[259] Purg. xxix. 91.

[260]
“Of those long hours wherein the stars above Wake and keep watch, the third was almost nought.” V. N. iii. 81, 82. (Rossetti).

[261] Inf. vii. 98, 99.

[262]
“Like unto stars neighbouring the stedfast poles.” Par. x. 78.

[263] Purg. viii, 86, 87.

[264] “These stars all revolve round the same point, and the nearer a star is to this point, the smaller is the circle that it makes, and the slower its motion appears.” El. Ast. cap. ii.

[265] Purg. i. 22-27.

[266]
“My insatiate eyes Meanwhile to heaven had travelled, even there Where the bright stars are slowest, as a wheel Nearest the axle.” Purg. viii. 85-87. (Carey).
[267]
“And he to me: The four resplendent stars Thou sawest this morning are down yonder low, And these have mounted up to where those were.” Purg. viii. 91-93. (Longfellow).

[268] Conv. II. xv. 10-14, and 96-104.

[269] “The glorious Lady.”

[270] V. N. ii. 9-15.

[271]

“I say that the starry heaven displays a multitude of stars to us, for as the Sages of Egypt have perceived, including the last star which appears to them in the south, they reckon one thousand and twenty-two starry bodies, of which I am now speaking.”

Conv. II. xv. 18-22. (Jackson).

[272]

“You are to know that the Sages measured the places of all the fixed stars as accurately as possible with their instruments, as far south as they could see in the third climate.... The number of all the stars which he was able to measure is one thousand and twenty-two.”

[273]

“We see in it (the starry heaven) a difference in the magnitude of the stars and in their light.”

Qu. xxi. 19-21.

[274]
“Lights many the eighth sphere displays to you Which in their quality and quantity May noted be of aspects different.” Par. ii. 65-66. (Longfellow).

[275] “The Ram.” Purg. viii. 134; Par. xxix. 2.

[276] “The sign which follows Taurus,” Par. xxii. 110, 111; “The eternal Twins,” xxii. 152; “The fair nest of Leda,” xxvii. 98.

[277] “The Balance.” Purg. ii. 5.

[278] “The cold creature.” Purg. ix. 5.

[279] “The Goat of the sky.” Par. xxvii. 69.

[280] “The celestial Carp.” Purg. xxxii. 54.

[281] Purg. iv. 61.

[282] “The burning Lion’s breast.” Par. xxi. 14.

[283] “Greater Fortune.”

[284]
“Gems ... set in the shape of that cold animal Which with its tail doth smite amain the nations.” (Longfellow).

[285] Par. xiii. 11, 12.

[286]
“A voice, That made me seem like needle to the star, In turning to its whereabout.” Par. xii. 29, 30. (Carey).

[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.

[288] Inf. xxvi. 127-129.

[289] Purg. i. 30.

[290] Purg. i. 26.

[291] Purg. viii. 89.

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

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

[294] Purg. xxxi. 111.

[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.

[296] Inf. xi. 113, 114; Purg. i. 30.

[297]
“The Wain, that in the bosom of our sky Spins ever on its axle, night and day.” Par. xiii. 7-9. (Carey).
[298]
“Fled is every bird that seeks the warmth, From European lands which never lose The seven cold stars.” Canz. xv. 27-29.
[299]
“Seven cold oxen.” De Mon. II. ix. 96.
[300]
“To duty there Each one convoying, as that lower doth The steersman to his port.” Purg. xxx. 4-6. (Carey).

[301] Purg. xxx. 1-3.

[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).

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

[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.”

[305] Par. xiii. 1-28.

[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.

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

[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.
[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).

[317] Par. xxi. 80, 81; xii. 3; xviii. 41, 42.

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

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

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

[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).

[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.

[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.

[326] First, or prime, circle.

[327] Conv., II. iv. 1-3.

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

[329] “From the middle.”

[330] “Of the air.”

[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.

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

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

[334]
“The star That woos the sun, now following, now in front.” Par. viii. 11-12. (Longfellow).
[335]
“I saw how move themselves, Around and near him, Maia and Dione.” Par. xxii. 143-144.
[336]
“That fair planet, Mercury.” Son. xxviii. 9.

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

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

[339] “This Fire.” Par. xvi. 38.

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


[341] “Mars shows red.” Purg. ii. 14.

[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.

[343] “Sweet star.” Par. xviii. 115.

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

[345] “Amongst all the stars it shows white, as if silveredover.” Conv. II. xiv. 202-204.

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

[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.

[348] Par. xxi. 18.

[349] Par. xxi. 25.

[350] Par. xxi. 13.

[351] “Circling the world.” Par. xxi. 26.

[352] “Beneath the burning Lion’s breast.” Par. xxi. 14.

[353] Purg. ii. 13-15.

[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).

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

[356] “All the seven.” Son. xxviii. 14, and Par. xxii. 148.

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

[358] Par. xvi. 34-39.

[359] “About a year.”

[360] “Three,” for “thirty.”

[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.

[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.

[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.

[365] Ep. viii. 158, 159.

[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.

[367] Par. xxix. 97-102.

[368] Par. xxvii. 35, 36.

[369] Par. xxv. 118-121.

[370] Qu. xx. 3-5, 26-29.

[371] “Blazing brilliantly like comets.” Par. xxiv. 12.

[372] Inf. xxviii. 16-17; Purg. iii. 112-132.

[373] V. E. II. vi. 48.

[374] “I, who saw it clearly.”

[375] Naturales Quæstiones, Bk. I.

[376] Conv. II. xiv. 168-171, and Purg. v. 37.

[377] Par. xv. 16-18.

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

[379] “Early in the night.”

[380] “Midnight.” Purg. v. 38.

[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).