The Homeric Epics (8th century BCE) and the Gospel of Mark (70 CE) A few months ago I was researching Homer and the Odyssey when I came across the title of a book that I had to check out: Dennis R. MacDonald’s The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark.
Category: Ancient History
No Water, No Story
I learned from Robert J. Ray and Jack Remick that a strong novel requires a contended resource base. Something that everybody wants or needs. In my Late Iron Age story, it’s water. Some have it; some had it and lost it. Everybody needs it. Without it, there’s no story. With it, come civilization and the…
Constantine’s Vision (312 CE)
Does it matter if the history we know was fabricated? Pfft! Of course it matters. The past teaches us not to repeat mistakes! The past teaches us who we are, etc.! But, really—once history is old enough to become the dust we walk on, what difference does it make in our daily lives if the…
Argo (2012 CE) and Kadesh (1275 BCE)
…and then, with the fury of Baal in his blood and the glory of Amun upon him, Rameses II went out alone on the battlefield in his two-horse chariot. He alone cut down Hittites by the thousands. He slashed limbs and heads. He hurled dead bodies into the waters of the Orontes until the river…