The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

102 III.xlviii–liv.1 Isidore of Seville
at that very moment when it rises, it appears equally at
the same moment to a person in the east and to a person
in the west. However, because it seems one cubit long
to us, we need to consider how far the sun is from the
earth, the distance that makes the sun seem small to us.
xlviii. The size of the moon (De magnitudine lunae)
The size of the moon is said to be less than that of the
sun. Since the sun is higher than the moon, and yet it
still seems larger than the moon from our perspective,
if the sun were to come close to us, it would be obvious
how much larger the sun is than the moon. Indeed, just
as the sun is larger than the earth, so the earth is greater
than the moon by a certain quantity.
xlix. The nature of the sun (De natura solis) Sincethe
sun is fiery, it grows hotter due to the excessive movement
of its revolution. The philosophers say that its fire is
nourished by water, and it receives the power of its light
and heat from that opposing element. Whence we often
see the sun moist and dewy.
l. The course of the sun (De cursu solis) 1. Thesun
moves under its own power, and does not turn with the
universe. If it were to remain fixed in the heavens, every
day and night would be of equal length; but since we see
that it will set in a different place tomorrow, and that it
had in a different place yesterday, it appears that it moves
through its own power, and does not turn along with the
universe. Furthermore, the sun makes its annual orbits
with unequal intervals, on account of the changing of
the seasons. When the sun rises, it makes the day; when
it sets, it brings on the night. 2.Wandering farther to the
south it makes winter, so that the earth grows fertile with
wintry moisture and frost. When it approaches closer to
the north, it brings summer back, so that crops grow firm
in ripeness, and what was unripened in damp weather
mellows in its warmth.
li. The effect of the sun (De effectu solis) 1. Whenthe
sun rises, it creates the day, and when it sets it brings on
the night, for day is the sun over the earth, and night
is the sun under the earth. The hours come from it:
the day comes from the sun when it ascends: the night
comes from it when it sets. The months and the years
are numbered by it, and the changing of the seasons is
caused by it. 2.Whenthe sun runs across the south, it is
the closer to the earth; but when it is near the north, it
is raised higher in the sky.
[Thus God made diverse locations and seasons for
the sun’s course, so that it does not consume everything
with its daily heat by always tarrying in the same place.
But, as Clement said, “The sun takes diverse paths, by
means of which the temperature of the air is meted out
according to the pattern of the seasons, and the order of
its changes and permutations is preserved. Thus when
the sun ascends to the higher reaches, it tempers the
spring air; when it reaches its zenith, it kindles the summer
heat; dropping again it brings back the temperance
of autumn. But when it goes back to the lowest orbit, it
bequeaths to us from the icy framework of the sky the
rigor of winter cold.”] 31
lii. The path of the sun (De itinere solis) The sun, when
it rises, holds a path through the south. Afterward, it
goes to the west and plunges itself into the Ocean, and it
travels unknown paths under the earth, and once again
runs back to the east.
liii. The light of the moon (De lumine lunae) 1. Some
philosophers say that the moon has its own light; that
one part of its orb emits light and the other is dark
[thus: (a figure follows)] and that by gradually turning
itself it makes different shapes. 2. Others maintain on
the contrary that the moon does not have its own light,
but is illuminated by the rays of the sun, and for this
reason undergoes an eclipse when the earth’s shadow
comes between it and the sun. [For the sun is located
higher than the moon. Hence it happens that when the
moon is beneath the sun, the upper part of the moon is
lighted, but the lower part, which is facing the earth, is
dark.]
liv. The shapes of the moon (De formas lunae) 1. The
first shape of the moon has two horns, thus: (a figure
follows). The second [has] a section, [thus:] (fig.). The
31 The quotation is from Rufinus Tyrannius’s translation of the
Clementine Recognitions, 8.45.Acircular figure follows in some early
manuscripts. It has in its center the words medium mundi, i.e. the
“center of the universe,” and around it the stations of the sun are
written thus: “here is the sunrise on the nativity of the Lord; the
sixth hour of the day; sunset on the nativity of the Lord; sunset on
the equinox; sunset on the nativity of John; perpetual midnight;
sunrise on the nativity of John; here is the sunrise on the equinox.”