Contrary to the passing nature of darkness caused by a total solar eclipse, the astronomical event depicted in the aria, "Total eclipse," in Handel's Samson (1742) offers no hope of re-emerging light. As a metaphor for Samson's blindness, the eclipse is described with bewilderment and distress equal to the trauma of losing sight. The librettist, Newburgh Hamilton, draws the majority of his text for the oratorio from John Milton's Samson Agonistes (1671). With respect to scientific knowledge on the eclipses, however, the two works are from completely different eras. They are separated by a major discovery in 1715 by an English astronomer, Edmond Halley, who explained the eclipses as natural events, refuting their long-held view as terrifying supernatural phenomena that brought tragic consequences and change. Superstition did not immediately die out with science, but the fact that Milton's tragedy predates, and Hamilton's libretto postdates, Halley's explanation is important in understanding the difference in their treatments of the metaphor. 
This scientific historical context, hitherto not considered in the scholarship on the oratorio, offers an important insight into Hamilton's adaptation and alteration of Milton's text. It helps identify Hamilton's updating of Milton by omitting his scientifically inaccurate attribution of doom to the eclipse, while providing the basis for determining Hamilton's assignment of a different cause for the condemning weight of darkness. In the latter half of the aria, the librettist alters the eclipse reference to allude to darkness of the celestial bodies as a sign of divine judgment in the Bible. This new textual reading calls for a new consideration of Handel's musical setting. It invites a comparison of the aria to Handel's other compositions on the topic of darkness and divine judgment, broadening our understanding of his musical language. The study reveals Handel's use of similar tonal framework and enharmonicism in conveying intense physical and spiritual torment. This paper's examination of historical, literary, biblical, and musical contexts for "Total eclipse" unveils an unexplored layer of darkness in the aria and the oratorio as a whole.  

Towards the end of scene 5 in the opera_La guerra de los gigantes_by Sebastián Durón, the goddess Minerva defeats the giant Palante by stabbing him to death. In the next scene, she celebrates the victory of the deities over the giants with Jupiter and Hercules, and thus ends the opera. Why does Minerva strike the final death blow? Why not Hercules or Jupiter, who were seen as the embodiment of omnipotence and manliness, respectively? Previous research has revealed that this opera was written for the wedding celebration of either King Philip V of Spain or the Count of Salvatierra. Further, that research proposed that_La guerra de los gigantes_was conceived as an allegory of the War of the Spanish Succession (Antonio Martín Moreno, 2007; Pastor Comín, 2012, and Raúl Angulo Díaz, 2016). None of these studies, however, have examined the intriguing role of Minerva. 


This paper explores this little-known opera through the lens of Minerva. Building on current research, I argue that Minerva was intended to represent the bride and future consort queen of Spain, Maria Luisa of Savoy (1688–1714). I begin by exploring Minerva's characteristics--namely those of beauty, chastity, and manliness--and I suggest that Minerva represents a model of the perfect woman and wife as described in Spanish conduct books of the period. I then examine a few little-known texts of the era that discuss Maria Luisa's strength and virility, while drawing parallels between these writings and Durón's opera. I propose that Minerva's strength was meant to mirror the queen's fortitude. I further suggest that, through the use of allegory, the authors of this opera and those who commissioned it elevated the royal bride to the category of the ideal wife. An examination of_La guerra de los gigantes_adds to our increasing understanding of early opera, while shedding light on early modern discourses on women.