The Backstory: When the Sun Disappeared

A total solar eclipse is coming on August 12th. They're awe inspiring. But imagine it’s a normal day in ancient times and suddenly the sun begins to get dimmer and dimmer. Is it the end of the world? Are we being punished by Mother Nature? These folks had no way to explain an eclipse so they turned it into stories, myths, warnings, and eventually, science.

Feel free to DM me if you have a story you’d like me to cover . . On Facebook it’s Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay. Imagine it's the middle of the day. You're doing
what you normally do. The birds are singing, farmers working
in their fields. If you live in a farm area,
kids are playing outside. Suddenly the light begins to fade.
There are no clouds, no storm is approaching. It's just
getting darker and darker. The sun itself looks like it's disappearing.

(00:22):
For thousands of years, a solar eclipse wasn't the astronomical
event we understand today. It was the end of the world.
I'm Patty Steele. Why ancient folks were more afraid of
eclipses than pretty much any other natural phenomenon, and why
on August twelve, millions of folks around the world will
stop everything this year to watch the sun disappear. That's

(00:46):
next on the backstory. The backstory is back this month.
On August twelfth, there will be another total eclipse of
the Sun. We're all fascinated by these events, but we
understand their coming, showing up in scattered places around the globe.
This year, the path of totality will be in Iceland,

(01:08):
Greenland in parts of Spain. But ancient people had no
experience with the solar eclipse unless it happened over their heads.
While there's a solar eclipse somewhere on Earth every eighteen
months or so, that path of totality where the Sun
is totally blocked by the moon, only happens in the
same exact place on Earth in the northern hemisphere once

(01:30):
every three hundred and fifty years, give or take twenty
five years or so. In the southern hemisphere, it's more
like once every five hundred and forty years. And the
thing is that path is only about one hundred miles wide.
Even today, most people don't get to see it in
person in their lifetime. We understand that now, but imagine

(01:52):
what that looked like to people thousands and even hundreds
of years ago. There wouldn't even be anybody alive that
could share a first hand exp ex variance of an
eclipse so that you'd know what was going on. I
keep in mind, for almost all of human history, the
Sun was more than just a giant ball of hot gas.
It was life itself. Still is Without the Sun, there

(02:14):
are no crops, no warmth, no daylight. But for ancient
folks there was also no assurance that tomorrow would actually come.
So again, picture it when daylight suddenly faded in the
middle of the day. I mean, there's the sun dying
in front of your eyes. That is not good. People
desperately tried to find a way to explain it. In

(02:37):
ancient China, they believed a giant dragon had swallowed the sun.
People rushed into the streets banging drums, clashing cymbals, and
beating pots and pans, and hoped that the noise would
frighten the dragon into releasing the sun before darkness became permanent.
In fact, one story says two royal astronomers hadn't predicted

(02:57):
an eclipse, and they were executed for failing in their
sacred duty to protect the empire. Actually, it was a
pretty similar scenario in northern Europe, where the Vikings believed
two enormous wolves were always chasing the Sun and moon
through the sky. During an eclipse, people thought one of
the wolves had finally caught the sun or moon. The

(03:18):
solution once again, make as much noise as possible to
scare the wolf away and bring back the light. In
Central America, the Maya were some of history's greatest skywatchers.
They diligently recorded the movement so that the sun Moon
and planets, and they could pretty reliably predict eclipses. But

(03:39):
they still looked at an eclipse as a powerful omen
connected to kings, wars, and major political changes. So for them,
knowing an eclipse was coming didn't really make it less frightening.
It just meant they had time to prepare. Now, ancient
Greece was a turning point. It was there that the
academics and philosophers started questioning whether there was a natural

(04:02):
explanation for an eclipse, as opposed to what mythology told them.
One of them, Anak Sagaris, came up with a brilliant idea.
Maybe the Moon simply passes between the Earth and the Sun. Okay,
today that sounds kind of obvious, but back then it
was revolutionary and it meant science was beginning to replace fear.

(04:23):
Now today we know that a solar eclipse happens because
the Moon, although four hundred times smaller in diameter than
the Sun, also happens to be about four hundred times
closer to Earth. That amazing coincidence makes both objects appear
almost exactly the same size in our sky. So when
everything lines up perfectly, the Moon completely covers the face

(04:47):
of the sun. Think about that. That's pretty amazing. Day
briefly becomes night, stars appear, temperatures drop, Animals behave as
though evening has arrived. It's one of the rarest and
most spectacular sights nature has to offer. And that brings
us to August twelfth, twenty twenty six. If you're in

(05:07):
the northeastern US, you'll see a partial eclipse, with the
Moon taking a pretty noticeable bite out of the Sun,
but it won't completely cover it. However, on that day,
the path of totality will cross Greenland, Iceland, and northern Spain.
For eclipse chasers and other folks inside that narrow path,
it'll be unforgettable. The sky will darken, the Sun's glowing

(05:31):
outer atmosphere will become visible, the horizon will glow with
what looks like a three hundred and sixty degree sunset.
They say, once you've seen it, you are hooked for life.
Three worlds moving with astonishing precision. Probably the most amazing
thing about eclipses isn't the science. It's the shared human experience.

(05:53):
The same event that terrified and yet inspired the ancients
now brings together scientists, photographers, travelers, families, and children. Around
the globe for just a few minutes, everyone looks upward
at the same sky, and we share that exact same
sense of wonder with each other and our ancestors. But
remember this, while our ancestors might have thought the universe

(06:16):
was ending, we can stay calm. We get to witness
one of nature's greatest masterpieces, knowing exactly why it happens,
and appreciating it even more because of the stories created
long before we understood the science. Sometimes the greatest discoveries
don't erase the mystery, They just give us a new
reason to be amazed. I hope you're enjoying The Backstory

(06:40):
with Patty Steele. Please leave a review and follow or
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feel free to dm me if you have a story
you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele
and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The

(07:07):
Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis
Durant Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Mike Paeseglia.
Our writer is Jake Kushner. New episodes are out every Tuesday,
and Friday, and feel free to reach out to me
with comments and story suggestions on Instagram at Reel Patty
Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening

(07:30):
to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history
you didn't know you needed to know