Of fierce Mars."
The first hour of Mars is on Monday, the fourth hour of the day; so that as the tournament took place in April or May, Arcite went to the temple of Mars about eight or nine o'clock.
It may be well to explain the word "inequal" in the lines—
"The thridde hour inequal that Palamon
Began to Venus temple for to gon,
Up rose the sonne, and up rose Emelie."
In astrology, the heavens are divided into twelve houses, corresponding to a division of the ecliptic into twelve equal parts, the first of which is measured from the point of the ecliptic which is on the horizon and about to rise above it, at the instant which the astrologer has to consider, namely, the instant of birth in the case of a nativity, or that in which a journey or any other enterprise is undertaken.
The hours inequal here spoken of similarly correspond to a division of the ecliptic into twenty-four parts, so that each house comprehends the portions of the ecliptic belonging to two of these hours, provided the division into houses is made at sunrise, when the first hour commences. It is obvious that these astrological hours will be of unequal length, as equal portions of the ecliptic subtend unequal angles at the pole of the equator.
With regard to the time of year at which the tournament takes place, there seems to be an inconsistency. Palamon escapes from prison on the 3rd of May, and is discovered by Theseus on the 5th. Theseus fixes "this day fifty wekes" for the rendezvous at Athens, so that the tournament seems to fall in April. Chaucer, however, says that—
"Gret was the feste in Athenes thilke day,