History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

Running out of steam?
Very entertaining
Too bad I cant give zero stars.
Not One of Clive's Best
Terrible Audio

Trojan Odyssey (Dirk Pitt Adventures)
Clive Cussler
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0425199320

Book Description

Long hailed as the grand master of adventure fiction, Clive Cussler has continued to astound with the intricate plotting and astonishing set pieces of his novels. Now, with a surprising twist, he gives us his most audacious work yet.

In the final pages of Valhalla Rising, Dirk Pitt discovered, to his shock, that he had two grown children he had never known-twenty-three-year-old fraternal twins born to a woman he thought had died in an underwater earthquake. Both have inherited his love of the sea: the girl, Summer, is a marine biologist; the boy, himself named Dirk, is a marine engineer. And now they are about to help their father in the adventure of a lifetime.

There is a brown tide infesting the ocean off the shore of Nicaragua. The twins are working in a NUMA(r) underwater enclosure, trying to determine its origin, when two startling things happen: Summer discovers an artifact, something strange and beautiful and ancient; and the worst storm in years boils up out of the sky, heading straight not only for them but also for a luxurious floating resort hotel square in its path.

The peril for everybody concerned is incalculable, and, desperately, Pitt, Al Giordino, and the rest of the NUMA(r) crew rush to the rescue, but what they find in the storm's wake makes the furies of nature pale in comparison. For there is an all-too-human evil at work in that part of the world, and the brown tide is only a by-product of its plan. Soon, its work will be complete-and the world will be a very different place.

Though if Summer's discovery is to be believed, the world is already a very different place...

Filled with breathtaking action and suspense, Trojan Odyssey is Cussler at the height of his storytelling powers.

Customer Reviews:

Running out of steam?.......2007-08-01

I enjoyed this book, but Cussler seems to be losing his flair for action packed adventures. His latest work is less intense then the previous novels I have read and enjoyed. He hasn't gone totally down hill, but he has mellowed out. I like how he included the kids into the storyline, which he did better than Clancy towards the end. I found Trojan Odyssey difficult to get into, but enjoyed it anyway. I hope Clive hasn't lost his touch.

Very entertaining.......2007-07-31

I enjoy Cussler's Dirk Pitt stories - they are great lighthearted adventures which also throw in a little maritime history or science. Trojan Odyssey is a fine example of a Dirk Pitt novel, with three great adventures wrapped into one story: rescuing a water hotel, searching for proof that Odysseus' adventures took place in the Atlantic instead of the Mediterranean, and stopping a plot to cause cataclysmic climate change as a means to gain wealth and power. If you like Pitt stories I'm sure you'll enjoy this one. If you're looking for hyper-realistic thrillers, Cussler is not your author.

A P-3 Orion aircraft makes a cameo appearance as "Galloping Gertie", the 'hurricane hunter' belonging to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

I enjoyed how Dirk's children get to work with him to solve the main mystery, while Al yet again serves as faithful sidekick. This book is a bit longer than some of Pitt's stories, with the first 150 pages being an interesting yet almost throw-away introduction...almost like two books were blended together. The wrap-up of the book certainly makes it appear that the Dirk Pitt stories have come to a close, with lots of little threads tied up nicely.

Too bad I cant give zero stars........2007-04-20

Blah blah blah, I laugh at this idiot who tries to rewrite history in his own words, a total moron, cant believe this garbage got published.

Not One of Clive's Best.......2007-02-04

I just recently read this book and found it to be not as thoroughly researched and full of errors, more than usual. While the plot is OK and enjoyable enough, I still think Inca Gold or even Atlantis Found as better books.

A number of errors that I can remember in particular include:

(1) The ship that Jason sailed on was the 'Argo' not the 'Argonaut'; the Argonauts were the Greek heroes that sailed with Jason!

(2) Fuel Cell technology that uses Nitrogen and then produces water as its output waste??? I mean at least do a little research on fuel cell. The reason why Hydrogen produces water in the first place is because the hydrogen ion produced bonds with oxygen to produce water while generating electricity. How can you produce H2O WITHOUT the H???

(3) How could Summer be the "Daughter-In-Law" of Loren Smith Pitt?? Shouldn't she be the Step-daughter??

(4) Pumps in the tunnel... why would you need pumps in the tunnel when the water pressure at that depth is enough to induce water flow? He probably meant a turbine which can produce electricity when connected to a generator.

Some additional comments: Why does he kept referring to China as "Red China"? Nobody refers to China as that any longer - even in 2003 when this book was published.

He never did place a connection between what Odyssey was doing and Hurricane Lizzie! I suspect he meant to include that in the book, i.e. that the freakish super hurricane was brought about by climactic changes that occurred because of the experimentation or whatever by Odyssey.

And what is the deal with that "low cost" fuel cell thingymagingy that can produced with 8 parts?? 8 parts?? Are you hallucinating? Even the most rudimentary wind-up toy requires more than 8 parts, let alone an ultra-sophisticated piece of technology. Why didn't he just leave well enough alone.

Clive puts too much useless details in this book that made it even less plausible than it already is. I would have been willing to gladly suspend disbelief given the genre of the book, but this calls for beyond even that! It's ok to inject Sci-fi elements into a book of this kind, but please at least do some research and put some semblance of plausibility scientific or otherwise into your stories. Clearly Clive is very well versed in automobiles, marine science, sailing, piloting choppers - but for those that he is not, I wish he'd stop cutting corners just to get a book out in print. Mr. Cussler please do your research or fire your editor!

Terrible Audio.......2006-12-28

I recently purchased this book on CD and looked forward to an adventurous story to pass the time while driving to work. But, to my dismay, I found the story subpar and the narration dreadful. Ron McLarty reads the entire 5 CD's in a monotone designed to induce sleep rather than provide enjoyment. I 've seen that other Cussler books are read by McLarty but I will steer clear of them.

The World of Odysseus (New York Review Books Classics Series)

Average customer rating:

Good Scholarship + Talented Author = Great Read
A classic on classics
Solid Scholarship
Solid scholarship
Unanswerable

The World of Odysseus (New York Review Books Classics Series)
M.I. Finley
Manufacturer: NYRB Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Greece | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Epic | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Greek | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1590170172
Release Date: 2002-09-30

Book Description

The World of Odysseus is a concise and penetrating account of the society that gave birth to the Iliad and the Odyssey--a book that provides a vivid picture of the Greek Dark Ages, its men and women, works and days, morals and values. Long celebrated as a pathbreaking achievement in the social history of the ancient world, M.I. Finley's brilliant study remains, as classicist Bernard Knox notes in his introduction to this new edition, "as indispensable to the professional as it is accessible to the general reader"--a fundamental companion for students of Homer and Homeric Greece.

Customer Reviews:

Good Scholarship + Talented Author = Great Read.......2007-06-11

This relatively short work by the famed ancient historian M. I. Finely remains as influential and important today as it was when it was published over 30 years ago, no small feat in field that has seen major shifts in opinion over the same time period. Finley is one of those unique authors that can combine solid historical scholarship within an engaging framework that makes his works accessible to all, from the lay reader to a student of the field. I found the book to be both an interesting companion to The Odyssey as well as an interesting read in its own right, although I have been know to be a bit partial to Greek history. Regardless of ones interests, Finley is a very accessible author who consistently leaves me craving more.

The main goal of the book is too illuminate the obscure world of Greek prehistory using the later of the two major epic poems attributed to Homer, The Odyssey. Finley set himself no small task, for both the Iliad and The Odyssey have been regarded as representing a picture of the Greek Bronze Age to varying degrees since the founding of modern historical scholarship and indeed even before. What Finley proposes is a departure from this line of thought, namely that the epics of Homer recall the memory of the `Heroic Age of the Greeks' that is traditionally associated with the Mycenaean civilization of the later Bronze Age. Instead he suggests that the poems represent a time closer to Homers own, thought to be c. 800-750 B. C. The time period in question is known by various names but is most often called the Greek Dark Age, the period of time between the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization c. 1200 B.C. and the onset of the Archaic Age c. 750. Through an examination of the texts in combination with modern archeological findings, Finley paints a very convincing picture of what life was like in the Mycenaean and Dark Age and how The Odyssey much more closely reflects the latter. Outlining his thesis and the marked resistance it has met from a good portion of the scholarly community, Finley methodically addresses criticisms and in a good many cases turns the table on those that would rather reject his work.

Being that the poem is concerned mainly with the exploits, travels, and trials of Odysseus, mythical King of Ithaca, the social, economic, and cultural conditions exposed are necessarily not representative of the vast majority of the people living in the society. This is something we must be content with in a comparison of text and archeology of this sort, as a rule of thumb epic poems, our only written record of the time, can have nothing to do with the lives of most people, only those at the very apex of society. Although this certainly has its limitations, any light provided for this period no matter how narrow the focus shines a bit more on all the other parts. Particularly interesting are the sections dealing with ancient economy of the ruling class, primarily characterized in a reciprocal gift giving system that conferred the most respect and power to those ruler who could give wealth away to others as `presents' thereby ensuring that they owed him something when need arose. In this means wealth was accumulated in order to be dispersed in exchange for service and the acknowledgement of ones social position. An essential book for anyone trying to find the very real world that lays just beyond on the pages of western literature's greatest epics, a world that Finely brings to life again almost as much as Homer does, if not in a different sphere.

A classic on classics.......2007-02-27

M.I. (Sir Moses) Finley belonged to a generation of scholars who wrote gracefully, intelligibly and critically for a broad intelligent, curious audience instead of wasting knowledge and ideas squabbling with colleagues behind the closed door of impenetrable academicspeak. That's one reason to enjoy THE WORLD OF ODYSSEUS. Just as compelling is watching him tackle the slippery slope of locating the poet Homer and the events he sang of in "The Illiad" and "The Odyssey" in time, place and culture. He stood in line a couple of millennia behind the first to probe Homer, and others continue to study and argue the issues, but his remains a classic in the effort.

Finley addresses the sociological, economic and religious systems of the Heroic Age, and gives a close reading of the Homeric texts in doing so. He finds considerable evidence of the preliterate culture he is seeking in the poetry and provides a convincing argument as to why they can be trusted to offer verisimilitude if not fact. The world he opens up is fascinating. My copy is the second edition, to which Finley added appendices in which he sorted through archeological activity and other scholarship in the field, nodding to the difficulty but also the irresistible adventure in pushing back to a time before recorded history to find out what mattered.

Solid Scholarship.......2006-10-30

This book deduces pre-homeric mores from references to domestic and social arrangements in Homer's works. It covers Homer and his relation to classical Greece; bards and heroes as a social class; wealth and labor; households, kiniships and community; and morals and values. Heavy reference is made to the text of the Iliad and particularly the Odyssey, and there are many close observations. For example, common folk attend assemblies and may react, but do not make proposals or even speak. But there are lapses. The author seems to miss the point that the Ancients thought every departure from reason was inspired by a god. Also, he fails to note that Nestor prays for fame for himself and his wife, a point that vitiates his argument that queens who attend banquets or participate in affairs of state are overstepping their bounds. Otherwise, the book presents plausible customs and morals flowing from the texts. The nobility in every kingdom was separate from commoners, slaves, and indentured freemen. The degree of input that a king wanted from nobles was up to the king. Nobles looked down on those who traded for profit, as ever, but the author overlooks the reason--because concentration of capital threatened the nobility. He omits the most plausible reason for Laertes' self-exile after Odysseus's departure, a directive from Athena. Otherwise, this book explains Homeric customs at a high order of scholarship. Any reader will achieve a deeper understanding of the texts.

Solid scholarship.......2006-10-30

Unanswerable.......2004-06-09

Well, here's Finley's conclusion: Homer's stories about the Trojan War are fiction, and Schliemann's "discoveries" of Troy do not support his wild claims (despite Schliemann's other services to archaeology). Finley quotes the sceptical judgment of Charles Newton, the British Museum curator, who in 1878 wrote that we don't know the size of that kernel of truth in Homer's epics. Finley went further: there is no historical truth at all in The Iliad, and as little in The Odyssey also.

My impression is that Finley was, and remains, a minority. Most Greek scholars (historical, archaeological, or philological) feel that there IS some real facts in Homer. For instance, J. B. Bury, writing in early last century in his History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great, stated that the traditional date of the Fall of Troy - i.e., the date indicated by Homer - 1183 BC, is correct, and that Homer's Troy corresponds to archaeological facts!

Bury was the Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge (strange title for a scholar of ANCIENT Greece and Rome), writing his book at a time when Finley was an infant. It is possible that archaeological finds by 1954 have cast more doubts on Schliemann's labors, which were made in the 19th century. But then Finley quotes Newton with approval, and Newton wrote in 1878. It is equally possible (though I don't know) that modern archaeological discoveries have further supported Schliemann and not Finley.

In a sense, the whole debate is moot. Many great works of literature are a mix of facts and fiction: Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, China's Three Kingdoms and The Journey to the West, Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. These are great books. To be sure, that kernel of truth may be very small in Homer, but we don't read Hamlet, let alone see it acted on stage, because we think the story is "real". That Homer's stories were believed by the ancients to be true (Alexander for one) is a major reason why we still have them today.

Book Description

Compelling evidence that the events of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey took place in the Baltic and not the Mediterranean

• Reveals how a climate change forced the migration of a people and their myth to ancient Greece

• Identifies the true geographic sites of Troy and Ithaca in the Baltic Sea and Calypso's Isle in the North Atlantic Ocean

For years scholars have debated the incongruities in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, given that his descriptions are at odds with the geography of the areas he purportedly describes. Inspired by Plutarch's remark that Calypso's Isle was only five days sailing from Britain, Felice Vinci convincingly argues that Homer's epic tales originated not in the Mediterranean, but in the northern Baltic Sea.

Using meticulous geographical analysis, Vinci shows that many Homeric places, such as Troy and Ithaca, can still be identified in the geographic landscape of the Baltic. He explains how the dense, foggy weather described by Ulysses befits northern not Mediterranean climes, and how battles lasting through the night would easily have been possible in the long days of the Baltic summer. Vinci's meteorological analysis reveals how a decline of the "climatic optimum" caused the blond seafarers to migrate south to warmer climates, where they rebuilt their original world in the Mediterranean. Through many generations the memory of the heroic age and the feats performed by their ancestors in their lost homeland was preserved and handed down to the following ages, only later to be codified by Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Felice Vinci offers a key to open many doors that allow us to consider the age-old question of the Indo-European diaspora and the origin of the Greek civilization from a new perspective.

Customer Reviews:

He has my full vote of confidence........2006-10-15

It is a curious fact that the geographical descriptions furnished in Homer's Iliad (the story of the siege of Troy) and Odyssey (the story of Odysseus's journey home after Troy's fall) do not easily match the assumed Mediterranean topography. Various prehistorians, historians, archeologists, and linguists have expressed their consternation about Homer's geographical details. It was Plutarch (46-120 A.D.), who in his essay "The face that appears in the lunar orb," unequivocally states that Goddess Calypso's island of Ogygia mentioned in the Odyssey was situated "five days' sail from Britain, toward the west."

Vinci, a nuclear engineer by profession and a passionate classicist by vocation, took Plutarch's statement as a serious clue to search for the geography of the Homeric epics in the North Atlantic rather than the Mediterranean. He has amassed a mountain of evidence in favor of the Baltic origins of both Greek epics. Similarities between the mythologies of the North and the Mediterranean have often been pointed out. Vinci argues that a deterioration in climate around 2000 B.C. caused some of the Scandinavian peoples to migrate south. As time went by, the epics were claimed by the Greeks for their own Mediterranean culture and environment.

What about Schliemann's Troy? Although this intrepid explorer undoubtedly discovered the Mycenean civilization, his claim to have unearthed the city of Troy has never been universally accepted. Already Strabo ( ) denied that the "ancient Ilium ( Troy)" was to be found in Anatolia. A better candidate for the Homeric Troy than the Anatolian town of Hisarlik, excavated by Schliemann, is possibly the Finnish town of Toija, as suggested by Vinci.

Vinci's audacious rewriting of Homeric culture and mythology is a creative proposition, which deserves to be further investigated. He has my full vote of confidence.

[...]

Fascinating solution to the Homeric enigmas........2006-06-28

For those who have actually read and pondered the Homeric sagas, many difficulties present themselves in trying to visualize the battles, the geography and the scenery when compared to the eastern areas of the Mediterranean Sea. In this book, Felice Vinci proposes and very well defends the seemingly outrageous idea that the events described in the epics actually transpired in the Baltic Sea. He contends that these events took place at the end of a particularly warm period, and with the dropping temperatures, the actors of the Homeric dramas fled south and occupied the warmer Mediterranean. Transposing the names of their former cities to their new homes, once things settled down, the epics were put to writing.

This is a bold and exciting assertion. This book explains and defends the premise very well. I strongly encourage people to read and ponder. It is a rare thing when something this bold and of this scope can be conceived and propounded with such dignity and vigor.

Put down whatever you are reading today and get this book!

intriguing study of connections between Homer's poems and Baltic area.......2006-05-02

Making comparisons of climate and geography, including place names, between Homer's ancient Greek classics and the Baltic Sea coastal areas, Vinci engages in intriguing, fascinating, but also well-substantiated speculation on the bases of Homer's works. Eons ago when the epics originated, climate was warmer in the Baltic region. Though it was not as warm as it commonly is in the eastern Mediterranean lands including Greece, Vinci finds references to this one-time warmer Northern European climate in the Odyssey, for example, with its frequent mention of cooler, damper weather often forming mist. Ulysses, the main character of the Odyssey, is more like a Viking seafarer than a typical Greek sailor. Vinci even finds many references in the Baltic region to the Trojan War poetically recorded in Homer's "Iliad." The link between the Baltic region and ancient Greece is strengthened, though not confirmed, by the migrations of Northern peoples to areas of Asia Minor. As Vinci recognizes, "further archaeological corroboration" by experts in different fields would be necessary to confirm his theory. But in pursuing it, this work covers many little-known but interesting and colorful aspects of the ancient European world and also enhances appreciation of the literary style and the cultural material and sources of the works.

All Roads Lead to Scandinavia.......2006-04-26

Felice Vinci traces the Greek epic tales of Homer to an original Baltic setting. Scholars have long troubled over the misfit of geographical information that the Iliad and Odyssey relate. Vinci makes a strong case that the Mycenaeans came from a then much warmer Scandinavia and migrated south to the Aegean, taking their epic stories with them. Correlating place names between those in the epics with those in the Baltic and North Sea regions, he pinpoints the locations of every major city, including Troy. Further strengthening his case, he demonstrates the cultural parallels between these mythic tales and others from Scandinavian culture.

His thesis is not as far fetched as this reviewer intially assumed it would be. We can see many places along the east coast of the United States named in honor of cities and towns in England, as namesakes of the original homes of the newcomers to the New World. If Vinci is right, inhabitants from northern Europe migrated south to the Mediterranean area and renamed numerous places in honor of their former homeland as well. Readers of Homer's stories assumed that they described events in this new homeland rather than their possible real places of origin. Many scholars considered these stories to be myths because they fail to fit the Near East setting, when they in fact fit much better in the far north and may represent real events after all. It would be like someone assuming that stories about the English Wars of the Roses occurred along the Atlantic seaboard of North America, where the interrelationship all the places named would be a jumbled mess, when in reality they took place in England, where all the geography actually fits.

Toward the end, Vinci mars his fine research with extrapolated speculation in an effort to suggest that Sumer, the early Hebrew patriarchs and everyone one else from the Middle East started in Scandinavia. This diminishes the legitimacy of his main theory. Had he left out such claims, his case would be stronger.

Vinci himself allows that his ideas rest upon cultural and geographic evidence and need archaeological research to confirm them. His argument is so strong, though, that it alone should be justification to explore physically the places that he identifies as the actual locations of the events of Homer's tales.

A "Must Read" book!.......2006-04-05

This is one of the most exciting books I have ever owned. It has led me into a myriad of subjects requiring re-thinking. I have had hours of enjoyable discussion with friends because of this book, and I thank Signore Vinci for his decade of effort to this project. I give my highest recommendation!

Average customer rating:

Good book!
My 5 year old loves this book!
Hi
Insults the intelligence of Parents and Children

Iliad and the Odyssey, The

Manufacturer: Candlewick
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religions | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0763600539
Release Date: 1996-11-04

Customer Reviews:

Good book!.......2002-09-22

When we were looking for a good book for a 6-year-old whose name is Agamemnon, to give him some context for his name outside of our family, we found this book at the library. He really enjoyed having us read it to him, then later for him to read himself. A great book!

My 5 year old loves this book!.......2002-07-14

In our house this is more a 5-8 year old book, my son asks for it as he climbs into bed many a night. It's a great way for him to have fun and get the basic storyline of a classic...

Hi.......2000-04-23

I would just like to say to the earlier review this book is not meant to be a school textbook. It is not supposed to be a wonderful introduction to the Iliad and the Odyssey. Marcia Williams books are just for fun, it is just a bonus that you children can get the basic story line of a classic. I would highly recommend any of Marcia Williams books.

Insults the intelligence of Parents and Children.......1999-06-30

Never has a book so insulted my intelligence more than this one, REALLY! Does the author actually expect me to believe that this will be entertaining to my children. This book only demonstrates how far the modern age has stooped in the dumbing-down of our children. A good introduction for children is "The Iliad of Homer (Oxford Myths and Legends)" by Barbara Leonie Picard and Joan Kiddell-Monroe (Illustrator), but stay away from this one for sure!

The Iliad and the Odyssey in Greek Mythology

Average customer rating:

The Iliad and the Odyssey in Greek Mythology
Karen Bornemann Spies , and Homer
Manufacturer: Enslow Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

The Raft of Odysseus: The Ethnographic Imagination of Homer's Odyssey

Average customer rating:

The Raft of Odysseus: The Ethnographic Imagination of Homer's Odyssey
Carol Dougherty
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Greek & Roman | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Epic | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Greek | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Geography | Social Sciences | New & Used Textbooks | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0195130367

Book Description

The Raft of Odysseus looks at the fascinating intersection of traditional myth with an enthnographically-viewed Homeric world. Carol Dougherty argues that the resourcefulness of Odysseus as an adventurer on perilous seas served as an example to Homer's society which also had to adjust in inventive ways to turbulent conditions. The fantastic adventures of Odysseus act as a prism for the experiences of Homer's own listeners--traders, seafarers, storytellers, soldiers--and give us a glimpse into their own world of hopes and fears, 500 years after the Iliadic events were supposed to have happened.

The Wooden Horse (Tales from the Odyssey, 1)

Average customer rating:

The Wooden Horse (Tales from the Odyssey, 1)
I. M. Richardson , and Homer
Manufacturer: Troll Communications Llc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0816700583

THE ILIAD AND THE ODYSSEY - THE HEROIC STORY OF THE TROJAN WAR - THE FABULOUS ADVENTURES OF ODYSSEUS

Average customer rating:

THE ILIAD AND THE ODYSSEY - THE HEROIC STORY OF THE TROJAN WAR - THE FABULOUS ADVENTURES OF ODYSSEUS

Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GQPTV8

Greek Mythology: The Creation of the Gods - The Gods - The Heroes - The Trojan War - The Odyssey

Average customer rating:

Greek Mythology: The Creation of the Gods - The Gods - The Heroes - The Trojan War - The Odyssey
Sofia Souli
Manufacturer: Attaika
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books