If you haven’t already done so, I strongly recommend that you read the article “The mystery about the hidden killer in the Odyssey”on this blog. The article is actually a summary of an amazing book called “Chi ha ucciso realmente in Proci? Ulisse, Nessuno, Filottete. Scoperto tremila anni dopo il protagonista nascosto dell’Odissea” (LoGisma publishers) written by the Italian science journalist, photographer and author Alberto Majrani. The book is only available in Italian but translated the title is “Who was it really that killed the suitors? Odysseus, No one, Philoctetes. After three thousand years the hidden protagonist in the Odyssey is revealed.”
In the book, Majrani has taken a closer look at the famous ancient epos the Odyssey, composed by Homer more than 3,000 years ago. According to the conventional interpretation, the Odysseytells about the Troyan hero Odysseus, who returns home from the battle of Troy and kills all the suitors of his wife Penelope, since they have been drinking and eating so much at his home. This is, to say the least, an exaggerated reaction. Why couldn’t he just have told them to go home and compensate him and Penelope for all they had been eating? To be fair, the suitors had already compensated them, as they had given Penelope valuable gifts. What Majrani shows, with his meticulous reading of the Odyssey, is that it isn’t Odysseus who returns home, but an assassin, hired by his son Telemachus or his wife Penelope or both. Majrani even reveals who the assassin is.
My sister Annika and I became very fascinated with Majrani’s book. Once you have read it, it is impossible not to see what really happens in the epos. And it’s amazing that all experts on the Odyssey have not seen this for all of these thousands of years. His book also inspired us to take a closer look at Homer’s other epos, the Iliad. The circumstances around Patroclus’s death are odd. According to conventional interpretations, Achilles’s close friend Patroclus is killed by the Troyan hero Hector on the battlefield, an act that makes Achilles mad with wrath. Achilles avenges Patroclus and kills Hector. The thing is, if you pay attention to what the Iliad actually says about Patroclus’s death, he is not killed by Hector but by another man called Euphorbus. So, Achilles takes revenge on the wrong man. Why? You can read all about it in another article here on the blog, “The mystery of Hector’s dead body”.
Apparently, we’re inspiring each other, because Majrani has written an article in Italian about my and my sister’s theory about Patroclus and Hector, which you can read here.
To sum up, I highly recommend you to read either Majrani’s book or the article “The mystery about the hidden killer in the Odyssey”here. I have also heard that Majrani will publish a new book this year, which I’m sure will be equally interesting.
Ilion & HERACLES: the books 