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Found near the ruined Temple of Zeus in the ancient city of Olympia, the tablet has been dated to Roman times. It is engraved with 13 verses from the poem recounting the adventures of the hero Odysseus after the fall of Troy. The tale was probably composed by Homer in the late 8th Century BC. It would have been handed down in an oral tradition for hundreds of years before the tablet was inscribed. The exact date of the tablet still needed to be confirmed, but its discovery was "a great archaeological, epigraphic, literary and historical exhibit", the Greek culture...

BURLINGTON, Vt. — The trials of Odysseus are really not that different from the struggles of those learning to readjust after wars of today, modern veterans are finding. A small group of military veterans has been meeting weekly in a classroom at the University of Vermont to discuss "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" for college credit — and to give meaning to their own experiences, equating the close-order discipline of men who fought with spears, swords and shields to that of men and women who do battle these days with laser-guided munitions. Homer isn't just for student veterans. Discussion groups...

In Why Homer Matters, historian and award-winning author Adam Nicolson suggests that Homer be thought of not as a person but as a tradition and that the works attributed to him go back a thousand years earlier than generally believed. Speaking from his home in England, Nicolson describes how being caught in a storm at sea inspired his passion for Homer, how the oral bards of the Scottish Hebrides may hold the key to understanding Homer's works, and why smartphones are connecting us to ancient oral traditions in new and surprising ways... About ten years ago, I set off sailing...

LG Electronics is expanding its U.S. presence with a new solar module assembly plant in Huntsville, Alabama. The South Korean technology giant will invest $28 million to set up the factory that's expected to create 160 new full-time jobs. LG will add two production lines at its 48-acre campus in Huntsville, where the company has had operations for four decades. The solar module plant will bring LG's total employment in the Southern city to more than 400 workers. Starting in early 2019, the new manufacturing plant is expected to produce 500 megawatts of solar modules per year. LG joins a...

The FBI is now investigating after a woman shot a New Zealand man outside her Goochland County home Friday afternoon. Troy Skinner, 25, flew to Virginia to meet the woman's teenage daughter after the two chatted online using Discord, a service popular among gamers, the Goochland County Sheriff said. The 14-year-old girl's mother shot Skinner when he attempted to break into the family's home in the Holland Hills community, the sheriff said. "He was not invited here, he was not expected here, he had been told in the past that the daughter no longer wished to communicate with him," Goochland...

Attempting a new translation of “The Odyssey” is like directing “Hamlet.” Much of your audience knows the work well, and they take their seats with entrenched expectations and the intonations of favorite performances reverberating in their heads. At the same time, though, you will have audience members who have never seen the play, for whom you provide the introduction to a giant of Western literature. And let us not forget those who are there under duress, dreading the upcoming hours of boredom. You must find a way to speak to all these disparate groups, sneaking past the defenses of the...

An Edwardsville man who pleaded guilty to threatening to assassinate President Trump on Facebook may face up to five years in federal prison. Joseph L. Pickett published multiple posts on Facebook, threatening to “take the life of, to kidnap, and to inflict bodily harm” against Trump, according to a criminal complaint filed with the charges in June. “Before I die I want our president and congress to sign a treaty to never side with Russia or any enemy of the United States of America! If one will then that person deserves to be shot,” his post read. “Guess what Trump?...

Two police officers in upstate New York have been suspended as authorities investigate claims the cops used a golf cart to run down and kill a groundhog during a police union's golf tournament. Witnesses reported seeing the two men chase a groundhog near one of the holes at the Frear Park Golf Course in the city of Troy last Friday afternoon, authorities said. The animal was killed when the cart ran over it.

It was then that Swiss scholar Emil Forrer deciphered newly discovered writings from the Hittite Empire to the east, finding two place-names—Wilusa and Taruisa—that sounded convincingly like the Hittite way of writing "Wilios" (the Greek name for the site was "Ilion") and "Troia" (Troy). He also found a treaty, from the early 13th century BC, between the Hittite king Muwatalli and a king of "Wilusa" named Alaksandu. The king’s name, Forrer added, recalls the name of the Trojan prince Alexander—called Paris in Homer’s Iliad. Critics pooh-poohed, conceding that a place named Wilusa may have existed, but where was it on...

[The Apprentice].... in 2004.... Boise’s Troy McClain was the darling of the country. That didn’t stop when Trump uttered the famous “You’re fired” words. Trump said, ... it was one of the most difficult firings of his career. But, being fired by the man who became his mentor and philanthropic inspiration wouldn’t stop the meteoric rise for McClain. "Trump would talk about being a job creator,” ... “He would say ‘Troy you need to be a job creator.' And I'd say; 'Naw, I'm a speaker, ... And he'd say ‘You are a solo-preneur... a job creator!' " McClain formed Troy...

Archaeologists digging at Pylos, an ancient city on the southwest coast of Greece, have discovered the rich grave of a warrior who was buried at the dawn of European civilization. He lies with a yardlong bronze sword and a remarkable collection of gold rings, precious jewels and beautifully carved seals. Archaeologists expressed astonishment at the richness of the find and its potential for shedding light on the emergence of the Mycenaean civilization, the lost world of Agamemnon, Nestor, Odysseus and other heroes described in the epics of Homer. “Probably not since the 1950s have we found such a rich tomb,”...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- It wasn't just Troy police officers showing their support for Officer Chad Klein. As he walked out of Albany Medical Center, he was surrounded by fellow officers and K9s from agencies across the Capital Region. "As dark as Saturday was, today we're on the other end of the spectrum," said Troy Police Chief John Tedesco. Troy Police Chief John Tedesco says there's still shock within his department about what transpired Saturday night, but as dangerous as it may be, his officers have a job to do. "It's concern now for every officer going out the door, is...

One of the most overlooked aspects of the year just ended is the vindication of Chief Justice John Roberts -- a vindication that showed up as the national catastrophe known as ObamaCare got rolling. Roberts may have also doomed Hillary Clinton's chance to live in the White House again. The chief justice, an appointee of President George W. Bush and reputedly a constitutionalist in his jurisprudence, set his diabolical trap (diabolical to Democrats) on June 28, 2012, when he joined with the four liberal justices on the Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of ObamaCare. Conservatives and Republicans across the...

As the 2016 election approaches, have we learned anything from history? On April 24, 1184 B.C., as legend has it, the Trojans looked out over their city wall, and saw the Greek ships sailing away, the Greeks apparently having given up after ten long years of war. All that was left was a horse. A great big, huge, heavy, beautiful horse statue on wheels, bearing a note, reading “The Greeks dedicate this thank-offering to Athena for their return home.” Well, the Trojans were no fools; they saw a great big piece of art, obviously the result of great work and...

A New York City law firm known for filing class action lawsuits on behalf of chain restaurant workers is going after Dinosaur Bar-B-Que for what it says is the systemic underpayment of tipped workers like servers and bartenders. The law firm of Fitapelli & Schaffer said it has filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York involving all six New York state Dinosaur Bar-B-Que locations, including the one opened in Troy in 2010. Dinosaur has made tipped workers spend at least 20 percent of their time doing non-tippable work — like rolling...

My old alma mater—the University of Scranton—recently made the news with a year-old study on New Year’s resolutions. Richard Asa reported in the Chicago Tribune on December 16, 2014 that “a 2013 University of Scranton study found that 8 percent of people achieve their New Year's goals. Part of the reason: Resolutions are often not accompanied by an achievable or realistic plan, says Carrie Krawiec, executive director of the Michigan Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and a practicing therapist at Birmingham Maple Clinic in Troy, Mich.” “When it comes to children, ‘parents can start by helping (them) set reasonable...

Praise the Lord—and pass the ammunition! An upstate pastor is planning to give away an unholy raffle prize at an upcoming service: an AR-15 assault rifle. “We’re honoring gun owners and hunters,” the Rev. John Koletas, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Troy, told the Daily News. “And we’re being a blessing and a help to people who have been attacked, viciously attacked, by socialists and anti-Christian people—the politicians and the media.” […] “I think it’s sending the wrong message entirely,” said the Rev. Willie Bacote, a pastor of Missing Link AME Zion Church in Troy and a prominent anti-gun...

In the Wayne-Westland Community Schools, high school math teachers are the lowest paid as a group and make on average almost $25,000 less a year than the physical education teachers. The high school science teachers make $11,000 less than the district’s gym teachers on average. The salaries are set by a six-year teacher’s contract Wayne-Westland agreed to in 2008 and runs through 2014. The salary schedule determines pay solely by years of experience and education background. On average, physical education teachers were the highest paid group and made $78,675 a year. Teacher gross salaries can also include pay for extracurricular...

Epic Genes: Dating The Iliad This 3-inch-high bronze statue from Crete, dating to the early seventh century B.C.E., depicts a young boy and a blind musician. According to ancient tradition, Homer was a blind poet. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Epic Genes: Dating The Iliad This 3-inch-high bronze statue from Crete, dating to the early seventh century B.C.E., depicts a young boy and a blind musician. According to ancient tradition, Homer was a blind poet. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles