- published: 07 Jun 2013
- views: 6316628
Days of the week from the Roman period have been both named after the seven planets of classical astronomy and numbered, beginning with Sunday. In Slavic languages, a numbering system was adopted, but beginning with Monday. There was an even older tradition of names in Ancient Indian Astrology[citation needed] which could arguably be the origin of all these naming systems. All of these systems have been adopted in many languages, with some exceptions resulting from a number of religious and secular considerations.
Between the 1st and 3rd centuries the Roman Empire gradually replaced the eight day Roman nundinal cycle with the seven-day week. The astrological order of the days was explained by Vettius Valens and Dio Cassius (and Chaucer gave the same explanation in his Treatise on the Astrolabe). According to these authors, it was a principle of astrology that the heavenly bodies presided, in succession, over the hours of the day. The Ptolemaic system asserts that the order of the heavenly bodies, from the farthest to the closest to the Earth, is: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. (This order was first established by the Greek Stoics.)
Monday left it's callus on my feet
I tried so to keep up
It kept dragging me behind
Tuesday lashed it's blisters upon my hands
I wish to clench them in defense
But the joints wouldn't bend
Wednesday cracked it's whip upon my back
I hunched over in pain
My bones began to ache
And I fell to the floor, but nobody came
When I fell to the floor
I got back up again
Thursday's weather cut across my face
Those lines never went away
And my hair was stripped to grey
Friday tried to wipe my tears away from my eyes
But still I had to cry
I had to nothing to show for my life
But these calluses and all of these blisters
These aching bones and these lines upon my face
This frail, decaying frame
Saturday brought grapes up to my bed
Said, “Rest your weary head
Just forgive and soon forget”
Sunday left me roses at my feet
It said, “Boy, you're free to leave”