Since Antiquity, eclipses have been interpreted as omens, as punishment or as romantic metaphors, and that fascination has left its mark on literature, cinema and music. In fact, the phenomenon has been depicted in numerous paintings, but how have eclipses influenced the most popular artistic creations?
Here is a look at 10 books, nine films and eight songs that, in one way or another, revolve around an eclipse.
10 books marked by an eclipse
1. 'The Odyssey' (Homer, 8th century BC) In Book 20 of the poem, the seer Theoclymenus interprets a sudden darkening of the sky as heralding the imminent death of Penelope's suitors, shortly before Odysseus confronts them.
A study published in 2008 linked that passage to a real eclipse observed in the Ionian Islands in 1178 BC. The work is currently on everyone's lips because of Christopher Nolan's film, although that episode is not mentioned in the movie.
2. The 'Song of Roland' (anonymous, 11th century) This medieval epic poem, which tells of the defeat of Roland and his army at Roncesvalles at the hands of the Saracens, describes a sudden darkening of the sky, storms and an earthquake as signs of a possible end of the world. It is a classic example of how medieval literature associated eclipses with ill omens.
3. 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' (Mark Twain, 1889) Hank Morgan, a mechanic from Connecticut, travels back in time to 6th-century England and is sentenced to death by burning at the stake. He then remembers that a solar eclipse is approaching and threatens to plunge the world into darkness if his life is not spared, which allows him to escape and earn a reputation as a sorcerer at King Arthur's court.
4. 'King Solomon's Mines' (H. Rider Haggard, 1885) A few years before Twain, Haggard had already resorted to a very similar device: an explorer who knows the date of an imminent eclipse persuades the Kukuana tribe that he can hide the Sun with his powers, and in exchange demands that the people obey his orders.
5. Diaries (Virginia Woolf) The author of 'Mrs Dalloway' travelled in 1927 to the north of England to witness the first total eclipse visible in the country in almost 200 years. In her diaries she describes how the light disappeared completely for a few seconds and then returned all at once, which she herself noted as the most astonishing moment of the experience.
6. 'Dolores Claiborne' (Stephen King, 1992) The protagonist plans her husband's death, a violent, alcoholic man, taking advantage of the real solar eclipse that could be seen in the United States in 1963. Years later, during a police interrogation over another death, she recalls that episode to the investigators.
7. 'Gerald's Game' (Stephen King, 1992) Published in the same year as 'Dolores Claiborne', this novel also assigns a key role to the 1963 eclipse, which King used as the backdrop for two different stories told in very different tones.
8. 'Nightfall' (Isaac Asimov, 1941) On the planet Lagash, permanently lit by six suns, its inhabitants have no concept of darkness. When astronomers announce that a total eclipse will leave the planet without light for the first time in 2,000 years, society is confronted with something for which it is utterly unprepared. It is regarded as one of the best science-fiction short stories of the last century.
9. 'The Eclipse' (Augusto Monterroso, 1959) In this very short Guatemalan story, a Spanish friar lost in the jungle tries to save himself from being sacrificed by a group of Maya by warning them that, thanks to his knowledge, he is capable of darkening the Sun. The ironic ending turns his expectations completely on their head.
10. 'Total Eclipse' (Annie Dillard, 1982) This essay, included in the book "Teaching a Stone to Talk", recounts the author's journey to the Yakima Valley in Washington State to observe a total eclipse in 1979. Dillard describes the experience as something that completely transforms one's perception of reality, far more unsettling than she herself had expected.
Eclipse inspiration on screen
1. 'Barabbas' (Richard Fleischer, 1961) To film the crucifixion scene in this epic production, the crew timed the shoot to coincide with a real solar eclipse that took place in Italy on 15 February 1961, and deployed more than 40 cameras across Tuscany to capture the phenomenon's strange light.
2. 'Eclipse' (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962) That same Italian eclipse of 1961 inspired Antonioni to choose the title of this film, starring Alain Delon and Monica Vitti, one of the classics of European cinema of the 1970s.
3. 'Ladyhawke' (Richard Donner, 1985) The two protagonists of this medieval fantasy, played by Michelle Pfeiffer and Rutger Hauer, are under a curse that turns her into a hawk during the day and him into a wolf at night. Only a solar eclipse, a day without night and a night without day, allows them to recover their human form at the same time.
4. 'Apocalypto' (Mel Gibson, 2006) Set on the Yucatán peninsula in the early 16th century, the film shows its protagonist about to be sacrificed atop a Maya pyramid when a solar eclipse, interpreted by the priests as a sign from the Sun god, allows him to save his life.
5. 'Dolores Claiborne' (Taylor Hackford, 1995) A film adaptation of Stephen King's 'Dolores Claiborne', starring Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Leigh, which retains the central role of the 1963 eclipse in the plot.
6. 'Gerald's Game' (Mike Flanagan, 2017) Netflix's version of Stephen King's novel of the same name, starring Carla Gugino, which also brings back the 1963 eclipse as a central narrative element.
7. 'Darkness' (Jaume Balagueró, 2002) In this horror thriller, a family moves into a house near Barcelona where, 40 years earlier, six children had been sacrificed in a ritual that coincided with a solar eclipse.
8. 'Venus' (Jaume Balagueró, 2022) The director of 'Darkness' once again turned to the motif of the eclipse in this film, in which a demonic entity tries to possess the protagonist, played by Ester Expósito, during the phenomenon.
9. 'Verónica' (Paco Plaza, 2017) Set during the 1991 solar eclipse in Madrid, the protagonist holds a seance with a ouija board in the middle of the phenomenon, with consequences that shape the rest of the film.
Eclipse in music
1. 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', Bonnie Tyler (1983) Written and produced by Jim Steinman, it became the biggest hit of the Welsh singer's career and a classic that gets played every time there is an eclipse anywhere in the world. Tyler died last July at the age of 75, just a few weeks before this eclipse, which her song has ended up turning into the phenomenon's unofficial anthem. Link:
2. 'Eclipse', Pink Floyd (1973) The track closes the album 'The Dark Side of the Moon' with a melody that builds to a climax and ends with the same heartbeat that opens the record, thus completing the circle of the whole album. Link:
3. 'You're So Vain', Carly Simon (1972) In one of its most memorable verses, the singer tells how the song's protagonist flies by private jet to Nova Scotia, in Canada, to witness a total solar eclipse, one of pop's most frequently cited references to this phenomenon. Link:
4. 'Eclipse Total del Amor', Lissette (1984) A Spanish-language version of 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', recorded by Cuban singer Lissette for her album 'Caricatura', with its own lyrics that depart in part from the original and that became a hit in Spanish-speaking countries. Link:
5. 'Eclipse' (feat. Los Macorinos), Natalia Lafourcade (2018) Included on 'Musas, Vol. 2', the album in which the Mexican singer pays tribute to Latin American folk music together with guitar duo Los Macorinos, this song uses the image of a lunar eclipse to describe the sadness of heartbreak. Link:
6. 'Eclipse de Luna', Luciano Pereyra (2000) A track from the Argentine singer's album 'Recordándote' that uses the image of a lunar eclipse as a metaphor for a night of passion. Link:
7. 'Total Eclipse', Klaus Nomi (1981) The German singer and countertenor, one of the most singular figures of New York post-punk, turned the eclipse into a metaphor for a nuclear catastrophe in this song, one of the most memorable tracks of his career, which he first performed at the festival "Urgh! A Music War" in 1980. Link:
8. 'Bad Moon Rising', Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969) Written by John Fogerty, it does not speak of an eclipse in the strict sense, but its lyrics about earthquakes, storms and dire omens under a menacing moon have made it a regular feature of playlists devoted to astronomical phenomena and dark portents. Link:
Bonus track
'Eclipse', Delta Goodrem (2026) The Australian singer represented her country at Eurovision 2026 with this track, written together with Jonas Myrin, Ferras Alqaisi and Michael Fatkin, which uses the image of an eclipse as a metaphor for a love that aligns two different worlds in a perfect instant.
The video, shot on the dunes of Newcastle, stages that crossing between light and shadow. The song reached the final of the festival, held in Vienna, where it finished in fourth place. Link:
At Euronews we will be offering live coverage of the eclipse, so if you cannot get to the eclipse path in Spain, or if you are outside Spain, we invite you to join us to experience the total solar eclipse, a rare event that has not occurred in the Iberian Peninsula for more than 100 years.
This text was translated with the help of artificial intelligence. Report a problem : [feedback-articles-en@euronews.com].
