Is an eclipse described in the Odyssey?

Plutarch and Heraclitus believed a certain passage in the 20th book of the Odyssey ("Theoclymenus's prophecy") to be a poetic description of a total solar eclipse. In the late 1920s, Schoch and Neugebauer computed that the solar eclipse of 16 April 1178 B.C.E. was total over the Ionia...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Baikouzis, Constantino, Magnasco, Marcelo Osvaldo
Formato: Articulo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2008
Materias:
Ciencias Astronómicas
Astronomy
History
Homer
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/82991
Aporte de:
SEDICI (UNLP) de Universidad Nacional de La Plata
id I19-R120-10915-82991
record_format dspace
institution Universidad Nacional de La Plata
institution_str I-19
repository_str R-120
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
language Inglés
topic Ciencias Astronómicas
Astronomy
History
Homer
spellingShingle Ciencias Astronómicas
Astronomy
History
Homer
Baikouzis, Constantino
Magnasco, Marcelo Osvaldo
Is an eclipse described in the Odyssey?
topic_facet Ciencias Astronómicas
Astronomy
History
Homer
description Plutarch and Heraclitus believed a certain passage in the 20th book of the Odyssey ("Theoclymenus's prophecy") to be a poetic description of a total solar eclipse. In the late 1920s, Schoch and Neugebauer computed that the solar eclipse of 16 April 1178 B.C.E. was total over the Ionian Islands and was the only suitable eclipse in more than a century to agree with classical estimates of the decade-earlier sack of Troy around 1192-1184 B.C.E. However, much skepticism remains about whether the verses refer to this, or any, eclipse. To contribute to the issue independently of the disputed eclipse reference, we analyze other astronomical references in the Epic, without assuming the existence of an eclipse, and search for dates matching the astronomical phenomena we believe they describe. We use three overt astronomical references in the epic: to Boötes and the Pleiades, Venus, and the New Moon; we supplement them with a conjectural identification of Hermes's trip to Ogygia as relating to the motion of planet Mercury. Performing an exhaustive search of all possible dates in the span 1250-1115 B.C., we looked to match these phenomena in the order and manner that the text describes. In that period, a single date closely matches our references: 16 April 1178 B.C.E. We speculate that these references, plus the disputed eclipse reference, may refer to that specific eclipse.
format Articulo
Articulo
author Baikouzis, Constantino
Magnasco, Marcelo Osvaldo
author_facet Baikouzis, Constantino
Magnasco, Marcelo Osvaldo
author_sort Baikouzis, Constantino
title Is an eclipse described in the Odyssey?
title_short Is an eclipse described in the Odyssey?
title_full Is an eclipse described in the Odyssey?
title_fullStr Is an eclipse described in the Odyssey?
title_full_unstemmed Is an eclipse described in the Odyssey?
title_sort is an eclipse described in the odyssey?
publishDate 2008
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/82991
work_keys_str_mv AT baikouzisconstantino isaneclipsedescribedintheodyssey
AT magnascomarceloosvaldo isaneclipsedescribedintheodyssey
bdutipo_str Repositorios
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