THE NOSTOI aka THE RETURNS is a neglected epic in the Trojan War cycle. It is attributed to Agias or to Eumelus of Corinth. In the Epic Cycle, The Nostoi comes after The Sack of Troy and before The Odyssey. The epic deals with the homeward journeys of certain Greek heroes of the Trojan War other than Odysseus. The verse rendition of The Nostoi survives only in fragmentary form but there are surviving prose summaries of the work written by Proclus and Apollodorus.
THE NOSTOI – Picking up from the end of The Sack of Troy, the goddess Athena is still angry with the triumphant Greeks for the way Ajax the Lesser led the desecration of her temple inside Troy. She causes arguments among some of the Greek leaders, including the brothers Agamemnon and Menelaus, as a prelude to more deadly measures to come.
*** Diomedes and Nestor, free of hubris and considered free of the taint of the temple’s desecration, are granted swift and untroubled voyages with their fleets as they return home to Argos and Pylos, respectively.
*** Agamemnon is visited by the ghost of Achilles, who warns him not to set sail because of Athena’s anger. Impatient to return home, Agamemnon tries to appease Athena with a quick sacrifice, then departs. A storm sent by Zeus at Athena’s request ravages Agamemnon’s fleet, killing many on the Kapherian rocks, including the mad Ajax the Lesser. (One account says Athena stole one of Zeus’s thunderbolts and caused the storm herself.) Continue reading
Susanna M. Salter was born March 2nd, 1860 in Lamira, Ohio. In 1872 she and her family moved to Kansas, settling near Silver Lake.
THE SHIELD
Powers: The chemical formula that the Shield rubbed onto his skin followed by bombardment with flouroscopic rays endowed him with super-strength plus invulnerability. The Shield also wore an indestructible costume which encased his torso like a shield.
THE PEOPLE OF THE MOON (1895) – Written by Tremlett Carter. An unnamed narrator, a scientist of some sort, sees a glowing 18 inch object floating in the sky. A bird who makes physical contact with the glowing orb is killed by the object’s electric charge.
VAMPIRA SHOCK THEATRE was hosted by Margaret “Marty” McGuire as Hawaii’s very own Vampira, no relation to Maila Nurmi’s original Los Angeles version from 1954-1955. McGuire’s program aired LIVE on Honolulu’s KTRG-TV Saturday nights at 8:30pm from November 3rd, 1962 until June 6th, 1964.
CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN JAY
SON OF SINBAD (1955) – Dale Robertson stars as Sinbad II, son of the original hero of the seven seas. Vincent Price plays his sidekick, the poet Omar Khayyam, so if anachronisms bother you, stay far away from this movie, because there are plenty more on the way. But Price steals the flick!
Traitors kill Simon and make off with Kristina, who alone holds the secrets of Greek Fire now. The Khalif agrees to set Sinbad and Omar loose to find and return with Kristina. Assorted action scenes follow, and ultimately the Son of Sinbad joins forces with the Daughters of the Forty Thieves – beautiful women warriors who rob caravans and the like.
PART 68 – Some of the Fool Killer’s targets on both sides of the aisle in the February 1914 edition of James Larkin Pearson’s version of the folk figure:
