Posted on 06/24/2008 11:49:01 AM PDT by LibWhacker
The exact date when the Greeks used the Trojan horse to raze the city of Troy has been pinpointed for the first time using an eclipse mentioned in the stories of Homer, it was claimed today. # The truth about an epic tale of love, war and greed
Scientists have calculated that the horse was used in 1188 BC, ten years before Homer in his Odyssey describes the return of a warrior to his wife on the day the "sun is blotted out of the sky".
The legend of the fall of Troy is mentioned in Virgil and Homer's poems but it is believed to be based on truth and the exact date has been the subject of much debate.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Ping
Well, what’s the date?
1188 BC. It was a Tuesday.
I doubt there was a real Trojan horse, tho I bet there really was a Trojan war.
Schlieman used the Iliad as a guide to locating the lost city and it proved accurate but that doesn’t mean every single thing in it is the gospel.
April 16, 1178 BC. He would have left on the 15th, but he had to stop at H&R Block.
No. The story states that an exact date was calculated for Odysseus's return (April 16, 1178), but not for the date of the Trojan Horse. Then they counted backwards ten years to get the date of the attack on Troy, but they don't have an exact date for that.
Can't the headline writers at least try to read the article?
As the Goddess Aphrodite turns up at one point and starts whacking people with a broadsword, I think you are probably onto something there.
Sorry, forgot the smiley :0)
I am not an astronomer, nor do I have an ephemeris handy to check this out, but since there is a 10-year "difference" here, and since eclipses occur every year, I don't see the debate ending any time soon.
Then there's the definition of "date". The calendar used at the time? The Julian Calendar? The Gregorian calendar? modern "adjusted" calendar?
What?
“...Virgil and Homer’s poems...”
They just don’t write ‘em like that anymore.
“I doubt there was a real Trojan horse...”
Somebody had to think up that trick. Why not somebody who was actually trying to solve the problem?
I suspect there really was a Trojan horse, though not something on the Hollywood scale.
Modern archaeology has uncovered much documentary evidence that the Trojan War really did take place - in addition, a Trojan Horse really wouldn’t have taken any new technology that wasn’t used in the siege engines and wagons of the day.
It was....drum roll please......APRIL 1st!
They were looking for a solar eclipse that would have been visible in Ithaca (not the "City of Evil" one!) which narrows the field considerably. And, if you had read the article, you would have noted that a number of planetary positions were figured into the mix.
As for the exact meaning of "April 16, 1178 B.C.", what's the problem there?
I think it was April 15th - because the Trojans got raped... which is why it’s now the annual tax day/raping. :P
If my astronomical calculator is correct, there was a new moon on April 16, 1178 BC Julian.
“Schlieman used the Iliad as a guide to locating the lost city and it proved accurate but that doesn’t mean every single thing in it is the gospel.”
Was so! And Apollo will punish you for saying differently!
Eclipses, Geeks,....
and I never understood why they fought over Trojans, when you could get them for free at the Ilium Health Clinic...
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