the Sun which
happened on April 6, 648 B.C. This was total at about 10 a.m. at Thasos
and in the northern part of the AEgean Sea. The acceptance of this date
displaces by about half a century the date commonly assigned for the
poet's career, but this is not thought to be of much account having
regard to the hazy character of Grecian chronology before the Persian
wars.[37]

On May 28, 585 B.C. there occurred an eclipse the surrounding
circumstances of which present several features of particular interest.
One of the most celebrated of the astronomers of antiquity was Thales of
Miletus, and his astronomical labours were said to have included a
prediction of this eclipse, which moreover has the further interest to
us that it has assisted chronologists and historians in fixing the
precise date of an important event in ancient history. Herodotus[38]
describing a war which had been going on for some years between the
Lydians and the Medes gives the following account of the circumstances
which led to its premature termination:--"As the balance had not inclined
in favour of either nation, another engagement took place in the sixth
year of the war, in the course of which, just as the battle was growing
warm, day was suddenly turned into night. This event had been foretold
to the Ionians by Thales of Miletus, who predicted for it the very year
in which it actually took place. When the Lydians and Medes observed the
change they ceased fighting, and were alike anxious to conclude peace."
Peace was accordingly agreed upon and cemented by a twofold marriage.
"For (says the historian) without some strong bond, there is little
security to be found in men's covenants." The exact date of this eclipse
was long a matter of discussion, and eclipses which occurred in 610 B.C.
and 593 B.C. were each thought at one time or another to have been the
one referred to. The question was finally settled by the late Sir G. B.
Airy, after an exhaustive inquiry, in favour of the eclipse of 585 B.C.
This date has the further advantage of harmonising certain statements
made by Cicero and Pliny as to its having happened in the 4th year of
the 48th Olympiad.

Another word or two may be interesting as regards the share which Thales
is supposed to have had in predicting this eclipse, the more so, that
very high authorities in the domains of astronomy, and chronology, and
antiquities take opposite sides in the matter. Sir G. C. Lewis, Bart.,
M.P., may be ci