CUNNING HOMER: luglio 2021

Alberto Majrani THE CUNNING HOMER and the ingenious deception of the Odyssey

Who killed the suitors in Homer’s Odyssey?? A careful reading of the epic poem reveals a myriad of clues left by Homer with a surprising conclusion: the mysterious stranger, who arrived in Ithaca after twenty years and that no one was able to recognize was not Ulysses! But then, who could he really be? He was the expert Achaean archer Philoctetes in disguise! With this key, the Homeric poem suddenly assumes a logic and coherence hitherto unsuspected. This explains why Homer continues to praise the art of deception: it is he who has deceived us for three thousand years! And the surprises do not end there: all the apparent inconsistencies of the Iliad and the Odyssey that have plagued students and teachers for generations, known as the "Homeric Question", now fall effortlessly in place. The ancient texts finally agree with historical and archaeological data, fully revealing the genius of their author. Investigating the naturalistic, geographical and astronomical aspects with the right scientific key, it turns out that many myths are not only beautiful fairy tales, but arise from real events whose origin is only now beginning to be glimpsed.

lunedì 19 luglio 2021

Eustathius, horn, ivory and false dreams

A greek professor wrote to me: “A passage in the Odyssey has been puzzling me for a long time: when Penelope tells Odysseus, who is still incognito at this moment, about two different kinds of dreams. The ones which pass through the gates of horn accomplish real things, whereas those coming forth from the gates of ivory are false and deceptive. Penelope does not believe in her dream of Odysseus returning home, because it came forth from the gates of ivory. Od.19.562– 567. This to me sits well with your interpretation that it was not Odysseus that returned. Please give me your feed back on this.” I talk about it at page 116 of my book L’ASTUTO OMERO! : “Penelope tells of having dreamed of twenty geese (male geese!) pecking grain (number twenty returns) and that an eagle arrives and kills them. It is interesting to note the presence of another pun that is lost in translation; dreams, says Penelope, can enter through two doors: those of the ivory door (ἐλέφας- elefas) deceive (ἐλεφαίρονται – elefairontai), while those of the horn door (κέρας- keras) present things that are true (ἔτυμα κραίνουσι – etyma krainousi) and therefore they are realized. Strangely, as Eustathius of Thessalonica had noted, for the ancients good and true things had an affinity with the most precious objects, but ivory is more precious than the horn: this contradiction, however, is resolved if we consider that the horn brings to mind the eye (the cornea, but also the pupil, κόρη, kore), while the ivory recalls the teeth, that is the mouth; in Homer the phrase “which word came out of the fence of your teeth” often resounds (Od. I, 64)); therefore one must believe in what is seen and not in what is said (and she sees well that what she has in front of her is not her husband).”

The e-book THE CUNNING HOMER in English (translated by the author) is now ready (may 2023). I thank now who can provide me with useful corrections for my not perfect English. If you are a publisher and you want to publish the book you can contact me! If you are a professional translator and you think you can propose it to a publisher, contact me!

To buy the ebook it is sufficient that you send an email to alberto.majrani@tiscali.it with your commitment. University professors, museum directors and journalists will receive the ebook for free on a simple request.

The price of the ebook it is € 6.28 (like two pi Greeks!). You will be contacted when the book is ready with the payment instructions

If you want to read the book L'ASTUTO OMERO in Italian you can click here https://astutoomero.blogspot.com/

And if you have any doubts, ask alberto.majrani@tiscali.it !!!

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Why "THE CUNNING HOMER"?

Who really killed the suitors? Was it Ulysses who make the slaughter, or did someone else help Telemachus? Who could truly be the mysterious stranger, who came to Ithaca after twenty years and nobody was able to recognize? A careful reading of the Odyssey reveals the myriad of indications left by Homer for the surprising solution. Ulysses was not ...Ulysses, but the best of the achean archers: Philoctetes! With this key, the Homeric poem has suddenly taken an unsuspectables logic and a consistency . And the surprises do not end here!
You can find many abstract of the italian book here http://astutoomero.blogspot.it/2016/05/parte-prima-chi-come-e-perche.html If you are a publisher, or a journalist, or simply interested, please contact me! alberto.majrani@tiscali.it

These articles are excerpt from the new book by Alberto Majrani entitled L'ASTUTO OMERO The CUNNING HOMER – Ulysses, Nobody, Philoctetes and the ingenious deception of the Odyssey

The first version of the book (in Italian) can be bought on Amazon.

The new book by Alberto Majrani is titled L'ASTUTO OMERO - "The CUNNING HOMER - Ulysses, Nobody, Philoctetes and the ingenious deception of the Odyssey" and solves ALL (or almost) the problems of the Homeric question and many more on the origin of mythologies. For now (march 2021) is available only in Italian as paper book (28 euro + shipping) and in ePub format, kindle azw3, or pdf. To request the complete ebook with 280 images and 428 pages of text, at the price of Euro 6,28, just send an email to alberto.majrani@tiscali.it . Publishers, journalists, University professors will have a FREE copy of ebook. Thank you.

More information on https://astutoomero.blogspot.com/ (in italian, but you can click on google translator and select INGLESE as language)

Il nuovo libro di Alberto Majrani si intitola "L'ASTUTO OMERO - Ulisse, Nessuno, Filottete e il geniale inganno dell'Odissea" e risolve TUTTI (o quasi) i problemi della questione omerica e molti altri sull'origine delle mitologie. Per ora (marzo 2021) è disponibile solo in italiano a 32 euro più le spese di spedizione e in formato epub, kindle azw3, o pdf. Per spedizioni in Italia il costo totale è solo di 28 euro. Per richiedere l'ebook completo, con 280 immagini e 428 pagine di testo, al prezzo di euro 6,28, basta inviare una mail ad alberto.majrani@tiscali.it . Editori, giornalisti, professori universitari riceveranno una copia gratuita. Grazie.

Altre informazioni su https://astutoomero.blogspot.com/

COMMENTS AND REVIEWS

a concise collection of opinions on this book, made by those who have been able to read the first edition or the new preview draft: Giulio Giorello (preface): “A well-found solution”. Cinzia Bearzot, Greek scholar, Catholic University of Milan: “Convincing, funny, very well written”. Fabio Negrino, archaeologist, University of Genoa: “Suggestive and well-argued hypotheses”. Franco Malerba, the first Italian astronaut: “I read with genuine curiosity the investigation Ulysses-Philoctetes which I found convincing.”. Lowell Edmunds, Professor of Classics at Rutgers University (USA): “Dear Alberto, your book seems to me extremely clever”. Benedetta Colella, teacher: “How much I laughed when Alberto Majrani revealed to me that he, a naturalist, had solved the thousand-year-old question! After reading his book, with all the intentions to crush him, my prejudices ran aground on the rocks of uncertainty. What if he's right?”. Anna Lucia D'Agata, archaeologist: "Interesting hermeneutic and narratological analysis" Cristiana Barandoni, archaeologist: “I read it in one breath and, what can I say, I am dazed! First of all for how you write, then the content was added to the form. And a reflection: literature and criticism, very abundant, often leave little room for new interpretations. But if we want to be "philosophers" we must admit not only that we do not know everything, but also that further interpretations may exist. Thesis and antithesis, this is the process towards knowledge. Reading your Homer, a series of reflections have been triggered that have never been considered before today”. Giovanna Albi, Greek scholar and literary critic: “It's brilliant”. Barbara Bubbi, science popularizer: “You have a fantastic sense of humor, which can also be perceived very well from your books. Yours is a treatise of extreme interest, and only good writers can explain complex topics in a simple and fun way ”. Giovanni Anzidei, Head of the Accademia dei Lincei press office: “A great book, and it must be said loudly!”. Guido Cossard, archaeoastronomer: “Extremely interesting theory, and very well argued”. Enrico Banfi, former Director of the Museum of Natural History in Milan: “I won't go into the merits of other issues, but the naturalistic part is perfect”. Giulia Benati, Director of the Milan Cathedral Museum: “In one word: beautiful”. Giulio Calegari, palethnologist-artist. “What would myth be if it were not possible to dig into it to find, as in the archaeological layers, always new truths? Dreams that only the past can suggest, to allow us to look further and further away, on that horizon where scientific truth and poetic truth coexist. Perhaps it is this elsewhere that Alberto Majrani tries to grasp. This is the power of the myth: opening up to infinite stories that one must know how to grasp with amazement and sensitivity. The ancient bards would thank you! ”. Paolo Colona, astronomer: “Some of Alberto's studies are examples of beautiful archaeoastronomic research. And then Majrani has a talent: he is the only one I know who is able to subvert accepted and shared knowledge, starting from details for all to see, without making mistakes, potentially getting it right; he proposes annoyingly irrefutable theories! ”. Emanuele Properzi, Scrittorevincente.com: “Majrani is proposing to the publishing world an extraordinary project for originality, ambition and solidity of contents”. Teodoro Georgiadis, CNR researcher: "I liked your book very much, your reading is really intelligent, very well constructed, it forces you to go much deeper, to look for correlations, and it does an important thing for the Greeks: it keeps the fundamental interest that must be had for this story of the human race ". Ettore Brocca, Mangialibri.com: "Thanks to a remarkable argumentative ability, the author wears the devil's advocates toga to support the thesis that it was not Ulysses who killed the suitors, but Philoctetes! And we are certainly not faced with a literary divertissement studded with vacuous opinions ”. Felice Vinci, author of The Baltic Origins of Homer's Epic Tales "Many books have been written that took their cue from mine, but 'the best' is yours!" Daniela Toschi, psychiatrist: “I had always been troubled, since school, by certain discordant notes; as well as certain forced psychoanalytic interpretations of the myth. This theory made me rediscover an even more fascinating Odyssey”. Librieletture.com: "A serious study that reveals surprising possibilities, like a thriller, really intriguing and very pleasant to read ". Giuseppe Zanetto, Greek scholar, State University of Milan: “Dear Dr. Majrani, thanks for the email and thanks for the pdf of the book, which I will read with pleasure (as I read the first version, which you sent me in paper form). The Odyssey is a wonderful book, which contains a thousand stories, a thousand scenarios, a thousand truth. In almost three thousand years it has offered material and inspiration to many people: poets, philosophers, mythographers, ceramographers, artists and intellectuals of all kinds. I too put myself in the group: I am guilty of a rewriting of the poem intended for young readers. But the most beautiful thing is that over the centuries the Odyssey has given each of us, its followers, joy, fun and a bit of legitimate pride: because we all found "our" truth within it, which all the others had missed. From Homerist to Homerist, I send you my warmest greetings”. Eleonora Cavallini, Greek scholar, University of Bologna: "You write very well, you have a strong sense of logic and you have certainly read the Homeric poems very carefully, and I like this". Raoul Manenti, zoologist, State University of Milan: “A shining example of how it is really important and stimulating to highlight with class and rigor the critical aspects of the most current and complicated scientific issues. This especially considering that sometimes we forget the aspects more related to the past. Really a very pleasant read thanks to the excellent literary style”. Emilio Spedicato, mathematician, University of Bergamo: "Brilliant, persuasive, and of exemplary clarity. A book that shows how genius still exists in Italy." Gianfranco Iacobone, Vice-President of the Accademia Marchigiana: "Among all, the Nordic-Baltic setting is the only one that, in my opinion, cannot be dismissed with irony: the history of myths is complex and intertwined, and nothing can exclude that ancient stories can be ‘flowed’ in the Mediterranean area, reworked and made their own " Giuseppe Girgenti, Professor of the History of Ancient Philosophy, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan: “Convincing thesis”.