Dante's Astronomy

Sun in Aries

Reference: Inf.1.38-40
Place: Place: The dark wood in Jerusalem
Context: As Dante looks up in the early morning dawn he sees the sun shining in Aries, as it does typically in the spring in the northern hemisphere.

Reference: Par.1.37-44
Place: Earthly Paradise
Context: Dante notes that the sun rises on different points along the horizon. From the point at which four astronomical great circles (the equator, the ecliptic, the equinoctial colure, and the horizon itself) meet, they form three crosses among themselves. At this point the sun is conjoined to the constellation Aries.

Reference: Par.10.7-33
Place: Paradise, Heaven of Sun
Context: As Dante arrives in the Heaven of the Sun he sees the sun in Aries, the time of year of Dante's journey in the spring.

Sun in Aries

Date/Time: Wednesday April 13, 1300 6:15AM

Source: Starry Night images used with kind permission of Imaginova Corp. All Rights Reserved.

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