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The Most Archaic Ocean: Beyond the Bosphorus and the Strait of Sicily

100%

Cerri G.

Peitho. Examina Antiqua

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2013

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vol. 4

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issue 1

13-22

EN

From immemorial time, many Tyrrhenian places of ancient Sicily and Italy were identified (also by the local people) with the main stages of the return of Ulysses (Cyclopes, Aeolus, Circe, etc.). Some Hellenistic critics (for example Aristarchus and Polybius) assumed that it was from the various ancient and pre-Homeric myths that Homer drew inspiration, in the same way that he did with the myth of the Trojan War, which certainly occurred before him. Thus, the voyage of Ulysses, after his losing the course because of the storm at Cape Malea, had to be located in those sites. But how can one explain the fact that Homer places the voyage from Circe to the Hades over the Ocean? Is it only a pseudogeographic poetic touch, aimed to magnify the exploit? Crates of Mallus did not think so: in his opinion, only some of the numerous adventures had taken place in the Tyrrhenian Sea, whereas Homer had purposefully placed some other exactly on the Atlantic Ocean, beyond the Pillars of Hercules (the ancient name given to the Straits of Gibraltar). Whichever of the two models one chooses, the route of Ulysses seems to be completely unlikely, both from the point of view of objective reality and from the point of view of poetic imagination (if one desires to retain at least some plausibility). It appears to be a senseless coming and going that takes the shape of some sort of a labyrinth. Furthermore, the navigation times suggested by the text do not accord at all (even approximately) with the distances among the real sites. For this reason, Eratosthenes held that, from Cape Malea onwards, Ulysses switched from the real world to that of fantasy, or better still to the world of some narrative fable that does not heed geography at all. The modern critics are inclined to agree with him and this thesis is nowadays the most popular one. Yet, a very serious objection can be raised here: the myth and the epos (since the most archaic era), are strictly linked to the geography and the topography as well – they are radically refractory to a narrative fable that totally contradicts the then realities of time and space. Why should Ulysses plunge from Cape Malea onwards straight into the Neverland kingdom? If we combine Odyssey’s data with those we can reconstruct for the earliest form of the Argonautic saga (taking also into account the chronology of the Greek western colonization), then we get the solution that neither the ancient nor the modern critics have guessed correctly: up to around the middle of the 8th century B.C., the Greeks thought the Ocean to flow just after the Sicily Channel, essentially coinciding with the so-called Tyrrhenian Sea, still completely unknown at that time. This new perspective can well justify the objective disorder of Ulysses’ route. Above all, it also bears a deeper poetic sense: the Hero had the chance to know and to experience not only some far and exotic countries in general terms (as it can happen to any off-course sailor), but he also met the very boundaries of the surfacing lands and the rushing waters which encircle the terrestrial disc, bordering the external cosmic abyss. Ulysses came back home alive. He was able to tell the stories about the lands where no human being could ever sail. This borderline that geographically is clearly located marks at the same time the insurmountable chasm between the physical and the meta-physical world.

IT

From immemorial time, many Tyrrhenian places of ancient Sicily and Italy were identified (also by the local people) with the main stages of the return of Ulysses (Cyclopes, Aeolus, Circe, etc.). Some Hellenistic critics (for example Aristarchus and Polybius) assumed that it was from the various ancient and pre-Homeric myths that Homer drew inspiration, in the same way that he did with the myth of the Trojan War, which certainly occurred before him. Thus, the voyage of Ulysses, after his losing the course because of the storm at Cape Malea, had to be located in those sites. But how can one explain the fact that Homer places the voyage from Circe to the Hades over the Ocean? Is it only a pseudogeographic poetic touch, aimed to magnify the exploit? Crates of Mallus did not think so: in his opinion, only some of the numerous adventures had taken place in the Tyrrhenian Sea, whereas Homer had purposefully placed some other exactly on the Atlantic Ocean, beyond the Pillars of Hercules (the ancient name given to the Straits of Gibraltar). Whichever of the two models one chooses, the route of Ulysses seems to be completely unlikely, both from the point of view of objective reality and from the point of view of poetic imagination (if one desires to retain at least some plausibility). It appears to be a senseless coming and going that takes the shape of some sort of a labyrinth. Furthermore, the navigation times suggested by the text do not accord at all (even approximately) with the distances among the real sites. For this reason, Eratosthenes held that, from Cape Malea onwards, Ulysses switched from the real world to that of fantasy, or better still to the world of some narrative fable that does not heed geography at all. The modern critics are inclined to agree with him and this thesis is nowadays the most popular one. Yet, a very serious objection can be raised here: the myth and the epos (since the most archaic era), are strictly linked to the geography and the topography as well – they are radically refractory to a narrative fable that totally contradicts the then realities of time and space. Why should Ulysses plunge from Cape Malea onwards straight into the Neverland kingdom? If we combine Odyssey’s data with those we can reconstruct for the earliest form of the Argonautic saga (taking also into account the chronology of the Greek western colonization), then we get the solution that neither the ancient nor the modern critics have guessed correctly: up to around the middle of the 8th century B.C., the Greeks thought the Ocean to flow just after the Sicily Channel, essentially coinciding with the so-called Tyrrhenian Sea, still completely unknown at that time. This new perspective can well justify the objective disorder of Ulysses’ route. Above all, it also bears a deeper poetic sense: the Hero had the chance to know and to experience not only some far and exotic countries in general terms (as it can happen to any off-course sailor), but he also met the very boundaries of the surfacing lands and the rushing waters which encircle the terrestrial disc, bordering the external cosmic abyss. Ulysses came back home alive. He was able to tell the stories about the lands where no human being could ever sail. This borderline that geographically is clearly located marks at the same time the insurmountable chasm between the physical and the meta-physical world.

2

Perception of economic reality - a national security requirement for education in the information age

84%

Đurđević D. Ž., Stevanović M. D.

Progress in Economic Sciences

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2018

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issue 5

7-18

PL

W artykule dokonano obserwacji zdolności państwa do ochrony wartości życiowych, zdolności intelektualnej elity do obiektywnego postrzegania aktualnych realiów ekonomicznych i ich potencjalnych konsekwencji. Problem ten jest postrzegany fenomenologicznie z uwagi na wybrane sytuacje charakteryzujące się brakiem podstaw teoretycznych kapitału ludzkiego. Wyniki wskazują na oportunizm wysoko wykształconych specjalistów w zakresie wiedzy teoretycznej, a co za tym idzie, niedoskonałości w obliczu złożonych zmiennych, które stanowią wyzwania dla bezpieczeństwa narodowego. Wnioskujemy, że w erze informacji, która charakteryzuje się złożonością, szybkością i dużą ilością dostępnych informacji, podejmowanie decyzji związanych z bezpieczeństwem narodowym wymaga bardziej kreatywnego myślenia, co nakłada na szkolnictwo wyższe potrzebę skoncentrowania się, oprócz rozwiązywania problemów, na rozwijaniu zdolności poznawczych i roztropności.

EN

In this article, we consider a specific of the ability of a state to protect its essential values: the capacity of its intellectual elite to objectively perceive current economic realities and their potential consequences. We approach this problem phenomenologically, referring to situations characterised by the lack of a theoretical basis, in whicz highly qualified individuals participated without awareness of their consequences for the stability and essential values of the state. We view these situations from the standpoint of the prevailing educational system whicz produced the personel involved in such operations, and within the context of the need of a political community to maintain the capacity to perceive challenges to its essential values. The results indicate the opportunism of highly educated professionals with respect to theoretical knowledge and the consequent inadequacies in dealing with complex variables whicz generate challenges for national security. We conclude that in the information age, whicz is characterised by complexity, speed and large quantities of available information, decision-making related to national security requires more creative thinking, and this entails a need for higher education to focus not merely on problem-solving, but also on the development of cognitive capacity and prudence.

3

Sustainable Development-utopia or our chance? Some thoughts on the state of the SDG implementation with respect to the ocean

84%

Zieliński T., Kotyńska-Zielińska I., Piechowska E.

Forum Filologiczne Ateneum

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2019

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vol. 7

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issue 1

371-380

PL

W niniejszej pracy przedstawiamy jak ważnym jest proces wdrażania celów zrównoważonego rozwoju w kontekście problemów związanych z oceanem. Pokazujemy, że ocean jest jedną wielką, wzajemnie współzależną całością i dlatego wszelkie procesy, zachodzące w szerokim znaczeniu oceanu, mają wpływ na każdy z celów, a z kolei jakiekolwiek działanie w obrębie któregokolwiek celu ma wpływ na ocean. Twierdzimy, że szeroko rozumiane działania edukacyjne, dedykowane wszelkim grupom wiekowym i społecznym, jak również podejście interdyscyplinarne są podstawą do sukcesu we wdrażaniu idei zrównoważonego rozwoju w skali od lokalnej do globalnej.

EN

In this work we discuss the importance of the application of sustainable development goals (SDGs) to all aspects which are related to the ocean. We argue that the ocean is interconnected and processes which are related to the ocean have direct impact on all SDGs, and any action undertaken within any of the SDGs will have an impact on the ocean. We believe that widely understood education of societies can ensure the proper understanding and hence implementation of the sustainable development idea throughout the world.

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1 Forum Filologiczne Ateneum

1 Peitho. Examina Antiqua

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1 Cerri G.

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1 Piechowska E.

1 Stevanović M. D.

1 Zieliński T.

1 Đurđević D. Ž.

The Most Archaic Ocean: Beyond the Bosphorus and the Strait of Sicily

Perception of economic reality - a national security requirement for education in the information age

Sustainable Development-utopia or our chance? Some thoughts on the state of the SDG implementation with respect to the ocean