HOMEROS, ATLANTIC THEORY part VIII

Gerard W .J.Janssen Homeros the Poet 1 ATLANTIC GEOGRAPHY | ODYSSEUS' FIRST VOYAGE | ODYSSEUS' SECOND VOYAGE THE ATLANTIC THEORY Translation of parts of Homeros Odyssee, De zwerftochten van Odysseus over de Atlantische Oceaan by Gerard.W.J.Janssen, Leeuwarden 2018. Continuation of Atlantic Troy, in academia.edu. Website Homer Odyssey PART 8: HOMEROS and THEMES OF THE ODYSSEY I. HOMEROS THE POET From ancient Greece onwards, commentators have discussed the origins of Homer and the Homeros texts. All kinds of profound theories were developed to trace his homeland, with the result that, according to the Suda, there are nineteen places in Greece and Asia Minor that claim to be the poet's birthplace. The conclusion is that his homeland is a mystery. The reason is that Homer was always thought to be a Greek who wrote about Greek things in Greek. The curious thing, however, is that Homer's Greek is an artificial language, composed of various dialects: Attic, Ionic, Aeolic and Doric, which are used interchangeably and are also larded with many non-Greek words of Gallo-Germanic origin. The question then arises whether Greek was actually the native language of Homeros. Perhaps a comparison can be drawn between Homeros and Erasmus, the scholar who wrote perfect Latin but came from Rotterdam! In the same way, Homer wrote in Greek but came from the Atlantic region, where the Elusian religion was based and the initiation into the Mysteries took place, as described in Book 11. Many commentators do not know what to do with this book 11, which deals with Odysseus' journey to Hades, the summoning of the dead and his conversations with Teiresias and deceased heroes. They see it as an annoying interruption in the course of the story of Odysseus' wanderings or as an imaginative episode, intended to bring the dead back in conversation and tell about their lives. Later poets have taken this ?fiction" of Homeros as a guide for their own underworld fantasies, such as Virgil and Dante, and created a Hades of their own taste with the most ghastly tortures! However, as discussed in the Introduction to Religion and Eleusis, Odysseus's journey to Hades is not fiction but the portrayal of a symbolic reality: a dramatic and theatrical initiation ritual that was later imitated in the mysteries of Samothrace and Eleusis. Book 11 therefore forms the very core of the Odyssey. Odysseus, driven by fate, arrived in the motherland of the Elusian religion at the house of the supreme goddess Kirke, with whom and by whom his initiation into the Mysteries took place. If Homeros is an Atlant, then this special event would be a great opportunity to present his homeland. Is Homeros an Atlant? Sure, the Homeros text has been preserved in Greek, but it contains an important term that gives a striking indication of his homeland and profession. It is the name Mentor, a "real" person in Ithaka but also the form or disguise in which the goddess Athena appears several times. The term is non-Greek and belongs to the Atlantic, ie Gallo-Germanic, language group and means "scholar, teacher, mentor". Homeros gives his heroes Odysseus and Telemachos wise, pious and moral lessons through Athena-Mentor, and her name Mentor is also an indication of his own profession. For, according to Gerard W .J.Janssen Homeros the Poet 2 tradition, he is a pupil of headmaster Femios of Smyrna and succeeded him as school leader after his death, as other well-known figures of antiquity such as Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato and Aristotle have been school leaders either.1 The Suda states that Homeros was the son of Hesiod's cousin and that both poets are believed to be descended from Atlas, that is, they were Atlants.2 This passage has always been neglected because the commentators had no idea of the history of the countries around the ocean. Pausanias claims (1,3) that Homeros, unlike Hesiodos, who had a fear of travel, did travel to the "furthest corners". Although Pausanias does not mention this corners by name, it is likely that it was the land where Homeros places Hades "at the very edge of the western world." Pausanias makes no other statements about his stay in Greece or the place of his death. In general, we can conclude that the Greeks have nothing to say with any certainty about Homer. His birthplace according to De Grave If the Atlantic area was Homer's homeland, what could be his actual birthplace? Obviously it is a matter of guesswork but there are some clues that make the case for the town that still bears his name: St. Omer, ancient Sithium (=Sidon).3 It was a famous site in the ancient world, was dedicated to Athena and had a temple of her that was still in existence when Omer came to preach the gospel there (s. Intr. Fenicians).4 Another indication is that some sources place Homer's birthplace in Cyprus, in the small state of Kition, which was built in 1300 BC, allegedly founded by Achaian settlers, that is to say, by Achaians from the west! It is possible that Homeros travelled from his hometown of Sithion to related Kition in Cyprus. A third indication is that Orpheus also belongs to the Atlantic Sidonians, since Solinus (c.17) claims that he was descended from the Sitonians of Thrace on the Pontic coast (Ponticus litus). Pliny (4,54), however, connects these Sitonians with the Moriseni, a name that is equal to Morigeni and the Gallic Morini (= Seacoast inhabitants), so that the word Sitonians should apparently be read as: settlers of Sithion from the area of the Gallic Morini. Solinus' Sitonians of Thrace must therefore also be descended from settlers from Sithion on the Channel, and by ?Pontic coast" is meant the Hellespont, as Homeros calls the North Sea and the Channel. Orpheus, like Odysseus, made the journey to Hades to pick up Euridice, was initiated into the Mysteries just like him at Walcheren and may have subsequently introduced this mystery cult in Thrace, Samothrace and Frugia. This is broadly the story of De Grave (I, 172-182), who therefore thinks of a northern descent for Homer but opts for Sithion instead of Zeeland. His birthplace according to Cailleux Cailleux also devotes a chapter in Poésies d'Homère (9th thèse) to the birthplace of Homeros, of which I paraphrase below. Of course, Cailleux ascertains that Homer himself was an Atlant. The only question is whether he came from the warm south, from the area around the Baetis and Ithaka with their olive trees and vines, or from the cold north, where, for example, Troy lay and where Odysseus had almost frozen to death during a spy mission to Troy (see Introduction Troy). There are many arguments to consider southern Spain as the cradle of the great poet: -The olive tree, which plays such an important role in the Odyssey, is native to this area. Odysseus had built his marriage bed around an olive tree and when he returns to Ithaka (Cadiz) after his long journey, an olive tree is waiting for him at the head of the harbor. -According to Strabo (3,1), the Turditani who lived there had been singing and writing epic poetry for 6,000 years, so that a poet like Homeros had the writing and the metre for his verses at hand. Gerard W .J.Janssen Homeros the Poet 3 -Homeros mentions the two great rivers of that region the Guadalquivir (Baetis) and the Guadiana (Ana) in particular because he calls Menestheus, the leader of the Athenians who came from the Baetis ?the son of Peteiós" or ?from Peteios"(= Baetis) and describes the Ana, which he calls Enipeus, in such vivid colours that it cannot be otherwise than a river of his own country: ?... and Turo had fallen in love with the river god Enipeus, the most beautiful river of all that flow on earth? (11,235).5 -The Ana flows in Iberia through the land of the Kunethes or Kunesians.6 Now the old king of the Kunethes, Gargoris, had a son Habis, whom he put in a plough furrow at birth. The oxen spared the child, whereupon Habis, under the protection of the deity, became the legislator of these people. The story is very similar to that of Odysseus who put his son Telemachos before the ploughing oxen when Agamemnon and Menelaos came to ask him to join the war against Troy. Homeros apparently knew about the local legends. After the Gallo-Germanic mystery rituals, recited by the bards and put in writing by Homeros, had spread to faraway places via colonists or itinerant singers, cultural and social upheavals took place in Western Europe, which erased all traces of the Homeric poems. Only in the periphery, on the islands of the Mediterranean, texts were saved. However, they did not originate there! As mentioned in Introduction Writing, Homer's text came with Kunethan settlers to Sicily and spread through Syracuse into Greece. The learned Meursius writes: ?The Greeks call the man who introduced them to the Iliad and the Odyssey Kunethos. It is not known when he was alive, only that he was the first to collect Homer's verses in Syracuse and recited them to the public."7 Thus, without realizing it, the Greeks themselves reveal Homer's homeland. These ideas of Cailleux correspond with my own studies. In the Introduction Athens, we have shown that the Athenians also originated from the Baetis, so it is logical that the text of Homeros finally around 500 BC was edited and established in the city of Athens by Peisistratos or Hipparchos. Still, the role of the Spartans in finding and preserving the Homeros text may have been more important. According to Plutarchus Lycurgus c.4, the Spartan legislator Lycurgus discovered the texts. In fact, Plutarch claims that Lycurgus, according to some authors, met Homer in person, meaning that he would have lived well before 800 BC! According to tradition, Lycurgus had also visited Iberia. In that case, Lycurgus might have been an Iberian himself, a Kuneeth (Lakonian, Spartan), and would have written down the texts of Homer and exported them via Sicily to Athens. Therefore, the above-mentioned Kunethos of Sicily might have been the same Lycurgus. Since we have determined that Sparta in Greece was a colony of the Kunethes, more specific from Lagos in Portugal, the story of the legendary Spartan, that is, Lago-Kunethian (=Lakonian), legislator Lycurgus might have been preserved there as a vague reminder from the old homeland. In any case, both the Athenians and the Spartans played a part in the spread of the Homeros text in Greece, while the Greeks, by mentioning the name Kunethos and with their vague stories about Lycurgus, indirectly indicate that the Homeros text was foreign to them and came from the west. The name Homeros Cailleux gives an explanation for the name Homeros in PH 186 ff. After the old society with its tyrannical, feudal rulers had been radically changed by the revolution of the new egalitarian religion, associations with a military and religious character were formed everywhere with initiation rites following the example of the mystery rituals of the Hades on Schouwen and Walcheren, with Nehalennia as patroness. These fraternities, leagues and associations formed communities and cities that counterbalanced the power of kings and their vassals (basileis). Many peoples have a name that includes a root meaning ?bond", such as the Ligurians (liga), Bastuli (bast =bark), Sparta, (esparto), Athene (teen = wicker), Artaei (= Persians: art or heart ), Codani on the Baltic Sea (catena -chain) etc. Also in the poems of Homeros there are two leagues that are victorious over evil. In the Iliad, the Achaians unite to reclaim the depraved Helen, while in the Odyssey the alliance of five men destroys the criminal Achaians who are harassing Penelope.8 Gerard W .J.Janssen Homeros the Poet 4 The name Homeros can also be derived from a word meaning ?bond", namely from the Fenician/Hebrew word hamar/omer, which means ?sheaf, bundle, union". Related words are in Spanish amarra, - <line, mooring, binding', in Gallo-Germanic marren- <tie up' and meren- <moor, tie up'<, in Greek hemeros- <tame', that is to say, bound in a disciplinary organization and homéros, meaning <hostage', a vassal bound to his lord or mistress. Hamar/omer - <garve' ( =bundle) has left a memory in the name of areas both in southern Portugal or western Andalusia: the Algarve, as in the land of Toledo, which was called Carpetania (lit .: Garve-land = Sheafland) named after the sheaf and the brotherhoods indicated by it. From these and other arguments, Cailleux concludes that Homeros is not a proper name but a generic name for a ?bound one, a religious brother", bound to the religion of the mother goddess Demeter (= Ceres, Anna, Nehalennia). The poet belonged to the Homerites, Spartiates, Athenians, Fokaians or Ligurians, in any case to a brotherhood in the land of the Kunethes, present-day Andalusia. Name and place of birth according to Wilkens While De Grave placed Homeros in St. Omer, Northern France, and Cailleux wants him to come from Andalusia, Wilkens (p. 296 ff) has yet another explanation for the name and origin of Homeros. -He derives the name Homeros from the Gothic omer (Latin: amare) which means ?to love" and Homeros would then mean the ?Beloved". -As far as the text is concerned, Wilkens confirms De Grave's argument that the Homeros text was originally not Greek and that the Greek version was a translation of an Atlantic language. The meter, the Dactylic hexameter, is not very suitable for Greek, because many short syllables are needed and ancient Greek has a musical accent, which often goes against the metric accent. In addition, there are many loanwords from Western European languages in the text, such as ooi (-ewe)-ois; dyke-teichos; tuig (-gear,weaponry) teuchos; nevel (-mist,haze)-nefele, washing room -wasaminthos etc. Once again, he points out that the geography and culture described by Homeros have nothing to do with Greece. Homer describes the Bronze Age, lived in that time too and may have been an eyewitness to the battle for Troy. From around 1150 BC his works have been transmitted orally for four centuries until they were translated and written down into Greek. - As far as his origins are concerned, Wilkens thinks that only two areas qualify, because they are described in a quite detailed way: a. The land of Achilleus in Flanders and the Netherlands and b. the land of Odysseus in southern Spain around Cadiz. Wilkens gives some arguments in support of Cailleux's choice of Spain, the most important of which is that Homeros states (II, 535) that the <Lokrians live beyond Euboia'. In Greece this is a geographical indication that is only logical from the point of view of one of the Aegean islands or from Asia Minor, Trojan territory. In the Atlantic setting, only seen from the south, Euboia lies in front of Lokris, see map, which makes southern Spain plausible as Homer's homestead. According to Cailleux, Ajax's home country of Lokris is the area around the river Aa in Northern France, but it seems there was a second Lokrian settlement in Normandy (Wilkens p.341). Euboia was the land of the Boii (Les Landes, Vendée). Lokris beyond Euboia Gerard W .J.Janssen Homeros the Poet 5 A second argument could be that, according to certain Greek traditions, Homeros was even the son of Telemachos by Polycaste (or Epikaste), daughter of Nestor, and therefore, came from Ithaka (Jerez). 9 Wilkens does not find these arguments convincing enough to definitively choose Ithaka as his birthplace. Later legends are not very reliable and Homer as Odysseus' grandson could not have been an eyewitness to the war. Undoubtedly, Homeros spent a long time in southern Spain given the knowledge he has of that area, but his birthplace and place of death is in the North in the land of Achilleus, on the island of Ios. Two more passages from the Match (s.above) confirm this theory. Homeros came to Delfi where he asked the Pythia who he was and what country he was from. The priestess replied (v.52): ?Ios, the island, is the land of your mother, which will take you up after you die". In v.311 it is reported that the poet slipped ?on a clayey place, fell on his side and died three days later" He was buried in Ios with the following epitaph: Coat of arms of Nieuw en 'Here the holy head of the divine poet who made heroes famous St.Joosland is covered with earth: he was called Homeros. ' According to Wilkens, this island of Ios is in Zeeland near Middelburg and on old maps is referred to as Joosland, the modern village of Nieuw en St. Joosland, which has been below sea level for a long time, which explains the words ?clayey place". The Joosland coat of arms is very special; it is a crescent moon rising from a sea with ebb and flood currents, a symbol used and still used for Nehalennia, Demeter, Artemis, Isis, and Holy Mary. It indicates the religion of rebirth. The time of Homeros There is much disagreement about the time in which Homeros lived and wrote. The common view is that he would have lived around 800 BC and therefore, describes a world of 400 years earlier. Furthermore, the use of iron is an indication for many that Homeros must have lived in the Iron Age, so after 1000 BC. Gideon (p.143 ff) points out that these assumptions are mainly based on a comparison between the described armor and utensils, for which Homer is said to have taken models from his own time, and archaeological finds from the Bronze Age in Greece. However, from the Atlantic point of vue, whether or not the objects described by Homeros existed in Greece, is of no importance whatsoever, since his stories are not set in Greece but in Gallo-Germanic area, where the development of metallurgy was far advanced. The Gallo-Germans were far ahead of the East in terms of weaponry and warfare. Shipbuilding, which, according to Thucydides, occurred in Greece only after 700 BC developed in the west already in Bronze Age to the point where they could build enormous ships that could transport more than 100 crew members including livestock, horses and wagons. Horses were common in England, ?Troy rich in horses", see Introduction Troy. The oldest rock carvings of horses are 40,000 years old and were found in France. Horses were an important element in warfare, as tractors for chariots, used by the Achaians as battle taxis. The heroes drove to a specific place and fought on foot. Egyptians and Assyrians also used chariots, but they served more as a shooting platform for archers after surrounding the enemy. Solar chariot from Trundholm, 1400 BC During his conquests in France, Caesar Gerard W .J.Janssen Homeros the Poet 6 had to deal with the Gallic chariots that were still used in the Homeric way, just as Odysseus himself was attacked by a mass of chariots during his raid with the Kikones in Brittany (9.40 ff). However, the use of chariots is not known at all to the Greeks. It was not until later times that a small cavalry was employed, for the simple reason, according to Dictys (I, 18): ?that throughout Graecia the use of cavalry was hampered by a rather great lack of forage".10 So when Homeros describes objects and battle methods of his own time, as the commentators want, then we must conclude that Homeros lived in the Gallo-Germanic Bronze Age, all the more since ?it is impossible to describe a war in minute details several centuries after the event" (Wilkens p.297). Homer thus would have either been an eyewitness to the battle or lived not long afterwards. Episode V, 302 ff. argues for the second view, in which Homeros states: Tudeus' son took a stone in his hand - a mighty action -, one that two men, as the people are now, wouldn't lift; but he, even alone he swung it with ease. These lines show that Homer himself is of a generation different from Diomedes, the son of Tudeus. Wilkens, therefore, concludes that Homeros must have lived at the end of the 12th century. Conclusions In summary, I note that while the ancient authors are quite in the dark as to the meaning of the name Homer, his lineage, his life, and his grave, the Atlantic authors are somewhat more in agreement. As for the name Homer, I think Cailleux has the best arguments for his derivation from hamar or omer meaning "sheaf, bundle", as it indicates that Homer was part of an association, a brotherhood like that of the Achaians, Spartans or Athenians, which is consistent with the continuous line in his theories. De Grave and Wilkens are broadly in agreement with each other regarding the poet's origin: they opt for a northern descent, Wilkens for Joosland (Ios) on Walcheren where the Mysteries of the Hades took place and De Grave for Sithion on the Somme, North of France, although he also believes Homeros to have personally travelled in this Mystery region. Cailleux sticks to southern Spain and puts forward countless arguments supplemented by Wilkens. However, he fails to consider arguments for a more northerly origin, so that it seems best to me to conclude with Wilkens that Homeros did live and work in southern Spain for a long time, where he may have had contact with Odysseus, but was born on Ios and died there, near the centre of the rebirth mysteries, so neatly symbolized by the crescent moon in the coat of arms of Joosland. His works then came to Sicily from Andalusia (possibly together with the Kunethan Lycurgus), were recited there, might have been translated into Greek, and then found their way to Athens, where the text was canonized around 500 BC. Given the details Homeros describes of the countries of Western Europe and the battlefield at Troy, we must conclude that he travelled through Gallo-Germanic territory in the 12th century BC and was inspired by the Saxonian and Iberian legends about Troy and Odysseus respectively. All the details Homer describes presume a very well-organized society, but one that was divided inwardly and engaged in a bitter (social?) struggle. Noten: 1. See Pseudo-Alkidamas The Match between Homeros and Hesiodos. 2. Suidas, 10th century AD s.v. Hesiodos. 3. Other names: Audomaropolis or Audamar = Omer (Gall.) and in the Middle Ages: Civitas Sancti Homeri. See Introduction Fenicians. 4. Sithium is also the place on the Somme (Sounion) where Menelaos lost his helmsman Frontis during his return trip from Troy to Sparta (Lagos), see Introduction Apollo. 5. Enipeus is derived from Ana-ippo (= Ana tidal current) 6. Herodotos 4.49: 'Kunesians lived in the far west' and Avienus: 'Ana amnis illic per Cynethas effluit' (-The river Ana flows trough the Kunethes). See Introduction Sparta. 7. Meursius Des Archontes d'Athènes, c. 1600, 2.1. Gerard W .J.Janssen Homeros the Poet 8. For details about the Achaians, see Introduction Achaians. 9. Pseudo-Alkidamas The Match between Homeros and Hesiodos, 32-36. 10. Dictys Cretensis Journal of the Trojan War. 7 8 Gerard W .J.Janssen Homeros the Poet II. THEMES OF THE ODYSSEY Muse, tell me of the man of many resources, who wandered far and wide after sacking the holy citadel of Troy. He saw the cities of many men and learned their ways of thinking, and many sorrows he suffered at sea, fighting for his life, his return and that of his mates. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't save his companions because they perished for their own foolishness, stupid men who ate the cattle of Helios Uppersun.... (1,1-8) The first ten lines of the Odyssey already indicate in a nutshell a number of themes that will play a role in the book: 1. Initiation into the Mysteries; 2. Wandering and homecoming of Odysseus; 3. Trojan War; 4. Downfall of his mates. We have to investigate whether all these themes fit into the Atlantic setting. Much of this work has already been done in the various other Introductions. ad 1: Initiation The beginning of the first verse of the Odyssey reads Andra moi ennepe Mousa ... (Muse, tell me of the man) Andra means ?man". This is not just any man, but the hero Odysseus who had to endure many trials and doing so, became an initiate in Kirke's mysteries. Thus he became an ?andere" (-other person), an ?adult", initiated man who could take matters into his own hands and free his house from the evil of the suitors. As an initiate he is also the instrument in the hands of the gods, who punish evil on earth. That the Odyssey is essentially an initiation story has been recognized in ancient times by classical authors such as Plutarch. The questions where exactly this initiation took place, where Kirke lived and where Hades was, are discussed extensively in the Introduction Religion. What remains is to describe the views of some authors on the nature and importance of the initiation rites. In his Poésies d'Homère, in particular in thèse 14 (p.369 ff.), Cailleux elaborated ideas about Druidic life in the Odyssey, of which a paraphrase follows here. Three Stages in Druid Life Man, however primitive, by nature has a feeling or idea of a higher power, something indeterminate and immaterial. He may simply respect, revere, fear, or build a cult around this power, but further development of this concept leads him to seek more spirituality. He then sees and feels two opposing principles, that of matter and that of spirit. The material pleasures are easy, unsustainable, and often mingled with remorse, while the spiritual require much effort but bring the mind to an imperturbable rest. Those who first realized this dualism developed the art of freeing themselves from the physical Gerard W .J.Janssen Homeros the Poet 9 pleasures and devoting themselves entirely to the mind, even at the expense of the body. This destruction or liberation was elevated to art and rules were drawn up by experienced experts on how you could become a new person from the old man: the initiation rituals. The novice who ventures into this initiation has three phases in his life: - that of the uninitiated barbarian, who knows no gods or does not respect their cult, but who, therefore, does not expect any help from their side either. He is dominated by instincts and influences from outside; - that of initiation with the associated tests and exercises in chastity, obedience and poverty: asceticism.1 He presents himself to the Church (Kirke), who, through a series of exercises, strips him of his passions, his will, his body, his self. She kills him, as it were, makes him a corpse and puts him in a grave: his first death! To test him, she imposes new exercises on him, by sexually arousing him to see if there are any remnants of that fire left, by giving him commands to obey, and putting in his way horrible monsters and obstacles and finally by robbing him of everything down to his last shirt. But then he revives in a new human being. - that of the initiate, an "andere", an "other or altered man": he has become a monk, a Brahmin, a kabeir, from that moment united with the deity, through whom he acts, speaks and spreads the principles of religion all over the world. The disciplined monastic orders that still exist did not find their basis only in the Middle Ages. The earliest Christians encountered Druid orders all over the world and only gave them new inspiration. Under the authority of the ancient Bronze Age Mother Church, Druid settlements developed everywhere, not only in Europe but also in America (Piaches, Medas, Wabenas), North Africa (Nu-Midians, Nasamones), Asia (Derwidt, Dravidas, Dervishes = Druids ) etc. For a detailed description of these orders see PH p.376 ff. Some monks lived together in religious monasteries under an abbot and were called cenobites, others spread out alone, lived alone and were called hermits. The first group we encounter mainly in the north of Europe, in France, Germany, Eastern Europe and the Buddhist countries, where countless monastic ruins and still functioning abbeys can be found, built on cyclopean walls. However, the hermits and mendicants seem to have spread from Iberia through the south of the classical world, the Middle East and beyond, where they are called Marabouts, Fakirs, Dervishes, Brahmins, Jamabos (Japan). Druid life in the Odyssey When we apply the above three phases to the Odyssey, we find the first phase, that of the uninitiated barbarian, in the books 9 and 10 (until v.135), in which Odysseus tells how, after leaving the battlefield at Troy, he meets different peoples, often with hostile intentions, resists the gods and is defeated everywhere. For example, in revenge, he executed a ?raid" on the Kikones, took women and children and killed the men, but was defeated by the intervention of Zeus and ended up in a terrible storm. The Cyclopes story is well known: by blinding one eye of Polufemos, the son of Poseidon, he is also hated by this god with far-reaching consequences. He experiences similar misery with Aiolos and the Laistrugones, as a result of which he only manages to survive with one ship of the twelve. Odysseus is here the antihero, who is to blame for the death of almost all of his mates because he is driven by materialistic motives. The second phase of initiation begins when he presents himself to the Mother Church, that is, to Kirke, 'the supreme goddess of great authority' and expert in science and religion. The initiation of Gerard W .J.Janssen Homeros the Poet 10 Odysseus takes place from 10,35 to book 12. Odysseus and his mates leave behind their old life in Hades, as it were, and die there, but return transformed in "andere (-other)" persons to Kirke, who in 12, 23 notes: Well, you daring men, to have gone down living to Hades’ House, thus dying twice where other people die only once. Then the testing phase begins, in which Odysseus and his companions have to show that they have left behind sexual pleasures, can obey orders and can cope with absolute poverty. They manage to escape the temptation of the Seirenes and follow Kirke's orders carefully when passing Skulla and Charubdis. Once landed in Thrinakia, however, the companions are no longer able to control themselves. Contrary to orders, they indulge in the cattle of Helios, which leads to their drowning. Odysseus, who had obeyed, is swept up in their doom but, deprived of all possessions, manages to cling to the keel and reach the island of Kalupso after nine days. It is the test of absolute poverty and loneliness to which he has been subjected for seven years, see Introduction Fenicians. Then phase three begins, in which Odysseus becomes an initiate, a brahman, a hero. For this he has to experience the purifying baptism in water, which happens when he is knocked off his raft and is deposited naked by the flood on the bank of the Janubio River on the island of the "Purifiers", that is, the Faycans or Faiakans, see Introduction Scheria. From that moment on, Pallas Athene is permanently present and everything has to give way to his and her power. Once back in Ithaka, Odysseus also literally becomes a brahman, a mendicant monk: After these words, Athena touched him with her wand. She wrinkled his beautiful skin on his supple limbs, made the flax-blond hear on his scalp disappear, covered all his limbs with the skin of an old man, and made his eyes, formerly so bright and radiant, dark and dull. Then she dressed him in different clothes, an ugly rag and a wretched chiton, tattered, filthy, smoke-smelling cloth. She then flung the large skin of a fast doe, devoid of hair, over his shoulders and gave him a staff and a measly pouch, full of tears, with a rope that served as a sling. (13,429 ff) In this guise, he returns home unrecognizable to his wife and others, gets hold of his bow and, with the help of Athena, kills the approx. 100 suitors. After a second battle with the suitors' relatives, Zeus and Athena put an end to the struggles and Odysseus is recognized as king. He lived happily ever after and died in old age. That is, in short, Cailleux's theory of the three stages in the life of a novice. Wilkens (p.56 ff) adds that the initiate, the Druid, not only knew religion but also all kinds of sciences: 'The Druids controlled all intellectual activities and by no means limited themselves to a religious role. They were involved in medicine and even leading the armed forces, and there were poets and satirists among them. Such was their influence that the Druid spoke before the king, at least in Gaul and Ireland. According to Caesar, Druid practitioners devoted up to 20 years of their lives to their studies, studying geography, astronomy, physics and theology.' This text, based on Caesar's de Bello Gallico, 6,14, may explain why Odysseus stays with Kirke for one year and with Kalupso for seven years: because of studying all the knowledge then available among the druids. Gerard W .J.Janssen Homeros the Poet 11 The "purifying baptism in water", which ushers in phase III as described above, is necessary because 'the person to be initiated into the Mysteries had to pass through a state that resembled death. That could be achieved through ritual contact with one of the four elements, depending on place or culture: ordeal by fire (whence the phoenix symbol), water immersion (the Celtic custom),air (the Nordic practice of hanging head down from a tree) or the earth (the live burial of Lazarus) '. The novice then experienced the transcendental reality of his being, was purged of all imperfections, desires and prejudices, was open to science and could count on a privileged place in the rebirth cycle (Wilkens p.234). The conclusion must be that the first theme "Initiation" is an Atlantic theme, which is entirely in keeping with the belief in rebirth and the accompanying mysticism of the Gallo-Germans. ad 2: Wandering and homecoming of Odysseus The reader already knows that Odysseus will return home because Homeros already tells us about this decision of the gods in the first book of the Odyssey. The entire Odyssey, therefore, questions whether, how and when Odysseus comes home and what he must do after that. The 'whether' question is the main subject of book 1-4, in which his son Telemachos searches for information about his missing father. The <how' question is subject of Book 5-13, which describes the ocean wanderings, his adventures on various islands, and the ports visited. The question 'what after' is the subject of books 13-24, from his arrival in Ithaka to the final settlement. The story of Odysseus' wanderings takes place entirely on and around the Atlantic Ocean, as explained in various Introductions. ad 3: Trojan War The Trojan War always plays a role in the background. Occasionally, in short fragments, the role Odysseus played in Troy is discussed, such as in the episodes of the wooden horse and the spy tour around Troy in one of his fictitious stories. These scenes only appear in the Odyssey, not in the Iliad, and have later been worked out by Virgil in his Aeneid. The Atlantic settings of those scenes will now be explained. Atlantic setting The following excerpt tells briefly how the Achaians left the Wash after the construction of the wooden horse and after having first demolished the ship camp and set fire to the remains. ......the bard, inspired by the god, began, and raising his voice picked up the tale at the point where one group of Argeians after burning their tents sailed away aboard ships with good benches, while others were already hiding around glorious Odysseus inside the Horse at the market of Troy. For the Trojans themselves had dragged it into the citadel! So there it stood, while they sat in a circle around it, discussing it endlessly to no conclusion. Three plans found favour: either to cut through the hollow timber with pitiless bronze, or drag it up to the top and then throw it off the rocks, or leave it as a grand showpiece to appease the gods, as it ultimately would happen. For the downfall was inevitable once the city accepted 12 Gerard W .J.Janssen Homeros the Poet that huge horse of wood, where the best of the Argeians lay all hidden, bringing death and ruin to the Trojans. Then he sang how the Achaians, after they poured from the horse and left their hiding cave, sacked the city. He sang how they, dispersing through the streets, laid waste high Troy but that Odysseus, as an image of Ares, together with godlike Menelaos went to Deiphobos' house. There, said the tale, he had to wage a terrible fight, which he won in the end with the help of the noble goddess Athena. So sang the famous bard. (8,499 ff.) The Achaians sail a long way out of sight and hide at Tenedos (Vergil Aeneid II, 21-24), which identifies with the island of Thanet, about 280 km away (a 24-hour journey). Thanet was an important religious centre for the Celts: the Seirenes are situated there, see Introduction Troy and Tenedos. This story and that of Menelaos in the following fragment are the only episodes about the wooden horse on which, as far as we know, Virgil based his tale of the wooden horse in his Aeneid. (Menelaos tells) <Hear also what that mighty man has done and risked in that smooth-scraped horse that we sat in, all the leaders of Argos, bringing the Trojans death and ruin! Then you (=Helena) arrived. A god who thought to hand victory to the Trojans had summoned you to do so, as destined. You were also joined by Deifobos, handsome as a deity. Thrice you circled our hollow hiding-place, groping the surface, calling each prince of the Danaans by name, each time using the voice of the wife of all those Argeians. Indeed, I myself and Tudeus' son and brave Odysseus, sitting there among them, did hear you call. Two of us felt the urge to get moving, either to leap out or to answer quickly from the inside. However, Odysseus restrained and stopped us despite our eagerness. The rest of the Achaeans kept all silent too except for Antiklos who was the only one wanting to call out and reply. But then Odysseus clapped his strong hands over his mouth mercilessly and saved all Achaians. He grasped him so till Pallas Athene led you away.’ (4,272 ff.) In this fragment, names are mentioned that can only be explained in an Atlantic context: Argos, Danaans, Argeians and Achaians. Argos is the name for Western Europe, namely: Iberia, France and Belgium (= Pelasgian Argos). Danaans, Argeians and Achaians are names that are often used interchangeably for those European peoples. See Introductions Agamemnon, Achilleus, Achaians. The verses 4,243 ff, in which Helena claims to have met the "beggar, slave" Odysseus in his dirty clothes, refer to his later disguise as a mendicant monk, which the initiate Odysseus received from Athena. See above, where we found the origins of this brahman culture in Iberia. In the next and final fragment, Odysseus tells Eumaios about his adventures at Troy as if he were another person. It contains data on climate, weather and terrain that are only applicable in northern regions, in this case, England and the marshes of the Cam, as discussed at length in the Troy Gerard W .J.Janssen Homeros the Poet 13 Introduction. As concerns trousers, Gallo-Germans wore them, Greeks did not! (Odysseus tells a fictitious story) Well, as I've opened my mouth, I'll not stifle my story. Ah, I wish I were young and had as much strength as when we set out to spring an ambush under the walls of Troy. Odysseus led us together with Atreus' son Menelaos. So I was third in rank, as I was ordered. When we reached the town with its steep wall, however, we lay down in thick brush among reeds and puddles, hiding under our weapons near to the high-walled city. The North Wind dropped and the night grew terrible, freezing and hard and snow like hoar-frost settled on us from above: so the ice formed thick on our shields. Now, all the others there had coats and shirts and slept easily, their shoulders fully covered by their shields. However, stupidly enough, I had left my cloak with friends when I left, because I certainly didn't think I would freeze. No, I followed taking only my shield and shiny trousers. During the third part of the night, when the stars had descended, I nudged Odysseus, who lay next to me, with my elbow and spoke these words to him - so he immediately pricked up his ears: <Noble son of Laërtes, Odysseus of many resources! Listen, I'm not going to survive this long. The cold is killing me because I don't have a cloak! I have been deceived by some god to put on only a shirt. There is no way around it anymore!' Hearing these words, he hit on an idea because he was good at devising tricks and tactics of war. Speaking softly, he said to me the following words: <Hush now! Don't let one of our Achaians hear a word from you!' Then he spoke, leaning his head on his elbow: <Listen, friends! I had a divine dream sent by the gods in my sleep. The fact is that we are very far from the ship camp. So we need someone to alert Agamemnon, Atreus’ son, our commander in the hope he will order reinforcements here from the ships.' After these words, Thoas, son of Andraimon, leapt up, flung off his purple cloak and hurried away to the ship camp. I lay there, snugly wrapped in his garment, but soon Dawn appeared in her golden chair. (14,467 ff) Concerning the theme "Trojan War", too, the conclusion is that the fragments indicate clear connections with the Atlantic world. ad 4: Downfall of the mates We see how during Odysseus' wanderings his twelve ships all but one go down. This last ship, too, eventually goes to the bottom due to the stupid behaviour of the mates, so that Odysseus, sitting alone on the keel beam, is finally carried away by the waves and ends up at Kalupso. See book 10: Laistrugones and 12: Thrinakia and shipwreck. The mates who were still with Odysseus when he visited the Laistrugones have perished because of their imprudence and materialistic pirate mentality, while those mates who, like him, had undergone the initiation with Kirke and the Hades, did not survive the phase of the final trials, as described above. The tales about their demise also take place in the Atlantic Ocean. 14 Gerard W .J.Janssen Homeros the Poet Conclusions All four themes that play a role in the Odyssey fit perfectly into the Atlantic setting. The theme "initiation" easily fits into the Gallo-Germanic world and philosophy, in which the belief in rebirth is the core. The themes "Wanderings" and "Downfall of the mates" take place entirely on the Atlantic Ocean, as shown in the other introductions. The third theme "Trojan War" is discussed in a few episodes. Troy and Tenedos are of course in England, as described in the introductions. The Atlantic set is further confirmed by the names of the peoples, the scenes of the mendicant Odysseus, referring to Andalusia, and the climate, weather and terrain data, which refer to a northern area. Notes 1.Derived from Greek aske (-practicing), which Cailleux says is derived from Asciburgium. Abbreviations used for the books of Th. Cailleux (1878): OC Origine celtique de la civilisation de tous les peuples PH Poésies d' Homère PA Pays Atlantiques, decrit par Homère Citations of Homer: Roman cyphers = Ilias, e.g. XX,345; Arabic cyphers = Odyssey, e.g. 13,34. Bibliography Atlantic authors: Homeros Odyssee, by Gerard Janssen, Leeuwarden 2018 = H.O. Gideon E. Troje lag in Engeland, Deventer 1991, reprint of Homerus, zanger der Kelten, 1973 Grave Ch.J. De République des Champs Élysées, Gent 1806, 3 vols. Jones B. The Discovery of Troy, Kefallinia 2019 Oosten H. van: Trojaanse tin-oorlog en Odysseus' oceaanroute 2020 (with English summary) Vinci F. The Baltic Origins of Homer's Epic Tales, 2005 W ilkens I.J. Where Troy once stood, 1990 Dutch: Waar eens Troje lag, Leeuwarden 2015 Series Atlantic Odyssey I. Series: Odysseus' First Voyage - part 1: Troy- Gog Magog Hills, England - part 2: Ismaros and the Kikonen - Brittany - part 3: Lotophages - Senegal - part 4: Cyclopes - Fogo, Madeira, Cameroon - part 5: Aiolia andAiolos - Corvo (Azores) - part 6: Laestrygones - Cuba, La Havana - part 7: Aiaia and Kirke - Schouwen, Zeeland - part 8: Hades-Walcheren, Zeeland II. Series: Odysseus' Second Voyage - part I: Tenedos-Thanet and the Seirenes; - part II: Skulla, Charubdis -St. Michael's Mount - part III: Thrinakia-Cornwall - part IV: Ogygia- Azores, Kalupso; - part V: Scheria-Lanzarote; - part VI: Ithaka-Cádiz, Jérez III. Series Atlantic Geography in Homer -part 1: Lesbos, Kreta, Argos and Hellas -part 2: Athens, Eleusis, Egypt and Faros -part 3: Elis, Fenicia, Fokaia -part 4: Lemnos, Imbros, Messene, Pulos, -part 5: Olumpos, Sparta, -part 6: Samothrake, Thebe, Thracia, The Channel and the Isle of Wight IV. Series Atlantic Theory -part I: Achilleus and Agamemnon -part II: Achaians; Piracy; Shipping; Writing -part III: Religion in Homer -part IV: Apollo and Athena -part V: Demeter, Hermes and Poseidon -part VI: Zeus and Herakles -part VII: Atlantic Authors -part VIII: Homeros; Themes of the Odyssey