On 12 August, a total solar eclipse will sweep across parts of Europe, drawing millions of eyes skyward. But long before modern astronomy explained the phenomenon, eclipses were omens, punishments, and metaphors for love and loss. Their dramatic power has left a deep mark on culture, from ancient epics to contemporary pop songs. Here is a curated selection of ten books, nine films and eight songs that revolve around eclipses.
Literature: from Homer to Stephen King
Homer's Odyssey (8th century BC) contains one of the earliest literary references to an eclipse. In Book 20, the seer Theoclymenus interprets a sudden darkening of the sky as a sign of the imminent death of Penelope's suitors. A 2008 study linked this passage to a real eclipse observed in the Ionian Islands in 1178 BC. The epic is currently in the spotlight thanks to Christopher Nolan's film, though that episode is not depicted.
The medieval Song of Roland (11th century) describes a darkening sky, storms and an earthquake as portents of the end of the world, reflecting the medieval view of eclipses as ill omens. Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) uses an eclipse as a clever plot device: Hank Morgan, a time-travelling mechanic, saves himself from execution by threatening to darken the sun, earning a reputation as a sorcerer. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines (1885) employs a similar trick, with an explorer using his knowledge of an upcoming eclipse to manipulate a tribe.
Virginia Woolf witnessed the first total eclipse visible in England in nearly 200 years in 1927, and her diaries capture the astonishing moment when light vanished and returned. Stephen King used the 1963 American eclipse as a backdrop in two novels published in 1992: Dolores Claiborne and Gerald's Game, both featuring the eclipse as a pivotal element. Isaac Asimov's classic short story Nightfall (1941) imagines a planet with six suns, where a rare eclipse plunges society into chaos. Guatemalan writer Augusto Monterroso's The Eclipse (1959) offers an ironic twist: a Spanish friar tries to bluff his way out of sacrifice by claiming he can darken the sun, but the Maya are not fooled. Annie Dillard's essay Total Eclipse (1982) recounts her 1979 observation in Washington State, describing the experience as profoundly unsettling and transformative.
Cinema: eclipses on the silver screen
Richard Fleischer's Barabbas (1961) was filmed during a real solar eclipse in Italy on 15 February 1961, with over 40 cameras capturing the eerie light for the crucifixion scene. Michelangelo Antonioni's Eclipse (1962), starring Alain Delon and Monica Vitti, took its title from that same eclipse, becoming a classic of European cinema. In Richard Donner's Ladyhawke (1985), a curse turns a woman into a hawk by day and a man into a wolf by night; only a solar eclipse allows them to be human together. Mel Gibson's Apocalypto (2006) uses an eclipse as a dramatic moment in the Mayan world.
Other notable films include Pitch Black (2000), where a total eclipse triggers the emergence of alien creatures; Twilight: Eclipse (2010), which uses the eclipse as a metaphor for the love triangle; and Dolores Claiborne (1995), based on Stephen King's novel. The 2017 film The Eclipse (not to be confused with the novel) and the documentary Eclipse (2015) also explore the phenomenon.
Music: eight songs under the shadow
From Bonnie Tyler's power ballad Total Eclipse of the Heart (1983) to Pink Floyd's Eclipse (1973), the closing track of The Dark Side of the Moon, eclipses have inspired musicians across genres. Other songs include Solar Eclipse by The Mountain Goats, Eclipse by The Doors, Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden (though not strictly an eclipse), Eclipse by The Smashing Pumpkins, Total Eclipse by Iron Maiden, and Eclipse by The Cure.
As Europe gears up for the August spectacle, these works remind us that eclipses are not just astronomical events but cultural touchstones that continue to inspire awe and creativity. For more on the upcoming eclipse, see our coverage of Iceland's preparations and Spain's rare eclipse trio.
