Odysseus' Homecoming Dated

[M. Porcius Cato]

Researchers at Rockefeller University report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that 16 April 1178 BC is the most likely date of Odysseus' homecoming, given the data of a solar eclipse that appears to be referenced by Homer (who might have been a woman).

 

From MSNBC:

The possible solar eclipse comes up in the 20th book of the "Odyssey," as the suitors begin their final lunch. At this point, the goddess of war Athena "confounds their minds," making the suitors laugh uncontrollably and see their food spattered with blood. The seer Theoclymenus then foresees the death of the suitors, ending by saying, "The sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness invades the world."

 

The Greek historian Plutarch suggested the prophecy of Theoclymenus referred to a solar eclipse.

 

More recently, astronomers Carl Schoch and Paul Neugebauer computed in the 1920s that a total solar eclipse occurred over the Ionian islands

[DecimusCaesar]

I don't find it that hard to believe that something like a solar eclipse could be remembered as a folk memory, especially if it is well timed with a famous event. Then again, we can never be sure if Odysseus ever existed, and it's also worth taking account of how many eclipses took place within Homer's lifetime. If others had told him about an event like that, he could have easily incorporated it into his poems.

[okamido]

Here is a Princeton University lecture that covers this topic. It is fascinating but at well over an hour, you may wish to take it in chunks.

 

http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/flash/le..._magnasco.shtml

[Segestan]

Here is a Princeton University lecture that covers this topic. It is fascinating but at well over an hour, you may wish to take it in chunks.

 

http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/flash/le..._magnasco.shtml

 

 

Awesome lecture. Thanks for that link.