Ancient Greeks – First to Predict a Lunar Eclipse 2000 Years Ago
The blood red moon rises over the temple of Apollo in Corinth, Greece. Longest lunar eclipse of the century 7/27/18 Photo Valerie Gashe AFP Getty Images
Over two thousand years ago the ancient Greeks predicted the first lunar eclipse and even more amazingly, they did it with the aid of a computer and at the same time, discovered the World was round, eat your hearts out NASA and Bill Gates!
It seems the gifted Greeks had a knack for doing things first!
The word eclipse, comes from the Greek ‘ekleipsis‘, meaning to disappear, cover up or abandon, owing to the fact that the Earth blots out the Sun’s light to the Moon.
The Antikythera Mechanism
The Antikythera Mechanism, the World’s first analogue computer, was found in a shipwreck, off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera, by Greek sponge divers in 1901.
This complicated, clockwork mechanism, consisting of thirty seven gear wheels, is thought to have been designed and assembled by Greek scientists in around 87 BC.
Hipparchus, a Greek astronomer, geographer and mathematician, famous for his fluke discovery of precession of the equinoxes, is considered to have had a hand in the invention.
Incidentally, Hipparchus, whilst comparing records of the position of stars relative to the sun in a lunar eclipse, to records from hundreds of years ago, discovered the World wobbles as it spins; another Greek first!
Also, during an eclipse, ancient Greek astronomers noticed the edge of the shadow was always circular and realised, about one thousand five hundred years before Galileo, the World was round, not flat!
The Antikythera Mechanism. World’s first computer. Archaeological Museum, Athens Greece.
The computer was developed to predict eclipses, calculate the position of Sun, Moon and stars, at any time in the future and followed the Sun and the Moon through the zodiac.
Not only did the instrument predict the timing but also the characteristics of eclipses, for example, the amount of shadow, the angular diameter of the Moon and the Moon’s position at the time of the eclipse.
Workmanship of this type was not seen again in Europe until the fourteenth century, in astronomical clocks.
The Antikythera Mechanism is housed in the Archaeological Museum of Athens, Greece.
What is a lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse occurs only when the Moon is full and a total lunar eclipse, only when the Sun, Earth and Moon are perfectly aligned, with the Earth in the middle, the Moon passes directly behind the Earth, into its shadow.
The Earth casts two shadows on the Moon, which passes through in stages, the first and final stages are not as impressive as the middle stage.
In one calendar year the maximum number of solar eclipses is four, and lunar, three.
photo shows the lunar eclipse from a blood moon (top L) back to full moon (bottom right) in the sky over Frankfurt, Germany, July 27, 2018. Photo Reuters
Whilst in total shadow, some light from the Sun, may pass through the Earth’s atmosphere and is bent towards the Moon, because blue and violet light is dispersed more than red and orange, it is easier for red light to make it through, (the amount, type and size of dust particles in the atmosphere also plays a part) causing the Moon to turn red, a blood moon.
A blue moon, which actually looks blue, is much rarer than a red moon and occurs when the atmosphere is filled with dust or smoke particles of a certain size, which diffuse the red light.
This may happen after a dust storm, a forest fire, or a volcanic eruption.
Greek Moon Myths
For thousands of years the moon has been an object of worship in Greece
Hippocrates (460-370 BC ), ancient Greek physician said:
‘One who is seized with terror, fright and madness during the night, is being visited by the Goddess of the Moon‘
The ancient Greeks feared the moon, especially during an eclipse, when they believed it was at its most powerful, a time when witches were enticed down to Earth to take over the spirit of Selene, the Greek Moon Goddess.
If it happened to be a blood moon, things could become even worse, the witches were then able to draw her blood and perform wicked magic.
To prevent witches from harming the goddess, people would make as much noise as they could, to distract the witches, allowing Selene to escape.
Of course, there had to be a Greek myth about werewolves, in Greek ‘lycanthropy‘, when man is transformed into a wolf (Greek-Lykos) at full moon (it was well-known that Selene, Moon goddess, kept company with wolves).
Werewolf howling at the moon. Creator, Zeferli . Credit Getty Images iStockphoto.
Ancient Greeks considered it divine punishment to be turned into a wolf, when Lycaon, king of Arcadia, in order to discover whether Zeus really knew everything, served up the roasted flesh of his son, as punishment, Zeus turned Lycaon into a wolf, and restored his son to life.
And beware, if you meet someone with eyebrows which meet across the bridge of their nose, have curved fingernails, low-set ears and walk with a loping stride, according to Greek folklore, these are the signs of a werewolf!
An eclipse was also seen as an omen.
Ancient historian, Herodotus, claimed that the war between King Cyaxares of Median and King Alyattes of Lydia, was brought to a halt by the solar eclipse of Thales (585 BC), when Alyattes saw the sky darken and stopped the fighting.
In 413 BC, a lunar eclipse (some say solar), sent Athenians, who were fighting against the Syracusans on the island of Sicily, into a mad panic, which led to disaster:
An epidemic had broken out, the Athenian commander ordered his troops to leave the island, as they were about to board their ships, they noticed an eclipse, which aroused wild madness and panic, enabling them to be captured by the enemy.
Selene:
The Greek Goddess of the Moon
Selene (Roman-Luna), Titan Greek Goddess of the Moon, sister of the Sun God Helios and Eos, Goddess of the Dawn, crosses the heavens by night in her chariot, drawn by two, winged, white horses, shining her silvery light.
Selene, also called Mene, meaning the moon and the lunar month, is associated with Artemis, Goddess of the hunt and Hecate, goddess of witchcraft, all three were lunar goddesses, only Selene was the personification of the moon.
Unlike other Greek Goddesses Selene didn’t have temples dedicated to her, there was no need, she could be seen and worshipped from everywhere.
Selene and Endymion – Victor Florence Pollett. 1850 – 1860
Selene, Goddess of moonlight, is known for her many romances, the one that stands out though, is her passionate romance with the young, mortal shepherd boy, Endymion, whom Selene had spotted from on high and set her heart on whilst he was sleeping next to his cattle, in a cave on Mount Latmus.
Mad with passion and lust, Selene wished to gaze on Endymion’s beauty forever and so, to prevent him from dying, she granted him eternal youth by putting him into a state of everlasting sleep in his cave on Mount Latmus, where she visited him by night.
Selene bore Endymion fifty daughters, who represented the fifty lunar months of the Olympiad, a period of four years, which mark the beginning of the Olympic Games.
It sounds to me as if Selene had a total eclipse of the heart!
