Dante and the early astronomers . $^ % <? Fig. 48. Dantes first view of Earth from the Stars. Par. xxii. (see p. 397). imagined, the shadow of night sweeping westwardover the globe. The Atlantic Ocean, where Ulyssessailed beyond Gades, is all in daylight, and so is theMediterranean, but the sun is setting over Jerusalem,for he says that its position prevents him from seeingbeyond the coast whence Europa was carried ( or Palestine). It must therefore be middayat Gades, and the sun is on the meridian there; it is a 1 Far. xxiii. 29, 30. 396 PARADTSE. sign and more, or something b
Dante and the early astronomers . $^ % <? Fig. 48. Dantes first view of Earth from the Stars. Par. xxii. (see p. 397). imagined, the shadow of night sweeping westwardover the globe. The Atlantic Ocean, where Ulyssessailed beyond Gades, is all in daylight, and so is theMediterranean, but the sun is setting over Jerusalem,for he says that its position prevents him from seeingbeyond the coast whence Europa was carried ( or Palestine). It must therefore be middayat Gades, and the sun is on the meridian there; it is a 1 Far. xxiii. 29, 30. 396 PARADTSE. sign and more, or something between 30° and 60°,advanced to the west beyond the meridian over whichDante stands. He does not define his own position more exactlythan this, but we may conjecture that he was 45° (asign and a half) east of the sun, since this would bethe meridian of Rome, and there would be a peculiarfitness in such a position at such a moment, when hehas just received a message of warning and prophecyfrom St. Peter to bear to this city.^. Fig. 49. The view six hours later. Par. xxvii. Fig. 49 shows these positions of Dante and the sun,and the consequent limits of his vision. Jerusalem isnear, in comparison with the much more distantsunlit space of ocean in the opposite direction. Weplace the sun in the middle of Aries, because we shallsee presently (when discussing the date) that this is itsmost probable position, and Dante in the first degree ^ Pa?\ xxvii. 64-66. PARADISE. 397 of Gemini because this is 45° east of the sun, and alsobecause the fact that he is above Earths first climatesuggests that he is in the beginning of this sign. Forthe northern limit of the first climate was 20^°, accord-ing to Alfraganus, and the ecliptic in the sign ofGemini rises gradually from 20° north of the equatorto 23J° at its end, where it adjoins Cancer. Since the time when he looked down before, he seesthat he has revolved over an arc equal to half theclimate, that is 90°, for the climates only exte
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