Beyond the edge of the sea : sailing with Jason and the Argonauts, Ulysses, the Vikings, and other explorers of the ancient world / Mauricio Obregon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Obregón, Mauricio.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Explorers.

Discoveries in geography.

Geography, Ancient.

Physical Description:

x, 132 pages : illustrations, maps ; 19 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Random House, [2001]

Summary:

The story of Jason and the Argonauts and Homer's tales of Ulysses' wanderings are among the greatest of the ancient epics, but they are not merely fiction. Following the clues in the classical texts, Mauricio Obregon here maps the likely routes of these adventurers and reveals the remaining traces of the things and places they describe, re-creating the geographical discovery of the ancient world.

Obregon takes us with him on his reenactments of the hazardous adventures of Jason, sailing east along the coast of the Black Sea, and of Ulysses, sailing clockwise around the Mediterranean. These voyages map the two major seas of the ancient era and help us understand how the Greeks viewed their world--including the many startling deductions they were able to make about it (such as the circumference of the earth) from what today seems like limited knowledge.

Obregon has also traced the voyages depicted in the Norse legends, followed adventurous Muslims on southern journeys, and emulated the Polynesians who managed to traverse the seemingly limitless Pacific. He scrutinizes every detail of sailing in ancient times, such as the mechanics of navigation: The stars, for example, which the mariners took as their guides, were not in the positions that we see them in today, a crucial fact in re-creating past voyages.

This wonderful book contains more than forty drawings and photographs, including depictions of the explorers' ships based on the descriptions in the literature that has come down to us, the facts hidden in the fiction, from ancient times.

Contents:

I Peoples and Gods 3

II Winds and Stars 13

III Ships and Navigation 29

IV Eastward: The Argonautica 43

V Medea and the Riddle of the Argonauts' Return 62

VI Westward: The Odyssey 71

VII East to the Isles of Spice 91

VIII West to Vinland 107.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0679463267

OCLC:

45847418