Homeros the poet, above in the center,

In the middle Menelaos whose wife Helen was robbed by Paris fighting it out (Iliad, book III), with Agemmenon chief of the Achaeans and Priamos king of Troy looking on extreme left and right.

The intervention of goddess Venus in this fight is unbelievably cunting, yet needs to be read to be propelled deeply into this love and war (his/her/gods)story.

https://el.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Ιλιάς/Γ in the original Greek

and here in the emminently readable English https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Iliad_(Butler)/Book_III by Samuel Butler. A real joy

We cannot remain silent about the forbidding of Memorial in Putin’s Russia:

(..)history must be defended in the present in order to prevent other men, women and children from falling back into the whirlpool of a mad power that, in the words of Hannah Arendt, declares their existence superfluous.

from https://tenzerstrategics.substack.com/p/memorial-universality-freedom-and

https://mobile.twitter.com/IlvesToomas/status/1476526790839578624

Five months ago i decided to go to Jerusalem on my bicycle and now i find myself in Troy, reflecting on the wars between East and West and the motive of who is loved most, rereading the Iliad, walking among the excavated ruins of multiple historical layers of Troy, discovering many layers of story, drawing figurines from the 5th Century B.C. in the wonderful Troy museum, worrying about peace and planet, while by myself in a hotel that is more geared towards summertime and i can manage.

The 2018 book by the current archeological investigator of Troy Rüstem Aslan is one of the best guides:

At Troy unexpected encounters with animals:

Troy

Second Christmas Day

Buying myself children’s books to learn Turkish.

This as the Christmas gift

I thought it was it sort of Jack and the Beanstalk, it turns out to be a story about a thief and his sons living in a forest. Translating word for word. Slowly getting familiar with the language.

Also:

And Rumi, Mevlana:

The bookmark a gift from the good painter Ahmet Sayar. See ahmetsayarart for those with instagram (which i don’t use)

Ships big as cities pass by Canakkale

Yes, the Canakkale1915 bridge is really closed AND connected

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Çanakkale_1915_Bridge

The 18 March 1915 date is important as it was the day in World War I when Allied Powers England and France recognized they would not easily cross the Dardanelles to go to Istanbul through the Sea of Marmara and capture it. This unpassibility is marked as beginning of the Turkish nation.

Christmas Eve in Sayka fish restaurant – the name is no coincidence (notice the fish outside!)(picture taken before everyone came in)

I had forgotten my charger in Gelibolu. It was sent by post and took a journey through Istanbul and Bursa and now had arrived in Canakkale, so i am charged again.

At this place full of history https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_campaign

I thought with atomic weapons this fighting was a thing of the past., however many still want to pursue this horrible way of doing it seems.

PEACE is something to prepare for and learn to live continuously.

“Why do men fight? This is an absolutely central important question in the Iliad, so it’s important to get the language as “right” as possible. But the language and conceptualization of aggression and hostility is quite different in Greek vs. English.” Prof. Emily Wilson, translator of Iliad, ongoing, https://mobile.twitter.com/EmilyRCWilson/status/1212730975333031936

All day long cars and trucks arrive for ferries from Gelibolu

While the new, long, bridge https://www.1915canakkale.com/en-us is nearing completion.

Yesterday:

Today:

The official opening of the bridge is said to be next month.

Meanwhile i enjoy the sight of this small one here