Ulysis Slagle
Mrs. Karl
Honors British Literature
21 February, 2018
The Prague Astronomical Clock “Tick tock, tick tock” is a common sound from today’s clocks. When traveling in Prague in the Czech Republic, the normal everyday clock is not to be found in front of “the Old Town Hall.” Instead, the Prague Astronomical Clock overshadows all other clocks with its magnificent craftsmanship. The delicate clock is filled with different mechanics that make it work, along with legends and stories to come along with it, and the many different times it tells. Normal clock mechanics may seem easy as they are just a few gears that turn with a battery. This can't be said for the Prague Astronomical Clock which was made before the time of a battery.…show more content… The legend of the skeleton has a couple different stories behind it. The first story behind the legend of the skeleton is that once the Clock stops working for a long period of time, then the Czech Republic would suffer bad times and the skeleton on the clock was suppose to confirm this by nodding its head. Another legend of the skeleton was a sign of hope. Above the Astronomical Clock are two little windows where imprisoned aristocrats would go to jail. One day, an imprisoned knight was waiting for his death. The knight was watching the skeleton out the window right when the hour mark struck and the skeleton opened its mouth. When this happened, a sparrow flew into the skeleton’s mouth as it closed and became imprisoned. The next hour, the skeleton opened its mouth and the sparrow flew free. When the knight witnessed this escape, he believed he could get out of jail too. Soon after, the people of Prague pardoned the knight and set him free. This led to the skeleton becoming a sign of…show more content… There are many different functions and clock times all happening at the simultaneously. The different times on the clock consist of Bohemian time, European Central time, Babylonian time, and Sidereal time. Bohemian time tells time for the Bohemian day. Prague is in the region of the Czech Republic named Bohemia so this time was used long ago in the past. Bohemian time starts at sunset of each day and is divided into 24 equal hours. The outermost scale of the Prague Astronomical Clock is the scale that shows Bohemian time. Since the sunset changes throughout the year, the Bohemian clock hand rotates a small increment everyday to stay synced with Prague’s sunset. Next, European Central time is like the time today, where it starts at midnight. On the Prague Clock, European Central time is located on the second most outer scale right next to Bohemian time. The symbols of European Central time are golden Roman numerals and are numbered 1-24. Thirdly, Babylonian time is told on the Prague Astronomical Clock. Babylonian time divides between sunset and sunrise into 12 hours and during different seasons, the length of the Babylonian hour varies. For example, in the summer solstice, an hour in Babylonian time is 81 minutes while in the winter solstice, it is 41 minutes. Babylonian time is told by the position of the sunburst in relation to the curved lines and is read with the Black Arabian numbers inside the European Central