[152] Troilus and Criseyde, IV. 743-746.
[153] IX. 2576-2599.
[154] Her father, Egistes, because he feared her husband, bade her kill him by cutting his throat, and threatened her with death if she refused.
[155] In astrology the signs of the zodiac were called ‘houses’ or ‘mansions’ and each was assigned to a particular planet. When a planet was in its house or mansion, its power was very great. Each of the planets had also a sign called its ‘exaltation’ and in this sign its power was greatest of all. The sign opposite a planet’s mansion was called its ‘fall’ and that opposite its exaltation was called its ‘depression’; these were the positions of least influence. Mars’ mansions were Aries and Scorpio; his exaltation, Capricornus; his fall, Libra and Taurus, and his depression, Cancer. At the time of Hypermnestra’s birth, then, we may suppose that Mars was in Libra, Taurus or in Cancer. If he was in Libra or Taurus, his influence would be suppressed by Venus, as these signs were in her mansions.
[156] Knightes Tale, A. 2453-2469.
[157] Ibid. 1087-1088.
[158] Ibid. 1328.
[159] Astrolabe, ii. 4. 21-25. The term “hous” is here used in a different sense from that in the passage explained above, p. 120. The whole heavens were divided into twelve portions by great circles passing through the north and south points of the horizon. The one of these just rising was called the ‘house of the ascendant.’
[160] Wife of Bath’s Prologue, D. 609-616. The line
“Myn ascendent was Taur, and Mars ther-inne”