A few years ago, I don't recall exactly when or where, I encountered a powerful idea that's stayed with me.  It concerns Homer's Odyssey, and its hero, Odysseus ( Read more... )

The big news this week is that a group of Greek archaeologists and astrometrologists compared meticulous astronomical observations with a careful reading of Homer to calculate Patroclus's death as occurring at noon on June 6, 1218 B.C.  You can read the full paper hereHomer describes a solar eclipse taking place during the battle for Patroclus's ( Read more... )

Let's celebrate the new year as the Mycenaeans would have, with drink and storytelling.


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The current Hercules film featuring Dwayne Johnson is that rarity in Hollywood: a genuinely good movie about Greek mythology, even though it debunks the myth it's set around. January's Legend of Hercules was a dud, as was 2011's Immortals and the Clash of the Titans reboot.

Part of the problem is the difference between the ancient Greek hero and ( Read more... )

Athena and Hera from Peter Connolly's amazing younger reader's book, The Legend of Odysseus.  Athena's breasts aren't visible because she's wearing Homer's "tasseled aegis."  Hera is wearing a polos headdress.


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The Egyptians depicted feasts on their tomb walls, giving us a rather detailed look into what the typical Egyptian feast would have involved. Unfortunately, no such pictorial evidence has survived for the Mycenaean world. Recreating a Mycenaean feast means piecing together archaeological remains and textual clues from Homer; the latter is a bit ( Read more... )