This document provides background information on Homer's Odyssey and discusses how it was memorized and transmitted orally in a pre-literate culture. It explains that ancient Greeks used memory techniques like mnemonics and embedding structures in stories to aid recollection. It also discusses how the night sky and astronomical events may have influenced ancient myths. Finally, it notes how current research has uncovered hidden patterns and narratives that suggest the epics were composed to be easily memorized orally.

1. Some background on Homer’s “Odyssey”
(Mostly pictures, easy on the reading muscles)
by Dave Shafer
Contents: This covers various aspects of “The Odyssey
not directly related to the story line (which we will hear
about soon from our outside speaker Sally). Instead this
here deals with topics like how “The Odyssey” was
memorized in a pre-literate culture, verbal gymnastics
as ancient entertainment, the relationships between
other sagas, like Jason and the Golden Fleece, biblical
parallels, and other aspects of Homer’s world.
Useful tip – do not
get on the bad side
of Poseidon.

2. These days most people
do not pay much attention
to what is going on in the
night sky, although Batman
always has his eye out for
the Bat Signal asking for
help. Except during the
Super-Bowl.
In cities light pollution
makes the night sky all but
invisible.

3. Far from city lights we
can see what the ancient
Greeks, Hebrews, and
Egyptians saw – the Milky
Way, and the planets. In
truly dark skies with no
industrial light pollution it
is a stunning, amazing
nightly light show.
It is easy to see how
religion and myth may
have sprung up around
these heavenly sights. A
Greek example is next.

4. In Greek mythology Venus
and Mars were surprised and
caught in the act by her
husband, the blacksmith god
Hephaestus. In this painting
Mars is hiding under the bed.
Hephaestus had forged a
chain net that he threw over
the two and trapped them for
a while, before eventually
letting them go. Baby Cupid is
there too.
This story seems to exactly
mimic a very rare event in the
night sky when the planets
Venus and Mars came very
close together in the sky and
seemed to merge into one.
Astronomers can calculate when that very rare event
occurred in the night sky - almost 6,000 years ago
and it may have been the source of the Greek myth.

5. A convincing case has been made that Homer’s epic “The Iliad”, the story of the Trojan war, is full of events
that closely map events in the night sky over a time of a few thousand years. Achilles and his actions, for
example, mimic the extremely bright star Sirius and its seasonal and very long time movements due to the
Precession of the Equinoxes. But the “Odyssey” does not seem to have that close astronomical linkage.

6. Verbal fireworks were
the main form of
entertainment in pre-
literate cultures. In
ancient Ireland the
most important person,
after the king, was the
royal bard. He would
entertain the court
with sung sagas of
heroic adventures and
also compose long
poems praising the
king. (Trump – pay
attention here)
Clever verbal gymnastics could also embed
in an epic saga many aids to memorizing it.

7. Greek poet Pindar
522-443 B.C.
In an ancient world with no T.V., radio, CDs,
movies, cell phones, very little theater, and
little literacy, what was popular entertainment?
Answer – riveting oral
epics sung by bards,
striking verbal imagery,
and clever word play
with puns, etc.
A Pindar line in a eulogy to a Greek athlete who died
very young – “We are moored on the far shores of
despair” - a very original and striking image.

8. Greek playwright Euripides
480-406 B.C.
During a war within Greece, captured
soldiers from Athens were released by
the enemy, from the island of Syracuse, if
they could recite lines from Euripides
that the captors had never heard before!
That is how much entertainment value
was placed on words – striking
metaphors, images, and word play.

9. In preliterate cultures oral epic
poems were memorized and sung,
like Homer here with his lyre. The
Iliad and the Odyssey were
composed before there was writing.
Each has 24 chapters. The Greek
alphabet has 24 letters, but earlier
Greek versions had a few more
letters, closer to the number of days
in a lunar month. Maybe earlier and
somewhat longer versions of these
famous epic poems were sung one
chapter a day for a month and then
repeated each month.
Each chapter might have been named with the alphabet letter corresponding to
that day of the lunar month. A simple memory device.

10. Every 4 years there is a world wide Memory Olympics. There are several areas of
competition and one is to memorize the order of a shuffled deck of 52 cards and then
flawlessly repeat it. The current record is 87 seconds to memorize them!! Contestants train a
lot and use special mental imaging techniques just like in ancient times. One person was able
to correctly memorize 22 shuffled decks in one hour! Yikes!!!

11. My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas =
the order of the planets from the sun
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto
Ancient mnemonic tricks like this were very common in a non-literate
culture. The ancient Greeks would be no exception.
How to
remember the
order of the
planets from
the sun?

12. Memorizing ancient oral
epics, like the Greek “Iliad”
(150,000 words) and
“Odyssey” (115,000 words),
the Babylonian “Epic of
Gilgamesh”, or the Torah
(about 80,000 words) requires
strong memory aides in a
preliterate society – since
these oral epics were not
written anywhere. Primitive
writing in Greek was just
starting to begin around the
time of Homer.

13. Studies of illiterate African griots,
Serbian folk tale tellers, Icelandic
bards, etc. have shown that these
people can recite or sing from
memory more than 10 hours straight
(much more in some cases) of their
epic tales and then repeat them days
later very nearly verbatim. They all
draw upon very ancient oral memory
tricks and techniques.
Many Moslems have memorized the complete Koran, but
that is relatively easy because of its very limited “Cat in the
Hat” level of vocabulary. These other memory feats like of
the Odyssey, however, require special methods that were
doubtless used long before it was written.
African griot performing

14. In the 1920’s and 30’s the scholar Milman
Parry showed that these ancient illiterate
bards, as well as current ones, did not mainly
use memory techniques to help memorize
existing sagas. Instead they used them to
construct the sagas in a form that would be
easier to memorize. The Torah as well as the
Iliad, Odyssey, etc. has lots of internal
structure that is not at all obvious.
The bards put in that structure when the Torah,
Iliad, Odyssey, etc. were originally composed, so
that they could be more easily memorized. Only
recently have biblical studies discovered the very
vast extent of these internal patterns and narrative
structures. The Iliad and the Odyssey are also
being studied from that perspective.

15. A boat, beneath a sunny sky
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July --
Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear
Pleased a simple tale to hear –
Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream --
Lingering in the golden gleam --
Life what is it but a dream?
“Alice in Wonderland”
was based on a real girl,
who Lewis Carroll first
told the story to. She
was 7 ½ years old, just
like Alice. Her name
was Alice Pleasance
Liddell. Lewis Carroll
wrote this poem and
dedicated it to her.
Example of English acrostic
An example
here of hidden
structure in a
poem that
might aid in
memorizing it
(see next slide).

16. A boat, beneath a sunny sky
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July --
Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear
Pleased a simple tale to hear –
Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream --
Lingering in the golden gleam --
Life what is it but a dream? Alice Pleasance Liddell
In this
acrostic the
first letter
of each line
spells out
her name.

17. ֶׁ‫ש‬ ֵ‫א‬‫ִל‬‫י‬ ַ‫ת־ח‬‫י‬ ִ‫מ‬‫א‬ָ‫צ‬ ְ‫ִמ‬‫י‬‫ק‬ֹ‫ח‬ ָ‫ְר‬‫ו‬ְֶׁ‫פ‬ ִ‫מ‬‫ים‬ִ‫ינ‬ִ‫נ‬‫ּה‬ ָ‫ר‬ְ‫כ‬ ִ‫מ‬‫׃‬
ֶָׁ‫ב‬‫ח‬ ַ‫ט‬‫ּה‬ ָ‫ב‬‫ב‬ֵ‫ל‬ֶַׁ‫ב‬‫ּה‬ָ‫ל‬ ְ‫ע‬ֶָׁ‫ְש‬‫ו‬‫ל‬ָ‫ל‬‫ֹא‬‫ל‬‫ר‬ ָ‫ס‬ ְ‫ח‬‫י‬‫׃‬
ְֶׁ‫ג‬‫הּו‬ ְ‫ת‬ַ‫ל‬ ָ‫מ‬‫וב‬ֹ‫ט‬‫ע‬ ָ‫ֹא־ר‬‫ְל‬‫ו‬‫ֹל‬‫כ‬‫י‬ ֵ‫ְמ‬‫י‬ֶׁ‫י‬ ַ‫ח‬‫יה‬‫׃‬
ֶָׁ‫ד‬ֶָׁ‫ש‬ ְ‫ר‬‫ה‬‫ר‬‫מ‬‫צ‬ְֶׁ‫ש‬ ִ‫ּופ‬ִֶׁ‫ת‬‫ים‬ֶַׁ‫ַת‬‫ו‬‫ׂש‬ַ‫ע‬ְֶׁ‫ב‬‫ץ‬‫פ‬ ֵ‫ח‬ֶׁ‫ַפ‬‫כ‬ֶָׁ‫יה‬‫׃‬
‫ה‬ ָ‫ְת‬‫י‬ ָ‫ה‬ֶָׁ‫כ‬ֶֹׁ‫י‬ִ‫נ‬ֳ‫א‬‫ות‬‫ר‬ ֵ‫וח‬ֹ‫ס‬ֶׁ‫מ‬ ִ‫מ‬‫ק‬ ָ‫ח‬ ְ‫ר‬ֶָׁ‫ת‬‫יא‬ ִ‫ב‬‫ּה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ְ‫ח‬ַ‫ל‬‫׃‬
ֶָׁ‫ַת‬‫ו‬‫ם‬ ָ‫ק‬ְֶׁ‫ב‬‫עֹוד‬‫ה‬ָ‫ְל‬‫י‬ַ‫ל‬ִֶׁ‫ַת‬‫ו‬‫ן‬ ֵ‫ת‬‫ף‬‫ר‬‫ט‬‫ּה‬ ָ‫ית‬ֵ‫ב‬ ְ‫ל‬‫ק‬ֹ‫ְח‬‫ו‬ֶָׁ‫יה‬‫ֹת‬‫ר‬ֲ‫ע‬ַ‫נ‬ ְ‫ל‬‫׃‬
‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ְ‫ָמ‬‫ז‬ֶָׁ‫ׂש‬‫ה‬‫ד‬ִֶׁ‫ַת‬‫ו‬ֶָׁ‫ק‬‫הּו‬ ֵ‫ח‬ְֶׁ‫פ‬ ִ‫מ‬‫י‬ ִ‫ר‬ֶׁ‫ַפ‬‫כ‬ֶָׁ‫יה‬ֶָׁ‫ע‬ ְ‫ָט‬‫נ‬ֶָׁ‫כ‬‫ם‬‫ר‬‫׃‬
‫ה‬ ָ‫ר‬ְ‫ג‬ ָ‫ח‬‫עֹוז‬ ְ‫ב‬ֶָׁ‫יה‬‫נ‬ ְ‫ת‬ ָ‫מ‬ְֶׁ‫ַת‬‫ו‬ֵֶׁ‫מ‬ ַ‫א‬‫ץ‬ֶָׁ‫יה‬‫ֹעֹות‬‫ר‬ְ‫ז‬‫׃‬
‫ה‬ ָ‫ֲמ‬‫ע‬ ָ‫ט‬ִֶׁ‫כ‬‫וב‬ֹ‫י־ט‬‫ּה‬ ָ‫ר‬ ְ‫ח‬ ַ‫ס‬ֶׁ‫ב‬ְ‫ִכ‬‫י‬‫ֹא־‬‫ל‬‫ה‬ֶַׁ‫ל‬ ַ‫ב‬ֶָׁ‫ְל‬‫י‬‫ּה‬ ָ‫ֵר‬‫נ‬‫׃‬
ֶָׁ‫יה‬‫ָד‬‫י‬ְֶׁ‫ל‬ ִ‫ש‬‫ה‬ ָ‫ח‬ִֶׁ‫כ‬ ַ‫ב‬ֶֹׁ‫ש‬‫י‬‫ור‬ֶׁ‫ַפ‬‫כ‬ְ‫ו‬ֶָׁ‫יה‬ֶָׁ‫ת‬‫כּו‬ ְ‫מ‬‫ְך‬‫ל‬ָ‫פ‬‫׃‬
‫ּה‬ָ‫ַפ‬‫כ‬ֶָׁ‫פ‬ֶָׁ‫ׂש‬ ְ‫ר‬‫ה‬‫נִי‬ָ‫ע‬‫ל‬ֶָׁ‫יה‬‫ָד‬‫י‬ְ‫ו‬ְֶׁ‫ל‬ ִ‫ש‬‫ה‬ ָ‫ח‬‫ון‬ֹ‫י‬ ְ‫ב‬‫א‬ָ‫ל‬‫׃‬
‫א‬ ָ‫יר‬ ִ‫ֹא־ת‬‫ל‬‫ּה‬ ָ‫ית‬ֵ‫ב‬ ְ‫ל‬ֶָׁ‫ש‬ ִ‫מ‬‫ג‬‫ל‬‫י‬ִ‫כ‬ֵֶׁ‫ָל־ב‬‫כ‬‫ּה‬ ָ‫ית‬‫ש‬ֻ‫ב‬ָ‫ל‬ֶָׁ‫ש‬‫נִים‬‫׃‬
ִֶׁ‫ד‬ ַ‫ב‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫מ‬‫ים‬ְֶׁ‫ׂש‬ָ‫ע‬ֶָׁ‫ה־ל‬ ָ‫ת‬‫ּה‬‫ש‬ ֵ‫ש‬ֶָׁ‫ג‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫ְא‬‫ו‬‫ן‬ ָ‫מ‬ֶָׁ‫בּוש‬ ְ‫ל‬‫ּה׃‬
‫ע‬ ָ‫ֹוד‬‫נ‬ְֶׁ‫ש‬ ַ‫ב‬‫ים‬ ִ‫ר‬ָ‫ע‬ֶַׁ‫ב‬‫ּה‬ָ‫ל‬ ְ‫ע‬ִֶׁ‫ש‬ ְ‫ב‬ֶֹׁ‫ת‬ ְ‫ב‬‫ו‬‫ץ‬‫ר‬ ָ‫ֵי־א‬‫נ‬ ְ‫ק‬ִ‫ם־ז‬ ִ‫ע‬‫׃‬
‫ין‬ ִ‫ד‬ ָ‫ס‬ְֶׁ‫ׂש‬ָ‫ע‬‫ה‬ ָ‫ת‬ִֶׁ‫ַת‬‫ו‬ֶֹׁ‫כ‬ ְ‫מ‬‫ר‬‫ור‬ֹ‫ג‬ֲ‫ַח‬‫ו‬‫ָה‬‫נ‬ ְ‫ָת‬‫נ‬ְֶׁ‫כ‬ַ‫ל‬‫ֲנִי‬‫ע‬ַ‫נ‬‫׃‬
‫ר‬ ָ‫ד‬ ָ‫ְה‬‫ו‬‫ז־‬ֹ‫ע‬ֶָׁ‫בּוש‬ ְ‫ל‬‫ּה‬ִֶׁ‫ַת‬‫ו‬ְֶׁ‫ׂש‬‫ק‬ ַ‫ח‬‫ום‬ֹ‫י‬ ְ‫ל‬‫ֹון‬‫ר‬ֲ‫ח‬ ַ‫א‬‫׃‬
ִֶׁ‫פ‬ֶָׁ‫יה‬ֶָׁ‫פ‬‫ה‬ ָ‫ח‬ ְ‫ת‬‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ְ‫כ‬ ָ‫ח‬ ְ‫ב‬‫ד‬‫ס‬‫ת־ח‬ ַ‫ֹור‬‫ת‬ְ‫ו‬ֶֹׁ‫ש‬ ְ‫ל־ל‬ַ‫ע‬‫ָּה‬‫נ‬‫ו‬‫׃‬
ֶָׁ‫י‬ ִ‫ֹופ‬‫צ‬‫ה‬‫ֹות‬‫כ‬‫י‬ ִ‫ל‬ֲ‫ה‬ֵֶׁ‫ב‬‫ּה‬ ָ‫ית‬‫ם‬‫ח‬‫ְל‬‫ו‬‫לּות‬ ְ‫צ‬ַ‫ע‬‫ֹא‬‫ל‬‫ֵל‬‫כ‬‫ֹא‬‫ת‬‫׃‬
‫מּו‬ ָ‫ק‬ֶָׁ‫יה‬‫נ‬ ָ‫ב‬ְֶׁ‫ש‬ ַ‫ְא‬‫י‬ַ‫ו‬ֶָׁ‫רּוה‬ֶַׁ‫ב‬‫ּה‬ָ‫ל‬ ְ‫ע‬‫ּה‬ָ‫ל‬ ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫ְה‬‫י‬ַ‫ו‬‫׃‬
ֶֹׁ‫ב‬ ַ‫ר‬‫ות‬ֶָׁ‫ב‬‫ֹות‬‫נ‬‫ׂשּו‬ָ‫ע‬‫ִל‬‫י‬ ָ‫ח‬ְֶׁ‫ת‬ ַ‫ְא‬‫ו‬‫ית‬ ִ‫ל‬ָ‫ע‬ֶֻׁ‫כ‬‫ל־‬ַ‫ע‬ֶָׁ‫ל‬‫ָה‬‫נ‬‫׃‬
ֶׁ‫ש‬‫ר‬‫ק‬‫ן‬ ֵ‫ח‬ ַ‫ה‬‫ל‬‫ב‬‫ְה‬‫ו‬ֶֹׁ‫י‬ ַ‫ה‬‫י‬ ִ‫פ‬ֶָׁ‫ש‬ ִ‫א‬‫ה‬‫ָה‬‫ו‬‫ְה‬‫י‬‫ת־‬ ַ‫א‬ ְ‫ִר‬‫י‬‫יא‬ ִ‫ה‬ֶָׁ‫ל‬ ַ‫ה‬ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫ת‬‫ל׃‬
ְֶׁ‫ת‬‫נּו‬‫־‬‫ּה‬ָ‫ל‬ְֶׁ‫פ‬ ִ‫מ‬‫י‬ ִ‫ר‬ֶָׁ‫יה‬‫ָד‬‫י‬ֶָׁ‫לּוה‬ ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫ִיה‬‫ו‬ְֶׁ‫ש‬ ַ‫ב‬‫ים‬ ִ‫ר‬ָ‫ע‬ֶׁ‫ֲׂש‬‫ע‬ ַ‫מ‬ֶָׁ‫יה‬‫׃‬
A worthy woman who can find? For her price is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband trusteth in her, And he shall have no lack of gain.
She doeth him good and not evil All the days of her life.
She seeketh wool and flax, And worketh willingly with her hands.
She is like the merchant-ships; She bringeth her bread from afar.
She riseth also while it is yet night; And giveth food to her household, And their task to her maidens.
She considereth a field, and buyeth it; With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
She girdeth her loins with strength, And maketh strong her arms.
She perceiveth that her merchandise is profitable: Her lamp goeth not out by night.
IShe layeth her hands to the distaff, And her hands hold the spindle.
She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; Yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of the snow for her household; For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
She maketh for herself carpets of tapestry; Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates, When he sitteth among the elders of the land.
She maketh linen garments and selleth them, And delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
Strength and dignity are her clothing; And she laugheth at the time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; And the law of kindness is on her tongue.
She looketh well to the ways of her household And eateth not the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up, and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praiseth her, saying:
"Many daughters have done worthily, But thou excellest them all.
Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; But a woman that feareth Jehovah, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her works praise her in the gates.
In the bible Proverbs 31:10 is an
acrostic. The first letter of each
Hebrew line, going down the poem
on the right hand side, spells out
the Hebrew alphabet! This poem
is read at some weddings today.

18. The biblical Book of Job is all in verse and
is full of examples, like anagrams, that show
off the skill of the poet. It has 412 strophes or
stanzas and exactly ½ are spoken by Job, with
these equally divided between L-strophes and
S- strophes (poetic technical terms). This is
an example of structure that has only recently
been noticed by modern scholars. There is
much hidden structure throughout the bible,
on both large and small scales. Some of this
may have been memory aids for illiterate
bards and some just a showing off of skill by
the poet.

19. Sanskrit poets in ancient India
delighted in clever word play.
Here the words are shown
separated but originally all
were run together with no
breaks. Like German, Sanskrit
has some very long compound
words. With words run
together like this, the poets
would sometimes deliberately
make a word that could be
subdivided in different ways,
with different meanings.
English example:
“Whitehousemaid”
could be
“White House/ maid”
or “White/ housemaid”

20. All versions of early languages, like Greek,
Sanskrit, Hebrew, etc. wrote words with no
spaces between them.
Thismadeithardtoreadandsloweddowncom
prehensionalot.Itseemsobvioustousnow
thatthereshouldbespacesbetweenthewords
But it took quite a while for someone to
think of that.
Next are some examples of clever word play,
in English, of the type that would have
entertained Greek audiences back then, before
and after Greek writing was introduced.

21. Various forms of word
play have been around
since writing was
invented. Acrostics
and anagrams are very
ancient.
Egyptian hieroglyphics used lots
of visual puns as part of their
writing. Here are some examples,
in English, of using visual puns to
write.
Bee-leaf = belief
I tie bows for you
4 U

22. An anagram takes a word or phrase, scrambles the letters,
and then makes a new word or phrase with the same letters
(and none left over).
Simple anagrams - “dormitory” becomes “dirty room” and
“stormy weather” becomes “showery matter”. Most anagrams do not
mean anything similar to the original word or phrase, unlike those two
examples here. For example – “play with words” and ‘tawdry hip owls”

23. “Washington Crossing The Delaware”
Anagram with same letters and similar meaning (quite hard to achieve)
= “He saw his ragged Continentals row”

24. “To be or not to be, that is the question, whether ‘tis nobler in the
mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune…”
“In one of the Bard’s best-thought-of tragedies, our insistent hero,
Hamlet, queries on two fronts about how life turns rotten”
Below = probably the best English anagram of all time, created by a 19 year old student from
Hamlet’s famous words, above. Letters are rearranged with none left over and same meaning

25. An example of “constrained writing” in English
James while John had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher
James, while John had had “had”, had had “had had”; “had had” had
had a better effect on the teacher.
No punctuation
With punctuation
I just had to include this amazing example of clever verbal gymnastics

26. "I drove my weight on it from above and
bored it home like a shipwright bores his
beam with a shipwright's drill that men
below, whipping the strap back and forth,
whirl and the drill keeps twisting, never
stopping –So we seized our stake with its
fiery tip and bored it round and round in the
giant's eye.“its crackling roots blazed and hissed – as a
blacksmith plunges a glowing ax or adze in an
ice-cold bath and the metal screeches steam
and its temper hardens – that's the iron's
strength – so the eye of Cyclops sizzled round
Example of vivid (and gross) writing
in the Odyssey when Odysseus and
his men put out the eye of their
captor, the Cyclops.

27. In the late 1880’s German
classical scholars (who quite
dominated the field)
romanticized ancient Greek
civilization and particularly
Homer’s work. They wanted to
believe that it was “pure”, 100%
native Greek, and completely
uncontaminated by any
elements of outside influence –
such as Semitic sources. They
went out of their way to
willfully ignore obvious loan
words in Homer from Egypt and
Israel.
There are obvious parallels in the Greek stories
about Hercules (Heracles in Greek) and Samson from
the bible. And close name parallels, like that of the
wife/mother of Oedipus and the mother of Moses.

28. Bronze weapons and tools needed tin and
copper to make bronze. Tin mines were all
far from Greece and there was much long
distance ancient trading, like with Cornwall
in England, with many cultural contacts.
Epic stories would gave been traded
as well as goods over long distances

29. The saga of Jason and the voyage of the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece (guarded by a dragon)
describes a trip eastward from Greece into the Black Sea. “The Odyssey” describes adventures westward
from Greece. There are similarities in the adventures. There may have been one very ancient set of folk
tales that led to the Jason Saga, the Odyssey, and the adventures of Samson in the bible.

30. There is a B-list
movie from
1963 with cheap
special effects
that is based on
this Jason saga.

31. These sea voyage
adventure tales
reflect the actual
wide spread trading
throughout the
Mediterranean and
beyond, with cultural
contacts, as well the
very much earlier
prehistoric common
folk tale sources.

32. There are places in “The Odyssey”
where nobody today has any idea what
they are talking about. Things that
would have been clear to Homer’s
audience may now have been forgotten
for over 2500 years. At the end of the
epic there is a contest where people are
supposed to shoot an arrow through a
bunch of axe heads lined up. Nobody
can figure out what this means. It
almost certainly would not be what is
shown here. An axe head has a hole
where the shaft slides in and maybe
those holes can be somehow lined up.

33. A 2000 film with
George Clooney
was very loosely
based on “The
Odyssey” as well
as a Homer
Simpson episode.
It will always be
with us.

34. The world portrayed in “The Odyssey” was quite
primitive by modern standards. If Penelope appeared in
front of non-relative males she would have a veil over her
face. Her life was spent mostly behind doors in private
quarters. Public society was men only. There was no sense
at all of community. A man’s loyalty was solely to himself
and his goals, his property and land, and with family being
secondary. Justice consisted of an eye for an eye and
there were no laws or courts to settle disputes. Weapons
did. Odysseus was dying to get home from his 10 years of
wanderings but not primarily to see his wife and son. He
mainly just wanted to rest at home in peace.
The concept of romantic love did not exist yet. The
correct translation for “wife” was “bed-mate”. Homer’s
time was more evolved than the era of “The Odyssey” and
he incorrectly shows Odysseus and Penelope acting in
more affectionate ways than they would have back at the
earlier era. There are lots of anachronisms in The Odyssey.
Penelope

35. It is hard for us to
conceive of this today but
the idea of romantic love
was an invention, by the
early Indo-Europeans,
who brought it with them
when they spread out
from their steppes
homeland into Europe
and the Middle East about
6,000 years ago.
Love has always been with us but not Romantic love. Homer was a relatively late example of
being exposed to this idea. The end of “Odyssey” shows some touching scenes between
Odysseus and Penelope that may have been somewhat unlikely back in the earlier era that the
“Odyssey” is set in but were maybe realistic in Homer’s time.