Meteorological Assessment o^Zllf^Z of Homer's Odyssey Abstract Homer's Odyssey, the saga of the Mediterranean travels of Odysseus and several other Achaeans after A chronology of the meteorological events described by Homer the fall of Troy, provides an interesting test of the ability in the Odyssey following the Achaeans' conquest of Troy (ca. 1200 to derive weather information from existing classical B.C.) is developed. Application of polar front theory to the voyages works. Of particular interest is the portion of the of six separate fleets as they sailed from Troy provides a unique test of the factual nature of a portion of the epic. Nothing beyond the limits Odyssey that discusses the specific travels of six of accepted meteorological theory occurred during the first 18 days separate Achaean fleets following the conquest of following the departure from Troy. The Odyssey consistently shows Troy. Analysis of these ships' movements and each a credible set of weather observations. Evidence suggests that the fleet's weather observations reveals a consistent re- tragedies experienced by the Achaeans in the Odyssey may have gional meteorology. been caused by a cyclonic storm crossing the area in the early summer. If the Achaeans' initial travels after the conquest of Troy are As researchers now date the historical events factual, the chronology developed in this study extends our knowl- chronicled by the ancient Greek poet to approximately edge of daily weather events to an earlier time than has previously 1200 B.C. (Zerefos and Zerefos 1978), extraction of been available and creates a new component in the global history daily weather data for this period may be particularly of climate and weather. A description in the Odyssey of a possible useful to atmospheric scientists, both as an extension microburst event is also presented. of our knowledge of daily weather events to an earlier time than has previously been available and as a new 1. Introduction component in a global reconstruction of climate and weather. Additionally, the application of meteorologi- cal knowledge to the Odyssey provides a unique test Meteorological records derived from historic voy- of the validity of a portion of this ancient epic. ages of exploration may provide valuable information on the specific character of weather during a particular This study is limited to the period of time chronicled year (e.g., Ludlum 1963; Burt 1990; Cerveny and in the Odyssey prior to Odysseus's landing on the Isle Hobgood 1992). This may be important for under- of the Lotus-Eaters. That period of time, in Homer's standing and classifying the daily weather of historical epic, comprises Odysseus's and five other groups of periods that occurred before the invention of meteoro- Achaeans' movements in an area of known geography logical instruments. Lamb (1985) noted that the judi- (specifically, the Aegean Sea). After Odysseus's de- cious use of descriptive accounts of weather, such as parture from the Aegean Sea, the geography of his tales of outstanding meteorological events and the travels, at most, becomes imaginary or, at least, general nature of particular seasons, may aid in devel- employs place names that can not be conclusively opment of an accurate and complete history of weather. linked to modern geography. Although Wolf and Wolf (1968) have produced one of the most well-known Unfortunately, two considerations limit the use of attempts to link Odysseus's post-Aegean Sea travels such data. First, daily observations for many interest- to known geography, evidence to support their claims ing periods of early history are rare. Analyses of pre- is fragmentary and subject to debate. Middle Age daily weather, such as Hellmann's (1916), in which meteorological information was extracted Before a daily sequence of weather from Homer's from 171 days of observations by Claudius Ptolemeus Odyssey for this period of history is constructed, three around A.D. 120, tend to be isolated studies. The important caveats must be made: accuracy of the Ptolemy chronology has been dis- (a) The poems of Homer were not written at the cussed by Brooks (1931) and Oliver (1990). Second, supposed time of the fall of Troy. Many scholars date descriptions of meteorological events are frequently the poetry to a period possibly 600 years after the limited to single-source observations, which may not events described in the epic. Even if the assumption is be reflective of the regional meteorology. made that the Odyssey describes real events, error may have entered the narrative over that period of time, and, indeed, even after that time. Unfortunately, ©1993 American Meteorological Society there is no method available for quantifying the amount Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 1025 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 06:41 AM UTC of error that may have entered into the Odyssey since those conducted by Nof and Paldor (1992), in which its conception. This study will assume that the poem oceanographic theory is applied to the question of the may be analyzed as if it is a historical document, and Israelites' crossing of the Red Sea, or the application will test the soundness of its weather observations of climatological probabilities to the voyage of Colum- from a meteorological viewpoint given that assump- bus (Cerveny and Hobgood 1992; Richardson and tion. This follows Bryson and Murray's (1977) com- Goldsmith 1987). ment on the use of ancient stories in studying Mycenae climate that "one should not dismiss this story 'told in mythic guise' as meter poetry. Schliemann, after all, 2. A chronology of events did follow the myths of Homer to the sites of Troy and Mycenae." Homer's Oc/yssey recounts the Achaeans' attempted (b) Even if one assumes that the Odyssey may return from Troy from the perspective of three different describe historical events, the saga was not intended fleet commanders: specifically Nestor, Menelaus, and as a meteorological logbook. The adventures associ- Odysseus. Additionally, in Book III, Nestor recounts the fate of Diomedes of Argos and, in Book IV, ...if the weather events described by Homer during the Achaeans' Menelaus relates the trag- return from Troy follow meteorological paradigms, an argument edies of Agamemnon and may be proposed for accepting the validity of some of the events Ajax as told to him by Proteus that occurred after the fall of Troy as put forth by Homer. of Egypt. From this informa- tion, a chronology may be constructed (Table 1). Be- cause of the nonmeteor- ological nature of the source ated with the return of the various Achaeans from Troy material, portions of the reconstruction must be made are interspersed throughout the Odyssey, particularly by conjecture and logic rather than by direct evidence. Books III, IV, and IX. This is apparently one reason The translation by Mandelbaum (1990) is used for why a clear chronology of all returning Achaeans English passages (cited in italics by Roman numeral mentioned in the Odyssey had not been produced for book and Arabic numeral for line number) from the prior to this study. The meteorological interrelations Odyssey, while Stanford's (1959) classical Greek edi- between the various Achaeans' travels therefore has tion is used for the original Greek. Spellings used in remained unnoticed by previous researchers [with the this study conform to those of Stanford. exception of Stanford's (1958) comment regarding Ajax and Agamemnon; see section 2f]. a. Day 1 (c) The body of science existing during Homer's time The first day's journey is best related by Nestor of did not acknowledge weather movement. Winds and Pylos in Book III. He stated that, initially, half of the storms were the products of the gods' anger or favor Achaeans stayed at Troy with Agamemnon to conduct and were specifically directed to individuals based on rites to appease the goddess Athena. After an argu- their interactions with the gods. Consequently, Homer ment, the other half, including Nestor, Menelaus, could not have tailored events in the Odyssey to Odysseus, and Diomedes, "at daybreak launched our paradigms in modern meteorology such as polar front ships across the glowing sea" (III, 153) and landed at theory. Meteorology may therefore provide an inde- the nearby island of Tenedos (Fig. 1). A debate pendent test of the reality of this portion of the Odys- followed at Tenedos regarding whether to return to sey. Although the Homeric tales had long been thought Troy or continue to Greece. Nestor and Diomedes to be fiction, archaeological evidence uncovered in convinced their respective fleets to proceed to Lesbos. present-day Turkey by Schliemann supports the exist- The weather conditions during the trip to Lesbos were ence of ancient Troy and matches, to some extent, calm and uneventful—"a clement god had smoothed Homer's descriptions (Wace and Stubbings 1962). the sea's rough surface" (III, 158). But if the weather events described by Homer during However, the "wise and crafty" Odysseus returned the Achaeans' return from Troy follow meteorological to Troy (III, 163). Ostensibly, his return was to aid paradigms, an argument may be proposed for accept- Agamemnon in conducting appeasement rites. If we ing the validity of some of the events that occurred assume that the decisions of these sailors of small, after the fall of Troy as put forth by Homer. square-sailed sailing vessels were strongly influenced This attempt to provide scientific verification of a by sailing conditions, a more pragmatic reason for supposed historical event follows studies such as Odysseus's return may relate to the generally weak or 1026 Vol. 74, No. 6, June 1993 Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 06:41 AM UTC FIG. 1. Map identifying major cities and geographic features associated with descriptions of travels made in Homer's Odyssey.