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March 28, 2006
Could Any Syrio-Palestinian Archaeologist Get Away with Saying Something Like This?
This is one of the few cases in which a Mycenaean-era palace can be almost certainly attributed to a Homeric hero.
The above quotation is from Yannos Lolos, the Greek archaeologist who made the discovery.
The Homeric hero is none other than Ajax the Great, you know Telamonian Ajax; in case you're still not sure, the "bulwark of the Achaeans," the "great-grandson of Zeus." From the article published in today's Times on Line there is not a single indication of any contemporary or near contemporary textual support for this identification. It does seem true that a large Mycenaean palace was found on the island of Salamis of which Pausanias (i. 35) says,
There are still the remains of a market-place, a temple of Ajax and his statue in ebony. Even at the present day the Athenians pay honors to Ajax himself and to Eurysaces, for there is an altar of Eurysaces also at Athens. In Salamis is shown a stone not far from the harbor, on which they say that Telamon sat when he gazed at the ship in which his children were sailing away to Aulis to take part in the joint expedition of the Greeks. Those who dwell about Salamis say that it was when Ajax died that the flower first appeared in their country.
This is often thought to have been written between 143 CE and 161CE.
Posted by Duane Smith at March 28, 2006 9:23 PM | Read more on Archaeology |
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Comments
I haven't read the Times article but I did read the ABC News article. I always rather liked Ajax (or Aias) and would like for the claim to be true...but I don't think we should let sentimentality blind us to fact that their is no evidence linking this site to the name Ajax much less a demonstrating the existence of Ajax as a "real" person. I think basing such a claim on 1) coincidence of date and 2) Ajax was king of Salamis and this is a large complex is flat out silly - cool find though...
Posted by: afarensis at March 30, 2006 12:44 PM
Lolos' interpretation is consistent with all the facts: the date of the Trojan War (independently placed by archaeology and the ancient tradition in the ~12th century BC), and the origin of Aias. To dismiss the case, one would either have to deny the origin of Aias in Salamis, or the date of the Trojan War, or postulate the existence of a separate palace on the tiny island of Salamis dating to the same period, or even claim that there was no palace to begin with.
Posted by: Telamon at April 6, 2006 12:55 PM
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.
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