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Created 5941[(?)]13 11 2027 [2011-04-14]

Last edited 5941[(?)]13 11 2027 [2011-04-14]

 

 

 

Helicon’s Solar Eclipse

Revised to July 4, 336 BCE

 

 

Abstract:

This article continues my series of studies into the proper dating of all the recordings of eclipses by ancient historians that I have found published by Bill Thayer on his website. Thank you Bill Thayer!

After having become more familiar with the names and people I have encountered upon my studies of Pericles’ eclipse, then Nicias’ eclipse, and lastly Dion’s and Alexander the Great’s eclipse, I found it relatively easy to properly place, within an exactly defined 48 year range, and then specifically identify Helicon’s eclipse, mostly by means of a closer study of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, The Life of Dion, Chapters 3 through 24 in conjunction with making the following comprehensive table (using Fred Espenak’s and Jean Meeus’ NASA Canon of Solar Eclipses and my Starry Night Backyard astronomy software) of all solar eclipses possibly visible from Syracuse during the 48 year Dionysian tyranny, which tyranny I have discovered as being properly and securely dated to the years 380 BCE through 331 BCE.

Although Plutarch is not providing much in terms of years or dates in his Life of Dion, he is certainly providing enough detail for determining that an absolute minimum of two decades out of the 48 year long tyranny must have passed before Helicon’s eclipse, and that most likely Helicon’s eclipse is properly placed towards the very end of said 48 year tyranny. Among the few remaining eclipse contenders the specific characteristics of each proved helpful in determining the most likely candidate for being indeed Helicon’s solar eclipse. Unfortunately, however, one should remember that very little detail is provided about the characteristics of Helicon’s solar eclipse. Nothing is indicating that it was seen from Syracuse as a total eclipse… No darkness, no stars! Nothing about what time of the day it was…

Nevertheless, I find it very likely that the July 14, 337 BCE spectacular sunset solar eclipse, as seen from Athens, Greece, was serving as a seed for arousing an interest in learning how to predict solar eclipses among the Greek community, most especially among the Pythagorean community and among the friends and students surrounding Plato, and that, in consequence of that interest, Helicon made his successful prediction of the July 4, 336 BCE solar eclipse…

 

 

Quoting Plutarch’s

The Life of Dion

re the 48 year Span of

the Dionysian Tyranny

 

1 year or more likely after the beginning of the 48 year Dionysian tyranny:

“3 Dionysius the Elder, after assuming the reins of government,4 at once married the daughter of Hermocrates the Syracusan. 2 But she, since the tyranny was not yet securely established, was terribly and outrageously abused in her person by the seditious Syracusans, and in consequence put an end to her own life…

 

17 years or more almost certain:

“3 Then Dionysius, after resuming the power and making himself strong again, married two wives at once, one from Locri, whose name was Doris, the other a native of the city, Aristomache… but Doris had the good fortune to become a mother first, and by presenting Dionysius with his eldest son she atoned for her foreign birth…

“4 by some divine good fortune, Plato came to Sicily… Dionysiuscarried Plato to Aegina and there sold him

“6 Dionysius had three children by his Locrian wife, and four by Aristomache, two of whom were daughters, Sophrosyne and Arete. Sophrosyne became the wife of his son Dionysius

 

Many more years likely…:

“2 Now, when Dionysius was sick and seemed likely to die… they gave him one that robbed him of his sense and made death follow sleep…

“11 Many letters began to come to Athens from Dionysius, and many injunctions from Dion, as well as others from the Pythagorean philosophers of Italy, all of whom urged Plato to come and get control of a youthful soul now tossed about on a sea of great authority and power, and steady it by his weighty reasonings. 3 Plato, accordingly… yielded to these requests…

“13 Such was the condition of affairs when Plato came to Sicily… the tyranny of Dionysius… his ten thousand body-guards… his four hundred triremes and his ten thousand horsemen and his many times that number of men-at‑arms… 

And when Dion wished to defend himself, he would not suffer it, but at once placed him, just as he was, on board a small boat, and commanded the sailors in it to set him ashore in Italy…

“16 As for Plato, Dionysius at once removed him to the acropolishe conceived a passion for him that was worthy of a tyrant, demanding that he alone should have his love returned by Plato and be admired beyond all others, and he was ready to entrust Plato with the administration of the tyranny if only he would not set his friendship for Dion above that which he had for him… he kept sending to Dion the revenues from his property, and asked Plato to pardon his postponement of the time of Dion's recall, because of the war…

“17 Dion dwelt in the upper city of Athens with Callippus, one of his acquaintances, but for diversion he bought a country-place… 5 And when Plato himself was called upon to furnish a chorus of boys, Dion had the chorus trained and defrayed all the expense of its maintenance, and Plato encouraged in him such an ambition to please the Athenians, on the ground that it would procure goodwill for Dion rather than fame for himself…

“18 But as time went on, Dionysius became jealous of Dion and afraid of his popularity among the Greeks. He therefore stopped sending him his revenues, and handed his estate over to his own private stewards…

So he yearned once more for that philosopher, and reproached himself for not having utilised his presence to learn all that he should have learned… he set out at once to secure Plato, and, leaving no stone unturned, persuaded Archytas and his fellow Pythagoreans to become sureties for his agreements, and to summon Plato… 

 

Before Helicon’s solar eclipse:

“Thus it was, then, that Plato, as he himself says, "came for the third time

“19   3Dionysius gave him a special token of his trust, which no one else had, in the privilege of coming into his presence without being searched… But while matters stood thus between them, and no one knew of it, as they supposed, Helicon of Cyzicus, one of Plato's intimates, predicted an eclipse of the sun. This took place as he had predicted, in consequence of which he was admired by the tyrant and presented with a talent of silver… 

 

And a very few final last months or years…:

“8 At last Dionysius sold the estate of Dion and appropriated the money, and removing Plato from his lodging in the palace garden, put him in charge of his mercenaries, who had long hated the philosopher and sought to kill him, on the ground that he was trying to persuade Dionysius to renounce the tyranny and live without a body-guard.

“20 Now when Archytas and his fellow Pythagoreans learned that Plato was in such peril, they quickly sent a galley with an embassy, demanding him from Dionysius and declaring 2 that Plato had taken them for sureties of his safety when he sailed to Syracuse. Dionysius sought to disprove his enmity to Plato by giving banquets in his honour and making kind provisions for his journey

“21 But Dion was vexed by all this, and shortly afterwards became altogether hostile when he learned how his wife had been treated

“22 From this time on Dion turned his thoughts to war… But Speusippus and the rest of his companions co-operated with Dion and besought him to free Sicily

 

Before Dion’s eclipse and the fall of the Dionysian tyranny…:

“24 But after the libations and the customary prayers, the moon was eclipsed…

 

(Plutarch, Parallel Lives, The Life of Dion)

 

 

 

Comprehensive Listing of all (18) Solar Eclipses that may at all have been visible from Syracuse during the 48 year Dionysian Tyranny (380 – 331 BCE)

#

Date

Type of eclipse

As seen from the Syracuse horizon

Maximum magnitude from the Syracuse horizon

Syracuse

UT time at maximum eclipse

(Add +1 hour for local solar time)

Syracuse

SNB Pro+ local solar time at maximum eclipse

 

Syracuse sunrise

(SNB Pro+ local solar time)

Syracuse sunset

(SNB Pro+ local solar time)

Athens sunset

(SNB Pro+ local solar time)

Athens local solar time at maximum eclipse

(SNB Pro+ local solar time)

Comments

&

Considerations

1

Nov 5, -379

Hybrid

Partial

0.97%

06:27:42

 

 

 

 

 

Too early within the Dionysian 48 year tyranny: Not allowing for Dionysius’ 1st marriage & death of wife, then new wives & raising of eldest son Dionysius, then Plato’s coming three times to Sicily to educate Dionysius… All prior to Helicon’s solar eclipse!

2

May 2, -378

Annular

Partial

0.308%

07:36:55

08:31:00

 

 

 

 

3

Apr 21, -377

Partial

Partial

0.213%

 

09:31:00

 

 

 

 

4

Sep 4, -376

Annular

Partial

0.479%

14:04:19

14:55:00

 

 

 

 

5

Dec 6, -371

Partial

Partial

0.342%

 

14:36:00

 

 

 

 

6

Jul 13, -363

Total

Partial

0.713%

07:30:47

 

 

 

 

 

7

May, 12, -360

Annular

Annular

0.96%

16:36:23

 

 

 

 

 

8

Feb 29, -356

Partial

Partial

0.533%

 

11:46:00

 

 

 

 

Visible with proper instruments; smoked glass etc.. Not a very likely candidate at this time and place…

9

Apr 22, -350

Annular

Partial

0.754%

12:10:30

 

 

 

 

 

Not easily noticeable: Near noon and only 75%! Too early relative to the closing events of Dionysius’ reign…

10

Oct 6, -349

Annular

Annular

0.949%

06:47:12

 

 

 

 

 

A bit too early (19 & 17 years) relative to the closing events of Dionysius’ reign…

11

Sep 24, -348

Partial

Partial

0.092%

 

13:22:00

 

 

 

 

12

Feb 19, -347

Total

Partial

0.851%

09:55:17

 

 

 

 

 

13

Jul 24, -345

Total

Partial

0.607%

17:32:32

18:29:00

 

19:11:00

 

 

A spectacular sunset eclipse… But… Syracuse has no western sea horizon!

14

Sep 15, -339

Partial

Partial

0.555%

04:57:45

05:55:55

05:39:09

 

 

 

Visible as a sunrise eclipse from Syracuse! This one would likely have called for a few more words out of Plutarch had it been Helicon’s eclipse…

15

Mar 1, -337

Partial

Partial

0.26%

 

10:58:00

 

 

 

 

Visible with proper instruments; smoked glass etc.. Not a very likely candidate at this time and place… Especially considering that the arrival of Plato would be highly unlikely in the middle of the winter when sailing on the open seas was largely avoided…

16

Jul 14, -336

Total

Partial

0.851%

17:34:40

18:31:00

 

19:14:42

19:43:27

19:27:27

A spectacular evening solar eclipse likely to spark an interest in predicting eclipses among Plato’s friends and their students from Greece (or Sicily…)

17

Jul 4, -335

Total

Partial

0.851%

08:45:00

09:41:00

 

19:15:49

 

 

Most likely candidate for being Helicon’s eclipse!

18

Dec 17, -334

Partial

Partial

0.455%

 

14:12:00

 

 

 

 

Visible with proper instruments; smoked glass etc.. Not a very likely candidate at this time and place… Especially considering that the arrival of Plato would be highly unlikely in the middle of the winter when sailing on the open seas was largely avoided…

The above comprehensive listing, as well as the below maps, are derived from the global maps available at NASA’s website, courtesy of Fred Espenak and Jean Meeus!

 

 

Total and Annular Solar Eclipse Paths, items #1 through 7:

 

 

Total and Annular Solar Eclipse Paths, items # 8 through 13:

 

Total and Annular Solar Eclipse Paths, items #14 through 18:

 

1.

 

2.

 

4.

 

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12.

 

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14.

 

16.

 

17.

 

 

1.

 

2.

 

3.

 

4.

 

5.

 

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8.

 

9.

 

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11.

 

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All eclipse maps courtesy of Fred Espenak - NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.
For more information on solar and lunar eclipses, see Fred Espenak's Eclipse Web Site:

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html

 

 

 

Item #14. Sunrise over a flat horizon from the Syracuse horizon

 

Sunrise…

 

Maximum eclipse

 

 

Item #16. Spectacular sunset solar eclipse 1 year prior to Helicon’s eclipse

Maximum eclipse as visible from the Syracuse horizon…

 

Sunset below a flat horizon…

 

More spectacular as viewed from the Athens horizon…

 

Maximum eclipse after sunset (not visible!)

 

Item #17. Helicon’s predicted solar eclipse as seen from Syracuse!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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