Odysseus' Bloody Homecoming Dated to 1178 BCE

[mckitterick]

For my fellow classics and ancient-history nerds out there: Scientists have determined when Odysseus returned home to slaughter his wife's suitors.

Click the image to see the story.

The exact date of Odysseus' revenge turns out to have been April 16, 1178 BCE. Cool.

Chris

Comments

[skaldic.livejournal.com]

Cool. Fascinating bit of detective work, assuming that their clues are accurate, which is seriously questionable... I'd be curious as to whether or not there is a date for which the clues fit during the presumed lifetime of Homer. (I'm actually more impressed with their finding the clues than with their conclusions based on them.)

My favorite bit of screwed-up clues from Homer comes not from the Odyssey, but the Iliad, actually. At one point, the poem makes a point of talking about the Achaeans carrying their small, round shields. And then shortly thereafter, when they charge, one of them trips over the point of his shield -- only possible when you realize that the shields used circa 1200 BCE were much, much larger -- and suitable for tripping over.

I personally think that Schliemann opened a Pandora's box -- just because the existence of Troy proved to be accurate, doesn't mean the rest of it is so...

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

I hear ya - now we hope to pin down every other detail. Which is, shall we say, unlikely. I mean, I don't know about you, but how exactly could we verify that Athena fought on the Trojan Plain?

[skaldic.livejournal.com]

Well, if one had a girlfriend named Athena, and one were, shall we say, well-protected...

[steve98052.livejournal.com]

The clues don't fit into the presumed life of Homer. Solar eclipses happen on average more than once a year – somewhere in the world. Solar eclipses in any given location are extremely rare, so finding one that matches even a couple of the clues match.

[stuology.livejournal.com]

Wow! Nothing really *is* certain except death and taxes. I mean, taxes and then death.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Or, in the words of Fox Nooz, "Death Taxes."

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

The people were late on their taxes. He was cranky. That explains it!

[amnesiacat.livejournal.com]

That is so cool.

[margaretq.livejournal.com]

I can only get the first half of the page to load (despite repeated attempts)... I feel so unfulfilled...


Tease.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Odd....

[amjhawk.livejournal.com]

Well, they found a likely time for an eclipse. However, the Odyssey is still fiction-ish.

I'm skeptic, simply because I was taught to be so. It makes for great drama to have an eclipse on the day of your revenge... and I'm sure Homer knew that. So, I could see him taking some artistic license with dates and/or eclipses, to say nothing of whether O existed and how he took so freakin' long to get home.

With that caveat, still awesome. Go, Odysseus!

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

My feelings exactly. Especially the "still awesome."