Odysseus was the clever Greek hero, even devious. He was a man of mind power over brute force. However, he was no slouch as a warrior, especially with his bow. Smithsonian and Bettany Hughes compare the ancient Greek composite bow to a “hyper-modern” one. How does one of my favorite legendary heroes hold up?
My weekly roundup of history and archaeology: Faience head of Biblical king found in Israel w/ compelling expression, “Even Homer Nods” poetry inspired by the Iliad, new Pompeii finds despite dig moratorium
Book Review: Miller’s Circe spellbinds with gorgeous language, compelling characters and new takes on Greek mythology and Homer. She is both respectful of ancient tradition and captivating in her relevance to contemporary concerns.
My roundup of archaeology and history with some Fantasy/SciFi tossed in: color perception & language in ancient Near East and Greek, the blue-eyed, black skinned face of the first Brit & a short story in honor of libraries
My weekly round up of history and archaeology (with a little humor thrown in this week): Emily Wilson’s translation of the Odyssey brings a woman’s smart view to the ancient poem, making medicines at the Palace of Ebla, exquisite warriors carved on a Mycenaean seal from the Griffin Grave and canine noir cartoon for the mystery & dog lovers
My weekly roundup of history and archaeology: season report from a Cyprus Bronze Age site, zero’s earliest showing, a Viking sword, ancient copper smelting, technology and Homer.
My weekly roundup of posts I enjoyed: recent Kybele find under threat by mine blasting, experimenting with pyres, Sekhmet statues rise to do guard duty again, 2000 years’ tale of a site in what is now Lebanon
Some posts I enjoyed from around the web this week: a list of 21 historical novels you may not have read but should, new monument at Petra found and a video reconstructing Patroclus’s pyre fr Eleutherna, Crete”s new museum and archaeological dig.
Join me Feb 25-28 at Left Coast Crime. Here are some posts from around the web that I enjoyed this week: badger turns Bronze Age archaeologist, Roman restaurant in France, the Homer reading club talks Achilles and Harper Lee memories.
Some posts I enjoyed this week around the web: Cynthia Robertson on what makes a book brilliant, Bronze Age find in Britain preserved liked Pompeii, what the Iliad tells us about war from Caroline Alexander, Maya royal burial at El Zotz and book humor.
