page_title: Dog days
section_title: In popular culture
hierarchical_section_title: Dog days / In popular culture
caption_attribution_description: Seven dog-days we let pass Naming Queens in Glenmacnass, All the rare and royal names Wormy sheepskin yet retains
context_page_description: The dog days or dog days of summer are the hot, sultry days of summer. They were historically the period following the heliacal rising of the star system Sirius, which Hellenistic astrology connected with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck. They are now taken to be the hottest, most uncomfortable part of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
context_section_description: It is possible that the Roch, the legendary medieval patron saint of dogs celebrated by the Catholic Church on 16 August, owes some of his legacy to the dog days. From the period of his self-proclaimed protectorate over the island, the Danish adventurer Jørgen Jørgensen is remembered in Iceland as Jørgen the Dog-Day King (Icelandic: Jörundur hundadagakonungur).
  In western literature, apart from the Greek and Roman works mentioned above, the dog days appear in John Webster's 1613 play The Duchess of Malfi, Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, R.H. Davis's 1903 short story "The Bar Sinister", J.M. Synge's 1909 poem "Queens", and Richard Adams's 1972 novel Watership Down. They feature in the children's novels Tuck Everlasting (1973). and Dog Days (2009) from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
  Dog Days is also the title of a Japanese anime series that premiered in 2011. The story revolves around a boy named Shinku Izumi, who is summoned to an alternate world where the inhabitants have animal ears and tails.
  In film, the titles of Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and Hundstage (German for "Dog Days"; 2001) evoke their oppressive seasonal settings.
  In music, there are Head of David's "Dog Day Sunrise", covered by Fear Factory in 1995; Florence and the Machine's 2009 "Dog Days Are Over"; and Within Temptation's 2013 "Dog Days". 
  Dog Days is the title of a 2012 opera by composer David T. Little and librettist Royce Vavrek, based on the short story by Judy Budnitz.
  "Dog-day" promotions are also a common feature in baseball, used by American ballparks to boost ticket sales during mid-afternoon games.
caption: Harry Clarke's 1917 illustration of Synge's poem.
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