Ship s Log Part Two. Seventh month (Intercalary month Sun in Leo Odysseus s year with Circe comes to an end (10.470)

Transcription

1 Ship s Log Part Two Seventh month (Intercalary month Sun in Leo Odysseus s year with Circe comes to an end (10.470) Last hours of the dark of moon Regulus, α Leonis. Summer Solstice An intercalary month is inserted as passes through Leo July st Lun. ) st Qtr 20 8 ρ Leonis Full σ Leonis Aug rd Qtr β Leonis Dark Dark After a year, Odysseus s men urge him to continue their homeward journey. That night he sleeps with Circe and asks if they can leave. Circe warns he has to make a fearful journey to the home of Hades and Persephone 30 Dark The drunken Elpenor is killed falling from a ladder

2 Eighth month: Sun in Virgo Odysseus s voyage to Hades ( ) meets the ghosts in Hades ( ) Last hours of dark of moon 132 nd Lun ) β Virginis At dawn, Odysseus is given a new tunic by Circe and the ship s mast and sails are raised as they sail towards Hades. Now begins a story within a story: The ship is beached in the land of the Cimmerians who live in perpetual darkness and Odysseus walks along Oceanus to Hades. Anticleia tells Odysseus of the state of affair in Ithaca. Odysseus draws his sword from his side and digs a trench and waits for the souls of the dead to appear. Elpenor comes first and asks him to give him a good funeral. Next Odysseus briefly sees his mother, Anticleia. Teiresias then appears and Odysseus sheaths his sword. The seer forecasts that once Odysseus has regained Ithaca and his wife, he must immediately set off on his travels again. 2 Odysseus draws his sharp sword from his side and Persephone sends up the ghosts of the dead. In the following days, Odysseus sees...tyro who Poseidon deceived, Aug Antiope who believed Zeus had been her lover, Alcmene who Zeus made love to; she gave birth to 16 Hercules, 5...Megara who married Heracles, Epicaste, mother of Oedipus but who married her own 18 son and hanged herself, 7 1 st Qtr...Chloris who married Neleus, king of Pylos, Leda who was mother of Castor and Pollux, Iphimedeia who slept with Poseidon, Phaedra, Procris, Ariadne, who was the daughter of Minos, Full γ Virginis...Maera, Clymene Eriphyle who killed her husband. After a short interval 27 back in the real time of Alcinous s court, Odysseus then met Agamemnon, and Achilles, saw Patroclus, Antilochus, Aias who stands aloof, Sep Minos who was the king Crete and son of Zeus, rd Qtr...Orion who wanders with his club of bronze, Tityus who has two vultures picking at his liver, Tantalus, son of Zeus who suffers from everlasting 5 thirst, 25 α Virginis...Sisyphus who forever pushes a boulder uphill. 6 Spica 26...Heracles who carries his bow and arrows Odysseus wished he could have met with Theseus 8 28 Dark and Peirithous 9 29 Dark but was afraid Persephone would send up the dreadful Gorgon. 1 He then left Hades (his return journey) 1 Perseus and Algol are in the east at sunset 14 10

3 30 Dark Helical rising of Leo.... and sailed until early dawn. Elpenor is buried with honour with an oar placed on his mound. During the night Od. tells Circe of his experiences in Hades, and she tells him of the perils to come: the Sirens, Wandering Rocks, Scylla, Charybdis, and the temptations of Helios s cattle. 11

4 Ninth month Sun in Libra α and β Librae Odysseus sails safely past the Sirens ( ) Low point Circe departs inland and Odysseus s crew row away from her island in fair and gentle winds. While at sea Odysseus repeats some of Circe s warnings of the perils his men have yet to face. Sep rd Lun. ) st Qtr Full α Librae Wind ceases and the sea is deadly calm, stilled by a 28 god Crew stow the sails and row speedily onwards. The sea is churned white with their rowing. Oct rd Qtr Odysseus cuts a cake of beeswax into 88 pieces and kneads it in his hands before plugging his men s ears with wax and being tied to the mast. There are now 88 days to the destruction by Zeus of Odysseus s last ship Odysseus s ship approaches the island of the Sirens who burst into wonderful song. To lure Odysseus to their island and his doom they seek to flatter him by recalling the bold deeds of Troy 23 As the two Sirens continue singing, Odysseus signals to 4 his crew to untie him, but they ignore him 24 and continue rowing Despite his pleas, Perimedes and Eurylochus tie him 6 tighter to the mast. 26 When past the Sirens the men unplug their ears and free Odysseus, who had been able to both hear the Sirens and escape a lingering death on their island Dark 8 28 Dark κ Librae 9 29 Dark 10 3

5 Tenth month Sun in Scorpius and Ophiuchus Wandering Rocks, Charybdis, Scylla ( ) Arrival on Thrinacia ( ) Last hours of dark of moon. As their ship passes the Wandering Rocks the crew see smoke and a violent sea. The men are too terrified to row and the ship comes to a standstill until Odysseus encourages them to continue their journey. Odysseus puts on his armour and grasps two spears while looking for the six-headed monster Scylla. They sail up a narrow strait towards the swirling whirlpool Charybdis on one side and the fearsome Scylla on the other who reaches out from her cave and snatches one man for each of her six heads. Looking like small helpless fishes writhing on a fisherman s line, she carries the screaming seamen to her lair. Oct th Lun. ) 2 Autumn equinox Odysseus continues his voyage. The plugs of wax which blocked the ears of Odysseus s crew represent 88 days from the autumn equinox to the 1 st new crescent after the winter solstice β/δ Scorpii (Convenient markers for the autumn equinox) 14 5 Milky Way 15 begins st Qtr Full α Scorpii η Ophiuchii While at sea the crew can hear the lowing of cattle and bleating of sheep on Thrinacia, island of god Helios. Odysseus recalls the dire warnings of both Circe and Teiresias and orders his men to row on past the island. Eurylochus challenges him: You might be a man of iron but the crew are not. Reluctantly, he agrees they can tie up for the night. After supper they drift off to sleep and weep for the loss of their six comrades 21 3 rd Qtr During the third watch of the night Zeus sends a hurricane so fierce that neither land nor sea could be seen. 22 Helios s island: In the morning the ship is dragged to a hollow cave. Although they have ample grain and wine on board the crew do not know how long it will last. Odysseus warns his men not to harm Helios s cattle. An offshore wind Oct 31 Nov 1

6 next blows for a month and they are marooned on the island. On Thrinacia they eat provisions from the ship s stores. Day 1 23 Day 2 Ship s stores 2 24 θ Ophiuchii Day 3 Ship s stores 3 25 Day 4 Ship s stores 4 26 Day 5 Ship s stores 4 27 Day 6 Ship s stores 6 28 Dark Day 7 Ship s stores 7 29 Dark 51 Ophiuchii Day 8 Ship s stores 8 30 Dark Pool of dark sky Day 9 Grain and wine run out. 9

7 Eleventh month Sun in Sagittarius Odysseus marooned on Thrinacia ( ) Day 10 Men search for prey game, fish or fowl. Nov 10 Crescent 135 th Lun. ) 2 Day 11 Search for prey 11 3 Day 12 Search for prey 12 4 Day 13 Search for prey 13 5 Day 14 Search for prey st Qtr Day 15 Search for prey 15 7 Milky Way Day 16 Search for prey 16 begins 8 λ Sagittarii Day 17 Search for prey 17 9 Day 18 Search for prey Day 19 Search for prey Day 20 Search for prey Day 21 Search for prey Full Day 22 Odysseus goes across the island to offer up his prayers. He learns later that Eurylochus has aroused the men s anger. It is better to lose one s life by drowning, than to die of lingering hunger. In defiance of Odysseus the men foolishly collect and kill Helios s best cattle and prepare them for sacrifice. 14 σ Sagittarii Day 23 Odysseus awakes and makes his way to the ship where he can smell the cooking of meat. All is evil: the cattle hides crawl, the animals both cooked and raw bellow. Although they have done a terrible thing the men feast for six days. Feast Day 1 15 Day 24 Feast Day Day 25 Feast Day Day 26 Feast Day Day 27 Feast Day Day 28 Feast Day rd Qtr π Sagittarii Day 29 On the 7 th day the wind drops and they sail away from Thrinacia. 21 When they leave land behind there is only sky and water to be seen. The sun now passes along the ecliptic for 30 days where there are no significant stations of. 22 Dec Milky Way ends

8 Twelfth month Sun in Capricornus, Odysseus s ship destroyed by Charybdis ( ) Dec th Lun. ) β Capricorni st Qtr Full θ Capricornii rd Qtr δ Capricornii Zeus sends a hurricane that destroys the ship: the forestays break the mast falls and crushes the pilot s skull a bolt of lightning tosses men overboard... and sides are torn from the keel. The only survivor, Odysseus binds the mast and keel together with a backstay and climbs astride a makeshift raft. 21 Heliacal rising of Scorpius. In the morning Odysseus is blown back to Charybdis and Scylla s rock On the rock he finds a fig tree and clings onto it like a bat until the ship s timbers resurface. He drops into the water, climbs onto the wreckage and sitting astride it, paddles with his hands. Night 1 Drifting 22 Night 2 Drifting Night 3 Drifting 2303 Jan 1 24 Night 4 Drifting 2 25 Night 5 Drifting 3 26 Night 6 Drifting 4 27 Night 7 Drifting 5 28 Dark Night 8 Drifting 6 29 Dark Night 9 Drifting

9 Thirteenth month Sun in Aquarius Odysseus arrives at Calypso s Island Last hours of dark of moon β/α Aquarii winter solstice Night 10. Odysseus arrives on Calypso s island and with the appearance of the new crescent begins almost eight years of captivity BC Jan 8 Although a captive, Odysseus is made welcome and 137 th Lun. ) looked after well by the fair-tressed goddess End