By Abbey Rodriguez | Staff Writer
A partial solar eclipse was visible in Washington state this past week for the first time since 2017. In the 21st century, solar eclipses are generally recognized by scholars as purely scientific events that occur as the Moon aligns with the Sun and blocks light to the Earth. However, historically, eclipses have been understood to represent a sense of doom or evil descending over the Earth.
One of the more notable events where people believed a solar eclipse was tied to some kind of evil was the death of English monarch King Henry I, although he died more than two years after the eclipse. The eclipse took place on Aug. 2, 1133, and the “hideous darkness agitated the hearts of men,” said William of Malmesbury, a 12th-century English historian. Following the eclipse, England plunged into a civil war, and King Henry I died on Dec. 1, 1135, which the people linked to the evil that descended on England following the 1133 eclipse.
“Up in the sky the sun has disappeared — an evil mist is shrouding everything,” wrote Homer in the Odyssey, linking evil to this natural phenomenon.
There are also certain scriptural references that some have linked to an eclipse at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The synoptic gospels each reference darkness descending over the earth as Jesus died. However, scholars debate the historicity of this claim. One of the biggest scientific discrepancies found in these accounts was that the Gospel of Mark said the darkness lasted for three hours, but the longest recorded solar eclipse was about seven and a half minutes. Despite these historical inaccuracies, the biblical writers, similar to Homer, linked temporary darkness to the coming of evil.
However, there were also various accounts of eclipses leading to positive events as well. The Battle of the Eclipse in modern day Turkey between the Lydians and Medes in the 6th century was one such example. The eclipse came six years into war and “was interpreted as a very bad omen, and the armies quickly laid down their arms,” according to a New York Times article recounting the event. The war ended with a marriage treaty as a result.
Solar eclipses also gave way to scientific advances. Thales, a Greek philosopher, predicted the 6th century eclipse that ended the Battle of the Eclipse. While the method of how he predicted it is uncertain, he was recognized throughout history as an important figure in understanding solar eclipses.
Sir Arthur Eddington’s study of the 1919 solar eclipse helped prove Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Eddington traveled to Brazil to observe the eclipse and to “test whether or not stars seen adjacent to the Sun’s limb would appear to have shifted away from the Sun and their normal position relative to each other, as predicted by Einstein’s general theory of relativity,” explained the European Space Agency. While exact measurements were difficult to collect, he gathered enough data to affirm Einstein’s theory, paving the way for further exploration of eclipses and their connection to general relativity.