Homer’s Odyssey, as translated by Emily Wilson from Book V. The following is from an essay written by April Vihilidal explaining a portion of her Literary Archaeo-astronomical discovery from eleven lines in Book V of Wilson’s translation of Homer’s Odyssey.
Section Two: Odysseus the man and his relationship to the gods and goddesses as seen in Book V of The Odyssey
To have a very intimate look at Odysseus, willingly and trustingly holding faith in the strength of nostos, following the directions of Calypso, with whom he shared a nightly bed for seven years, we look at the translations of the eleven lines from Book V of The Odyssey by Homer. In the eighteen-day journey, we experience Odysseus, the man as a seafaring mortal that charts the heavens as so directed by Calypso. The translation is by Emily Wilson. The eleven lines translated by Emily Wilson are presented as follows:
“No sleep fell on his eyes; he watched the stars.
The Pleiades, late setting Boötes,
And Bear, which people call the Plow,
Which circles in one place, and marks Orion-
The only star that has no share of Ocean.
Calypso, queen of goddesses, had told him
To keep the Bear on his left side while sailing.
He sailed the sea for seven days and ten,
And on the eighteenth day, a murky mountain
Of the Phaeacian land appeared-it rose
up like a shield beyond a misty sea.”
(Odyssey, Book V, Lines 270-280)
After studying the eleven lines of Emil Wilson’s translation, two distinct seafaring ideas were readily portrayed in the astronomy software program; Voyager 4.5 which allows us to see the sky as Odysseus saw the sky some three thousand years past.
Ursa Major is one of the circumpolar constellations. For Odysseus, this was a very import constellation because he knew that it would never set below the horizon on his eighteen-day journey. Odysseus, as a successful seafaring man of his time era, knew that the Plow could be seen in the night sky throughout the year, whilst other constellations would be seasonal and only be visible at certain times of the year.
The seafaring experts of three thousand years ago knew that the five northern constellation circumpolar constellations included Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Draco, Ursa Major or the Plow, and of course, Ursa Minor. When Calypso told Odysseus, “To keep the Bear on his left side while sailing,” Odysseus knew how incredibly important this piece of advice was.
Abstract
The astronomical significance of the reference made to the open star cluster in Taurus, called the Pleiades, the constellation Boötes, the constellation the Bear, the asterism called the Plough and the constellation called Orion from Book V of The Odyssey by Homer translated by Emily Wilson, are the points of light this abstract has under scrutiny. The goal of this abstract is meant to establish a working astronomical relationship with the text and the creating, collecting, and organizing of data for demonstrating the Anthropological Ethnological Archaeo-astronomical find from information gleaned by utilizing the astronomy software called Voyager 4.5.7. The extensive data created and collected with the use of the software program Voyager 4.5.7 offers answers to the question, “Can the journey of Odysseus and the stars of the Open Star Cluster and Constellations mentioned above he used to guide his journey across the sea be metaphorical as well as grounded in factual reality?” The time of year, the event that took place is being investigated. The tools utilized in Voyager 4.5.7 by April Vihilidal reveal that the stars in the sky referencing the time (1179 BCE) and location (Ithaca, Greece) coincide with stars in the sky during the creation time of the Odyssey. Investigation guided by Professor Jonatha Suzanne Kottler Friday, February 28, 2020, for 2020 UROC ABSTRACT SUBMISSION.
