page_title: Myth of Er
section_title: The Spindle of Necessity
hierarchical_section_title: Myth of Er / The Spindle of Necessity
caption_attribution_description: From Petrus Apianus&#59; Gemma Frisius&#32;(1539)&#32;Petri Apiani cosmographia, per Gemmam Phrysium, apud Louanienses medicum ac mathematicum insignem, restituta: additis de adem re ipsius Gemmae Phry. libellis, ut sequens pagina docet, Antwerp&#58; In pingui gallina Arnoldo Berckma[n]no [Arnold Birckmann], OCLC 1113627241. Schema huius præmiʃʃæ diuiʃionis Sphærarum. COELVM EMPIREVM HABITACVLVM DEI ET OMNIVM ELECTORVM Ⅰ0 &#160; ♌ &#166; Decimŭm Cœlŭm ♋ &#166; Primŭ Mobile ♊ &#166; &#160; ♉ &#166; &#160; ♈ &#166; &#160; ♓ &#166; &#160; ♒ &#166; &#160; ♑ &#166; &#160; ♐ &#166; &#160; ♏ &#166; &#160; ♎ &#166; &#160; ♍ &#166; 9 &#160; ♋ &#166; Nonŭ Cœlŭm ♊ &#166; Criʃtallinŭm ♉ &#166; &#160; ♈ &#166; ⊕ &#160; ♓ &#166; &#160; ♒ &#166; &#160; ♑ &#166; &#160; ♐ &#166; &#160; ♏ &#166; &#160; ♎ &#166;⊕ &#160; ♍ &#166; &#160; ♌ &#166; 8 ••••••★ ♋ &#166; (•) Octaŭum •• ♊ &#166; (•) Firmamentŭ • ♉ • &#166; •••••• ♈ &#166; ••★••★••• ♓ &#166; •••★• ♒ • &#166; ••••••••• ♑ &#166; •••★ ♐ &#166; ••••••• ♏ &#166; ★•★ ♎ &#166; ••••••• ♍ &#166; ••★•••• ♌ &#166; 7 COELÛ &#160; ♃ SATVRNI &#160; ★ 6 ♄ IOVIS &#160; ★ 5 ♂ MARTIS &#160; ★ 4 ☉ SOLIS &#160; ☼ 3 ♀VENERIS &#160; ★ Z ☿ MERCVRII &#160; ★ Ⅰ ☾ LVNÆ &#160; ◯ &#160; ☽ &#160; ◯ (•) Star aligned with following word; only two sizes of stars are used, relative positions ignored English: The scheme of the aforementioned division of spheres. · The empyrean (fiery) heaven, dwelling of God and of all the selected · 10 Tenth heaven, first cause · 9 Ninth heaven, crystalline · 8 Eighth heaven of the firmament · 7 Heaven of Saturn · 6 Jupiter · 5 Mars · 4 Sun · 3 Venus · 2 Mercury · 1 Moon Latina: Schema huius praemissae divisionis sphaerarum. · Coelum empireum habitaculum dei et omnium electorum · 10 Decimum coelum primu mobile · 9 Nonu coelum cristallinum · 8 Octavum [coelum] firmamentu · 7 Coelu saturni · 6 [Coelu] Iovis · 5 [Coelu] Martis · 4 [Coelu] Solis · 3 [Coelu] Veneris · 2 [Coelu] Mercurii · 1 [Coelu] Lunae Compare to: Sacrobosco's De sphaera mundi
context_page_description: The Myth of Er is a legend that concludes Plato's Republic. The story includes an account of the cosmos and the afterlife that greatly influenced religious, philosophical, and scientific thought for many centuries.
  The story begins as a man named Er son of Ἀρμένιος, Armenios of Pamphylia dies in battle. When the bodies of those who died in the battle are collected, ten days after his death, Er remains undecomposed. Two days later he revives on his funeral-pyre and tells others of his journey in the afterlife, including an account of reincarnation and the celestial spheres of the astral plane. The tale includes the idea that moral people are rewarded and immoral people punished after death.
  Although called the Myth of Er, the word "myth" means "word, speech, account", rather than the modern meaning. The word is used at the end when Socrates explains that because Er did not drink the waters of Lethe, the account was preserved for us.
context_section_description: The myth mentions "The Spindle of Necessity", in that the cosmos is represented by the Spindle attended by sirens and the three daughters of the Goddess Necessity known collectively as The Fates, whose duty is to keep the rims of the spindle revolving. The Fates, Sirens, and Spindle are used in The Republic, partly to help explain how known celestial bodies revolved around the Earth according to Plato's cosmology.
  The "Spindle of Necessity", according to Plato, is "shaped ... like the ones we know"—the standard Greek spindle, consisting of a hook, shaft, and whorl. The hook was fixed near the top of the shaft on its long side. On the other end resided the whorl. The hook was used to spin the shaft, which in turn spun the whorl on the other end. 
  Placed on the whorl of his celestial spindle were 8 "orbits", whereof each created a perfect circle. Each "orbit" is given different descriptions by Plato.
  Based on Plato's descriptions within the passage, the orbits can be identified as those of the classical planets, corresponding to the Aristotelian planetary spheres:
  Orbit 1 – Stars
  Orbit 2 – Saturn
  Orbit 3 – Jupiter
  Orbit 4 – Mars
  Orbit 5 – Mercury
  Orbit 6 – Venus
  Orbit 7 – Sun
  Orbit 8 – Moon
  The descriptions of the rims accurately fit the relative distance and revolution speed of the respective bodies as would appear to an observer from Earth (aside from the Moon, which revolves around the Earth slightly more slowly than the sun).
caption: The classical heavens
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