[163] _That planet_: On the Ptolemaic system, which, as perfected by the Arabian astronomers, and with some Christian additions, was that followed by Dante, the sun is reckoned as one of the seven planets; all the others as well as the earth and the fixed stars deriving their light from it. Here the sunlight may signify the Divine help granted to all men in their efforts after virtue. [164] _The lower foot, etc._: This describes a cautious, slow ascent. [165] _A nimble leopard_: The leopard and the lion and wolf that come with it are suggested by Jeremiah v. 6: 'A lion out of the forest shall slay them,' etc. We have Dante's own authority for it, in his letter to Can Grande, that several meanings are often hidden under the incidents of the _Comedy_. But whatever else the beasts may signify, their chief meaning is that of moral hindrances. It is plain that the lion and wolf are the sins of others--pride and avarice. If the leopard agrees with them in this, it most probably stands for the envy of those among whom Dante lived: at _Inf._ vi. 74 we find envy, pride, and avarice classed together as the sins that have corrupted Florence. But from _Inf._ xvi. 106 it appears that Dante hoped to get the better of the leopard by means of a cord which he wore girt about his loins. The cord is emblematical of self-control; and hence the leopard seems best to answer the idea of sensual pleasure in the sense of a temptation that makes difficult the pursuit of virtue. But it will be observed that this hindrance Dante trusts to overcome. [166] _Stars, etc._: The sun being then in Aries, as it was believed to have been at the creation. [167] _Morn, etc._: It is the morning of Friday the 25th of March in the year 1300, and by the use of Florence, which began the year on the anniversary of the incarnation, it is the first day of the New Year. The Good Friday of 1300 fell a fortnight later; but the 25th of March was held to be the true anniversary of the crucifixion as well as of the incarnation and of the creation of the world. The date of the action is fixed by _Inf._ xxi. 112. The day was of good omen for success in the struggle with his lower self. [168] _A lion_: Pride or arrogance; to be taken in its widest sense of violent opposition to all that is good. [169] _A she-wolf_: Used elsewhere in the _Comedy_ to represent avarice. Dante may have had specially in his mind the greed and worldly ambition of the Pope and the Court of Rome, but it is plain from line 110 that the wolf stands primarily for a sin, and not for a person or corporate body. [170] _No man_: Brunetto Latini, the friend and master of Dante, says 'the soul is the life of man, but without the body is not man.'