Shakespeare's epitaph: The factoral sum 971

The factoral sum 971 in Shakespeare's epitaph

1. The numerical sum (NS) of Shakespeare's epitaph is 1242, the factoral sum (FS) 971. Why did Shakespeare choose this unusual prime number? The answer seems clear: because he needed it to adapt his results to Ovid's epitaph. Although there might be a lucky coincidence, Shakespeare knew very well about the meaning of 971.

2. Perhaps Shakespeare hit upon 971 because it is a particular inversion, e.g. the NS of OVIDIUS (94) and Shakespeare (103) is 197, but we do not know. The digit 1 mostly suggests the midpoint of a circle. Shakespeare had a predilection for the hexagram because it contains two tetractyses consisting of 37 elements each and the NS of WILLIAM is 74 = 2*37. So the digits may refer to 7 points of the hexagon, to 9 points of the tetractys frame and the midpoint of the tetractys:

3. Of the 6 inversions only 2 are no prime numbers:

nr.	179	197	719	791	917	971	3774
FV	179	197	719	120	138	971	2324
sm							6098
2324 = 4783 >FV 94 = 2*47

We see that 23+24 = 47 and 2324 is divisible by 4*7 = 28. 28 is the sum of the numbers 1-7. The ratio of the basic inverted numbers 12:21 is 3*(4:7).

The single digits 2+3 and 2+4 represent the double aspect of 5 diametric and 6 radial elements, 2 referring to the radial lines of the axis of a circle:

In addition or principally, Shakespeare was motivated by the NS ratio 4:7 of MARIA (40) and IESUS (70).

The numbers 7 and 4 especially refer to the NS 74 of Shakespeare's first name WILLIAM. The FV of 74 is 39, which is 113 together and the number of letters of the epitaph. The inversion 791 is 7*113.

4. The double aspect of diametric and radial elements can also be represented by 8+3:

Likewise the 11 elements of the rhombus can be divided into 8+3:

With reference to the hexagram, 83 is the sum of the numbers 1-7 = 28 and 1-10 = 55 of the tetractys.

5. The number 83 is the main factor of the 4value sum of the 28 words of the epitaph so that 83 is the average 4value sum:

NS	FS	sm	FV1	FV2	sm	tot.
1242	971	2213	560	547	1107	3320
3320 = 40*83

The number 332 can be seen as a contraction of (3+3)+(3+2) with regard to the double aspect of radial and diametric elements.

6. The NS+FS of WILLIAM is 74+52. Three words of the epitaph have the same NS: ENCLOASED (74) SPARES (74) BONES (52). Their 4value sum is divisible by 83:

let.		NS	FS	sm	FV1	FV2	sm	tot.
9	ENCLOASED	74	59	133	39	59	98	231
6	SPARES	74	47	121	39	47	86	207
5	BONES	52	37	89	17	37	54	143
20		200	143	343	95	143	238	581
581 = 7*83

The sum 581 is the fourth part of FS 2324 of the six inversions.

7. The factors of the two non-prime numbers are inversions: 791 = 7*113, 917 = 7*131. The difference of the two numbers is 7*18 = 126, which is the NS+FS 74+52 of WILLIAM. The factoral sum of the two numbers is 258 = 2*3*43, which can be related to the frames of two inverted tetractyses: 2*3*(4+3):

Written: June 2014