Comments on: The Greeks had to learn civilization all over again https://www.isegoria.net/2017/08/the-greeks-had-to-learn-civilization-all-over-again/ From the ancient Greek for equality in freedom of speech; an eclectic mix of thoughts, large and small Fri, 01 May 2026 17:55:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 By: Isegoria https://www.isegoria.net/2017/08/the-greeks-had-to-learn-civilization-all-over-again/comment-page-1/#comment-2572903 Isegoria Mon, 21 Aug 2017 20:30:25 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=42245#comment-2572903 Now that you mention it, yes, an eclipse does figure into the Odyssey:

It was on April 16, 1178 B.C. that [King Odysseus returned from the Trojan War and slaughtered a group of suitors who had been pressing his wife to marry one of them].

[...]

Homer reports that on the day of the slaughter the sun is blotted from the sky, possibly a reference to an eclipse. In addition, he mentions more than once that it is the time of a new moon, which is necessary for a total eclipse, the researchers say.

Other clues include:

  • Six days before the slaughter, Venus is visible and high in the sky.
  • Twenty-nine days before, two constellations — the Pleiades and Bootes — are simultaneously visible at sunset.
  • And 33 days before, Mercury is high at dawn and near the western end of its trajectory. This is the researchers’ interpretation, anyway. Homer wrote that Hermes, the Greek name for Mercury, traveled far west to deliver a message.
]]> By: Bob Sykes https://www.isegoria.net/2017/08/the-greeks-had-to-learn-civilization-all-over-again/comment-page-1/#comment-2572738 Bob Sykes Sun, 20 Aug 2017 18:59:26 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=42245#comment-2572738 Based on the eclipse reported in the Odyssey, the fall of Troy has been dated to 1188 BC, making the Trojan War part of the Sea Peoples legend and an event in the collapse of the Bronze Age.

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