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This reminds me of the story of Bartolomé Arrazola. He was captured by the Mayans in the jungles of Guatemala: “[...] Then an idea flourished that he consider
by rafark 3y ago
This reminds me of the story of Bartolomé Arrazola.
He was captured by the Mayans in the jungles of Guatemala:
“[...] Then an idea flourished that he considered worthy of his talent, his universal culture and his arduous knowledge of Aristotle. He recalled that that day a total eclipse of the sun was expected. And he decided, in his innermost thoughts, to use that knowledge to deceive his oppressors and save his own life.
“If you kill me,” he said, “I can make the sun darken in its height.”
The natives stared at him and Bartholomew noticed the disbelief in their
Eyes. He saw that a small council had formed, and so he waited in confidence, though not without some disdain.
Two hours later, the heart of Brother Bartolomé Arrazola dripped its vehement blood on the sacrificial stone (bright under the opaque light of the eclipsed sun), while one of the natives without any inflection of voice, without hurry, recited one by one the infinite dates of solar and lunar eclipses. All of which the astronomers of the Mayan community had foreseen and written down in their codices, without the valuable help of Aristotle.”
https://spanishtextstranslated.wordpress.com/augusto-monterroso/el-eclipse-the-eclipse/ https://spanishtextstranslated.wordpress.com/augusto-monterr...
- stephenhuey 3y agoThis is the first I've heard of this and quite fascinating, although at first I interpreted this as nonfiction, but eventually I figured out this was fictional short story! https://ojalart.com/associate-editor-pamelyn-castoa-featured-series-of-close-readingsa-close-reading-of-augusto-monterrososthe-eclipse/ https://ojalart.com/associate-editor-pamelyn-castoa-featured... https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/monterroso-augusto https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-tra... https://www.academia.edu/29162442/Case_Study_The_Eclipse_by_Augusto_Monterroso https://www.academia.edu/29162442/Case_Study_The_Eclipse_by_...
- johnchristopher 3y agoFunny, there's a Tintin story with the same setting but a different outcome in the temple of the sun comic https://i.pinimg.com/736x/12/98/cb/1298cb768ee8ba2efbe1a117528740e8--superstition-tintin.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/736x/12/98/cb/1298cb768ee8ba2efbe1a1175... and https://www.artcurial.com/sites/default/files/lots-images/2018-04-13-16/3376_10630190_0.jpg https://www.artcurial.com/sites/default/files/lots-images/20...
- topranks 3y agoIt’s also used in King Solomon’s Mines: https://www.coursehero.com/lit/King-Solomons-Mines/motifs/ https://www.coursehero.com/lit/King-Solomons-Mines/motifs/
- shiomiru 3y agoI remember it from Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Apparently it has some historical basis, which would explain the popularity of this motif: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1504_lunar_eclipse#Observations https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1504_lunar_eclipse#Obs...
- seszett 3y agoTintin was in Peru with the Inca though, not the Maya. Although maybe the Inca also knew how to calculate eclipses, I don't know.
- swores 3y agoIn the Tintin story he tricks them into thinking he could control the sun because they (the Incas in the story) didn't know about eclipses.