'Zeus made night from mid-day': Terror and wonder in ancient accounts of solar eclipses

For millennia, solar eclipses have inspired awe, wonder and fear. After all, it's not often that twilight descends in the middle of the day. And just as we plan for and anticipate their occurrence — like the total solar eclipse that will be visible to millions of North Americans on April 8 — ancient cultures across the world, from the Mayans to the ancient Greeks, developed their own mythologies and traditions around eclipses.

The Maya weren't the only people who thought they saw the sun being eaten. In ancient Chinese mythology, solar eclipses occurred when a dragon tried to devour the sun. In response, people would crowd into the streets, banging drums to scare the dragon away, according to NASA. One ancient Chinese record — likely referring to a solar eclipse that occurred in 2134 B.C. — reported that"the sun and the Moon did not meet harmoniously.

Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)

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