imagination, helped him to grasp how the sun would appear at any latitude on the earth, and what would be the results on the length of day and night, and on the seasons. A very interesting little disquisition on this subject is found in the _Convivio_, in illustration of some lines in one of his Odes, which speak of the sun circling the whole world. In order to understand this completely, Dante says, we must know exactly in what way the sun circles the world. The chief point to bear in mind while reading his description is that the sun, besides the simple daily motion in a circle, has a constant slow motion north or south, and therefore his path in the sky, as we see it day after day, is really spiral.

The passage is much too long to quote in full, but if the reader will follow me, taking his _Convivio_ and opening it at chapter v. of Treatise III. and beginning at line 66, I will give a résumé which will form a running commentary on the text, and an explanation of any points which may not at once be clear.

We see the sky, says Dante, continually revolving round Earth as centre; and it has two fixed poles of revolution—the northern, which is visible to nearly all the land not covered by sea, and the southern, which is hidden from nearly all of it. And the circle which is equi-distant from these two poles [the celestial equator] is that part of the sky in which we see the sun when he is in Aries and in Libra.

Now if a stone could be dropped from this pole of ours [the northern], it would fall far away yonder in the ocean just where, if a man were standing, he would always have the Pole Star exactly overhead. [“La stella”[383] is the Pole Star, see p. 291]. And I believe (Dante says) that from Rome to the north pole, in a direct line, is a distance of about 2,700 miles. To fix our ideas, let us imagine that at this spot there is a city called _Maria_, and let us imagine another city, called _Lucia_, at the spot exactly opposite, where a stone would fall if dropped from the other pole. And I believe that from Rome southwards to this second place would be a distance of about 7500 miles. Thus the distance between the two cities, in whatever direction the measuring cord be stretched, would be 10,200 miles, that is, half the circumference of the globe,[384] and the inhabitants of _Maria_ would have their feet opposite the feet of those of _Lucia_. [If any two spots on a sphere are exactly antipodal, but in no other case, the distance may be measured in an infinity of directions, and always come out the same.]

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [383] “The star.”