In Part 2 of my proposed roadmap to the development of the Trojan War legend, I cover the Aeolic/Anatolian phase, which occurred in mainly in western Anatolian in the early Iron Age, and Mythopoetic phase, which happened along with the flowering of Ionian poetry in the 8th century, but may have had roots going back into the 9th. These are the two traditions with which Homer worked in the latter part of the 8th century, and whom I touch on only briefly, as I will cover his epic separately. Keep reading…

Gregory Nagy formalized his theory of how epics develop in his evolutionary model (I provided a brief synopsis of it in my essay, Homer and the Written Word), and Jonathan Burgess offered up an “arboreal” simile when he said if the Trojan War legend were a tree, the Iliad and Odyssey would be “a couple of small branches” while the Cyclic poems would be “somewhere in the trunk.” (The Cyclic poems are the six lost works that complete the legend.) Inspired by them, I came up with a “hydraulic” model for the legend’s evolution, based on the idea of rivers and deltas, which I’m introducing here. Keep reading…

A short interlude while I get some ducks in a row… Keep reading…

There is a well-known tendency to run ahead of the data may occur whenever data are ambiguous, contradictory or sparse. We all wish to find clarity and coherence in the analytic issues we take on – that is our job. But, just as we should avoid undue reticence in reaching conclusions, overinterpretation should equally be guarded against. To enlarge on this thought, I turn to the example of Zeus. Keep reading…

Much of what I’ve written about previously has dealt with Homer: was he the individual who composed the Iliad; did he write it; why is the Iliad so different from the Cyclic poems, and were the Iliad and the Odyssey composed by the same person (accepting the conclusion they were both produced by individuals, not a long-term process within an oral tradition)? I’ve mentioned before that it’s generally believed neither the poet of the Iliad or the Odyssey were named Homer, so where did that name come from and, if they were two separate individuals, why do we know both of them by that name? As I’ve also said, the confusion created by the name Homer being attached to both poems has affected how the poems are perceived, and obscured the history behind them.  Keep reading…

I thought I’d say a few words about composition in performance and multiformity, as these concepts are important to the Oralist perspective. If I’m misconstruing either of these concepts in my ignorance, and a person of that school should happen by, perhaps they can correct any misapprehensions I may have.

The first point I’d like to advance is that both these concepts are part and parcel of the creative process and its expression… Keep reading…

I imagine most people know this, but for those who may not be aware, colors in my title refers to the flags flown by maritime vessels to proclaim their nationality (wherever their vessel is registered). Back in the Age of Sail, it was considered in wartime a legitimate stratagem for a warship to fly the flag of a different nation (such as a neutral) – false colors – to lure an unsuspecting enemy in range, as long as the proper flag – true colors – was hoisted before commencing hostilities.1 (Otherwise it was counter to the laws of war and amounted to piracy.) This behavior (I suspect) also gave rise to the term “false flag operation.”

I use true colors here in several ways… Keep reading…

What can the historical record tell us about Helen’s legend, if anything? Could there have a been a war for Helen—that is, some historical person who might have had a role in inspiring her legend? There were certainly conflicts, including one attested between Greece and Troy. Could a “Helen” have been involved? While accepting the there possibility of a Greek princess running off with an Anatolian prince (to conform to the story) and sparking a war, Barry Strauss states “the modern reader is skeptical of Homer.” Surely there must have been other reasons?1 It would be foolish to suggest otherwise (a multiplicity of reasons is the rule, not the exception) but the issue is more which reasons would be primary and which subsidiary, and what effect this might have on how the war was remembered and recorded.

This essay adds material relating specifically to Paris and Helen, including the notion, found in Herodotus and the Greek lyric tradition, that they visited Egypt on the way to Troy. Keep reading…

For over 2,500 years, Helen has shouldered the blame for the Trojan War. But is that really the case? Priam, the aged king of Troy, denied it. Why then, despite some defenders, has the belief in her culpability been so persistent and so vehement? This second installment reviews and prosecution’s main argument and examines the case for Helen’s innocence. The question of the Unity (which I describe in my previous essay) is again raised: is it influencing how we view Helen — even how the Iliad is translated? Did Helen and Paris actually elope? The topic of dynastic marriage in the late Bronze age is touched upon to cast light on this issue. Lastly, I briefly consider that if Helen is not at fault, who could be?

Helen’s controversial character and explores her nature as a goddess of ancient origin, the significance of her twin brothers, Kastōr and Poludeukēs (themselves ancient deities), what is behind her propensity for martial strife and being abducted, and her (perhaps unexpected) connection with Cassandra, the beautiful, cursed Trojan seer. Keep reading…