Without recourse. All Rights Reserved. Tree of Life©
Statement of belief: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (John 17:17
KJV)
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… Dionysius… carried 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 acropolis… he 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…
4 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 |
|
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 |
Partial |
0.308% |
07:36:55 |
08:31:00 |
|
|
|
|
|||
|
3 |
Apr
21, -377 |
Partial |
0.213% |
|
09:31:00 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
4 |
Partial |
0.479% |
14:04:19 |
14:55:00 |
|
|
|
|
|||
|
5 |
Partial |
0.342% |
|
14:36:00 |
|
|
|
|
|||
|
6 |
Partial |
0.713% |
07:30:47 |
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
7 |
Annular |
0.96% |
16:36:23 |
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
Feb
29, -356 |
Partial |
0.533% |
|
11:46:00 |
|
|
|
|
Visible
with proper instruments; smoked glass etc.. Not a
very likely candidate at this time and place… |
||
|
9 |
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 |
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 |
0.092% |
|
13:22:00 |
|
|
|
|
||
|
12 |
Partial |
0.851% |
09:55:17 |
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
13 |
Partial |
0.607% |
17:32:32 |
18:29:00 |
|
19:11:00 |
|
|
A spectacular
sunset eclipse… But… Syracuse has no western sea horizon! |
||
|
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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:
2.
4.
5.
6.
7.
9.
10.
12.
13.
14.
16.
17.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
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!
Comments and donations freely
accepted at:
Tree
of Life©
c/o
General Delivery
Nora
[near SE-713 01]
eMail:
TreeOfLifeTime@gmail.com
…
…
The GateWays into Tree of Life Chronology Forums©
The
GateWays of Entry into the Tree of Life Time
Chronology Touching upon the Book of Daniel©
Pearls
& Mannah – “I found it!”
Feel free to use, and for sharing freely with others,
any of the truth and blessings belonging to God alone. I retain all the
copyrights to the within, such that no one may lawfully restrain my use and my
sharing of it with others. Including also all the errors that remain. Please
let only me know about those. I need to know in order to correct them. Others
don’t need to be focused upon the errors that belong to me alone. Please
respect that, and please do not hesitate to let me know of any certain error
that you find!
Without recourse. All Rights Reserved. Tree of Life©
class=WordSection2>
. Please respect that, and please do not hesitate to
let me know of any certain error that you find!
Without recourse. All Rights Reserved. Tree of Life©