Beyond the Edge of the Sea: Sailing with Jason and the Argonauts, Ulysses, the Vikings, and Other Explorers of the Ancient World

The author takes ancient texts, religions, and stories and turns them into factual accounts of the sea-faring adventures of Greeks, Polynesians, Muslims, and Norsemen. Among the four groups, most of the world was explored in ancient times. The observations are based on the author's real-life experiences of retracing these routes, often by sea and otherwise by air. The book succinctly captures enormous amounts of perspective in just a few pages and with many stunning illustrations. I have read no book that is its equal for making the ancient world real to us today."At sea there are no atheists . . . ." Ambassador Obregon, who is now deceased, looks at religious beliefs for clues about the voyages. Ancient peoples often calculated their locations by where they were compared to the constellations overhead. They saw the gods in these constellations, which made them doubly meaningful. He goes on to show the prevailing winds in the major parts of the world. Since much travel was by sail, these winds had a heavy influence on what routes were chosen. From there, he draws on whatever available evidence there is to answer questions like:How did the Argonauts get home?Where did Homer write the Odyssey?Are the 'Indians' of South America descendants of the Polynesians? Although the answers can be considered to be no more than hypotheses, they represent ideas that certainly help rule out some of the alternative explanations. If you are like me, it greatly adds to your appreciation of these ancient stories and peoples to see where they may have gone on a map, and to learn what the practical problems were that they probably encountered on these trips. I would otherwise not have realized that the Danube could be traversed by heavy boat with minimal portages. The hypothesis about the Polynesians is especially interesting. Since they were relying on sail for much of their travel, he suggests that they may have waited for winds to blow that countered the usual direction of the trades. This meant reducing the risk of going into an ocean of unknown length, because when the trade winds did return they would push one safely home. His perspective on all of this in the epilogue is quite interesting. "Between [the Greeks and the Polynesians] . . ., they explored more than half [the earth's'] circumference, yet they never met." "The Muslims . . . never ventured into the [Atlantic or Pacific]." But these travels were important, because they laid the foundation for the rediscovery of ancient knowledge that became the Renaissance.The book is filled with little tidbits that would make a whole book for any other author. I particularly loved his explanation of how Eratosthenes of Syene (today's Aswan) came close to correctly calculating the earth's circumference in ancient times by measuring the length of a shadow in Alexandria to calculate its angle as compared to no shadow in Syene on the same day. How many of today's trigonometry or geometry students woul