In many cultures, the moon is depicted as being a goddess, and a lunar eclipse was viewed as the death of the goddess. Ancient historical records often associate an eclipse with some unfortunate event that followed soon afterward, such as the death of a king or a wide famine. Greek poet Pindar presents a solar eclipse as an omen, and prays that the portent will become a painless blessing. Greek author Plutarch was very interested in eclipses and often referred to them in his dialogues. He made one of the earliest know allusions to the solar corona, the halo of color closely circling the moon during a solar eclipse as a result of diffraction caused by droplets and dust.
Modern historians are able to use references to eclipses to help establish dates of events.
For example, the first-century Roman historian, Josephus Flavius, wrote about the history of the Jewish rebellion in Jerusalem against the Roman rulers. He wrote that the Judean king, Herod the Great, had Matthias burned alive on the same night that a lunar eclipse occurred, and then Herod became ill. It is known that the eclipse occurred shortly before Passover, a holiday that always falls in the spring. Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited. All rights reserved.