ATLANTIC TENEDOS AND THE SEIRENES
ATLANTIC TENEDOS AND THE SEIRENES
(ISLE OF THANET)
Odysseus' Second Voyage Part I
Tenedos-Thanet: geographical indications
Tenedos is mentioned by Homer only a few times: - I,38, where it is mentioned together with Chrusa and Killa and appears to be a part of the realm of Apollo. - XIII,32, where Poseidon stables his horses in an underwater cave between Thanet and Imbros. - XI,625, where Homer tells in short it has been destroyed by Achilles during one of his raids, on which occasion he got a number of women away from it. - In 8,509 Homer tells us in short how, after the construction of the wooden horse, the Achaeans sailed away from Troy, after having demolished their camp and having set the remains on fire first. They sailed a long way, far from sight, and hid near Tenedos (Vergil Aen. II,21-24). - In 3,159 Nestor tells that, after the war was over, half of the Achaean fleet landed on Tenedos on the way back home to sacrifice to the gods before crossing the sea.
As we have seen in Introduction Troy, both Cailleux and Wilkens identified Tenedos with The Isle of Thanet. It was a part of the realm of Apollo or rather part of the district of present-day Westminster Abbey, and in that sense part of Priamos' kingdom, enemy territory for the Achaeans, which explains why Achilles destroyed it. The location of Thanet about 300 km from The Wash and just in front of the Channel, plus its religious character, make Nestors story fit into the whole image. The passage of the Wantsum strait and the difficult journey across the Ocean could have been reasons to sacrifice. As far as its relative position with respect to Imbros concerns, see Introduction Lemnos and map. The Achaean stratagem of leaving the site and giving the impression of going home is very well understandable from the Thanet point of view. From there, from the northern bank of the Thames, the Achaeans could quickly return to Troy by land (135 km) and sea.
Thus, all the data mentioned by Homer turn out to be perfectly applicable to Thanet. According to Vergil, Tenedos was 'famous, glorious and rich as long as Priamos' kingdom existed but now it is only a bay and a suspect anchorage for ships.' Of course, Vergil had the Greek Tenedos in mind (now Turkish Bozcaada), an insignificant island that also in the past was nothing else than a port for ships waiting to pass into the Black Sea. The Greek Tenedos was called Tanatus by the Romans, derived from Greek thanatos – death, as if it was an island of the Dead. It is interesting Thanet had the Roman name Tanatus too. Therefore, this name has been transferred to Greece from the Atlantic, where the Isle of Thanet was an important Celtic religious centre and where the Seirenes with their piles of rotting bones were situated, as will be explained below. This transfer of names is confirmed by the location of both Thanet and Greek Tenedos. As Thanet is located between the mainland of Brittany and the river Maas (the Meuse, Mosa =Helion) across the sea, so Tenedos is located between Musia and the Thracian coast, called Gallaiké and Briantiké by Herodotus, names that obviously are derived from Galliké and Britaniké, regions that later were colonized by Gallo-German emigrants. Seirenes In 12,39 Kirke announces Odysseus' next destination: the Seirenes. From now on no clear instructions concerning distance, course, and wind are given, as Kirke explicitly says in 12,56: “Once your comrades have rowed you beyond those creatures I cannot advise you in detail of the best course to take. I will tell you the choice, but you must decide”. Wilkens, however, sees a clear indication in the Seirenes themselves. They'd represent the constellation Gemini, that in his Zodiac-system (p.224) indicates a south-western course. So he believes we should look for the Seirenes at the Solent, the strait north of the Isle of Wight, but neither he nor Gideon comes up with an argument for this choice. Cailleux, on the other hand, found detailed and convincing arguments for his identification of Tenedos with the Isle of Thanet. Gideon claims that this route is irrational (p.87) but neither he nor Wilkens takes into account the nature of the scenes during the test phase Odysseus is in after his visit to Kirke. It's simply not true that Odysseus could choose from two alternatives to get home (Gideon p.83). He has no choice; he has to undergo all trials and carry out Kirke's assignments. During the test of the Seirenes he has a mystical encounter with the two ultimate seductresses, whom no man can resist and through whom he has to pass the test of continence.
How do the Seirenes fit in the Thanet identification? Let's put all the data about the Seirenes at a glance: 1. There are two Seirenes; 2. The wind dies down; the water is smooth without waves; 3. The ladies are at screaming distance from the ship, that obviously is sailing through a kind of strait (Gr. diokontes – rapidly sailing through, 182); 4. Odysseus' comrades get wax in their ears, while he himself is tied to the mast; 5. The Seirenes transfer knowledge (188) and know everything: present, past and future; 6. The mates strike the sea “white” and not “grey” as Homer describes it elsewhere and in line 180. 7. The Seirenes seduce with their songs every ignorant man; 8. One can stop a ship here, drop anchor or run aground; 9. The ladies are sitting in a meadow full of flowers (159) and not on a rock, as Gideon and many others imagine it. 10. There is a huge pile of bones of rotting men.
