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  Jack the Ripper  ·  Jackson, Michael  ·  Jacob (Bible)  ·  Jain & Jainism  ·  Jamaica & Jamaicans  ·  James (Bible)  ·  James I & James the First  ·  James II & James the Second  ·  Japan & Japanese  ·  Jargon & Cant & Slang  ·  Jazz  ·  Jealous & Jealousy  ·  Jeans  ·  Jehovah's Witnesses  ·  Jeremiah (Bible)  ·  Jericho  ·  Jerusalem  ·  Jest  ·  Jesuits  ·  Jesus Christ (I)  ·  Jesus Christ (II)  ·  Jesus Christ: Second Coming  ·  Jet  ·  Jew & Jewish  ·  Jewellery & Jewelery  ·  Jinn  ·  Joan of Arc  ·  Job (Bible)  ·  Job (Work)  ·  John (Bible)  ·  John I & King John  ·  John the Baptist  ·  Johnson, Boris  ·  Joke  ·  Jonah (Bible)  ·  Jordan & Nabataeans & Petra  ·  Joseph (husband of Mary)  ·  Joseph (son of Jacob)  ·  Joshua (Bible)  ·  Josiah (Bible)  ·  Journalism & Journalist  ·  Journey  ·  Joy  ·  Judah & Judea (Bible)  ·  Judas Iscariot (Bible)  ·  Judge & Judgment  ·  Judgment Day  ·  Jungle  ·  Jupiter  ·  Jury  ·  Just  ·  Justice  

★ Journey

I am Ulysses son of Laertes, renowned among mankind for all manner of subtlety, so that my fame ascends to heaven.  I live in Ithaca, where there is a high mountain called Neritum, covered with forests; and not far from it there is a group of islands very near to one another – Dulichium, Same, and the wooded island of Zacynthus.  It lies squat on the horizon, all highest up in the sea towards the sunset, while the others lie away from it towards dawn.  It is a rugged island, but it breeds brave men, and my eyes know none that they better love to look upon.  The goddess Calypso kept me with her in her cave, and wanted me to marry her, as did also the cunning Aeaean goddess Circe; but they could neither of them persuade me, for there is nothing dearer to a man than his own country and his parents, and however splendid a home he may have in a foreign country, if it be far from father or mother, he does not care about it.  Now, however, I will tell you of the many hazardous adventures which by Jove’s will I met with on my return from Troy.  ibid.  VIII 

 

‘When I had got the men together I said to them, You think you are about to start home again, but Circe has explained to me that instead of this, we have got to go to the house of Hades and Proserpine to consult the ghost of the Theban prophet Teiresias.” 

‘The men were broken-hearted as they heard me, and threw themselves on the ground groaning and tearing their hair, but they did not mend matters by crying.  When we reached the sea shore, weeping and lamenting our fate, Circe brought the ram and the ewe, and we made them fast hard by the ship.  She passed through the midst of us without our knowing it, for who can see the comings and goings of a god, if the god does not wish to be seen?’  ibid.  X  Ulysses 

 

‘My mother answered, Your wife still remains in your house, but she is in great distress of mind and spends her whole time in tears both night and day.  No-one as yet has got possession of your fine property, and Telemachus still holds your lands undisturbed.  He has to entertain largely, as of course he must, considering his position as a magistrate, and how every one invites him; your father remains at his old place in the country and never goes near the town.  He has no comfortable bed nor bedding; in the winter he sleeps on the floor in front of the fire with the men and goes about all in rags, but in summer, when the warm weather comes on again, he lies out in the vineyard on a bed of vine leaves thrown anyhow upon the ground.  He grieves continually about your never having come home, and suffers more and more as he grows older.’’  ibid.  XI

 

‘On this Hercules went down again into the house of Hades, but I stayed where I was in case some other of the mighty dead should come to me.  And I should have seen still other of them that are gone before, whom I would fain have seen – Theseus and Pirithous glorious children of the gods, but so many thousands of ghosts came round me and uttered such appalling cries, that I was panic stricken lest Proserpine should send up from the house of Hades the head of that awful monster Gorgon.  On this I hastened back to my ship and ordered my men to go on board at once and loose the hawsers; so they embarked and took their places, whereon the ship went down the stream of the river Oceanus.  We had to row at first, but presently a fair wind sprang up.’  ibid.  XI 

 

Ulysses went back to his own place, and Eumaeus strewed some green brushwood on the floor and threw a sheepskin on top of it for Telemachus to sit upon.  Then the swineherd brought them platters of cold meat, the remains from what they had eaten the day before, and he filled the bread baskets with bread as fast as he could.  He mixed wine also in bowls of ivy-wood, and took his seat facing Ulysses.  Then they laid their hands on the good things that were before them, and as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink Telemachus said to Eumaeus, ‘Old friend, where does this stranger come from?  How did his crew bring him to Ithaca, and who were they?  for assuredly he did not come here by land.’  ibid.  XVI

 

‘Good heavens,’ said he, ‘see how the gods have saved this man from destruction.  We kept a succession of scouts upon the headlands all day long, and when the sun was down we never went on shore to sleep, but waited in the ship all night till morning in the hope of capturing and killing him; but some god has conveyed him home in spite of us.  Let us consider how we can make an end of him.  He must not escape us; our affair is never likely to come off while is alive, for he is very shrewd, and public feeling is by no means all on our side.  We must make haste before he can call the Achaeans in assembly; he will lose no time in doing so, for he will be furious with us, and will tell all the world how we plotted to kill him, but failed to take him.  The people will not like this when they come to know of it; we must see that they do us no hurt, nor drive us from our own country into exile.  Let us try and lay hold of him either on his farm away from the town, or on the road hither.  Then we can divide up his property amongst us, and let his mother and the man who marries her have the house. If this does not please you, and you wish Telemachus to live on and hold his father’s property, then we must not gather here and eat up his goods in this way, but must make our offers to Penelope each from his own house, and she can marry the man who will give the most for her, and whose lot it is to win her.’  ibid.  XVI

 

When Euryclea heard this she unfastened the door of the women's room and came out, following Telemachus.  She found Ulysses among the corpses bespattered with blood and filth like a lion that has just been devouring an ox, and his breast and both his cheeks are all bloody, so that he is a fearful sight; even so was Ulysses besmirched from head to foot with gore.  When she saw all the corpses and such a quantity of blood, she was beginning to cry out for joy, for she saw that a great deed had been done; but Ulysses checked her, ‘Old woman,’ said he, ‘rejoice in silence; restrain yourself, and do not make any noise about it; it is an unholy thing to vaunt over dead men.  Heaven's doom and their own evil deeds have brought these men to destruction, for they respected no man in the whole world, neither rich nor poor, who came near them, and they have come to a bad end as a punishment for their wickedness and folly.  Now, however, tell me which of the women in the house have misconducted themselves, and who are innocent.’  ibid.  XXII

 

‘Happy Ulysses, son of Laertes,’ replied the ghost of Agamemnon, ‘you are indeed blessed in the possession of a wife endowed with such rare excellence of understanding, and so faithful to her wedded lord as Penelope the daughter of Icarius.  The fame, therefore, of her virtue shall never die, and the immortals shall compose a song that shall be welcome to all mankind in honour of the constancy of Penelope.  How far otherwise was the wickedness of the daughter of Tyndareus who killed her lawful husband; her song shall be hateful among men, for she has brought disgrace on all womankind even on the good ones.’  ibid.  XXIV

 

 

The Progresses form a vital part of Elizabeth’s queenship.  Dr Ian Mortimer, The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England II: The Rich, BBC 2013

 

 

The Diary of Jonathan Harker 3rd May 1885: at last my long journey is drawing to its close.  Dracula 1958 starring Michael Gough & Christopher Lee & Melissa Stribling & Carol Marsh 7 Mailes Malleson & John van Eyssen & Olga Dickie & George Benson & Charles Lloyd Pack & George Woodbridge et al, director Terence Fisher, opening lines

 

 

500 years ago an unrecognizable ship arrived in the port of Saville.  Its crew was reduced to just 18 emaciated and starving men.  But the ship had just completed a voyage of huge importance that changed the shape of history and changed the way we live today.  It was 1522 and the Victoria had just become the first ship to circumnavigate the world.  Voyages of Discovery s1e1, Paul Rose, BBC 2019  

 

The course that [Ferdinand] Magellan was planning would take him beyond chartered waters into the unknown; it was a journey many believed was impossible.  ibid.      

 

 

One night nearly 250 years ago a ship ran aground on a treacherous reef in the Pacific ocean.  Water poured into the wooden hull threatening to sink her and all those on board.  The ship that faced a watery grave appeared to be nothing more than an unremarkable coaling vessel captained by an unknown commander on an obscure scientific field trip.  But this ship had a secret mission: one that would redraw the map of the world, and make a hero of her undistinguished hero: the ship was called The Endeavour and her captain was called James Cook.  Voyages of Discovery s1e2

 

The Endeavour sailed from Plymouth on 26th August 1768.  It was the age of enlightenment, an era of intellectual ferment.  ibid.    

 

Cook would have to navigate his ship to the other side of the world … The Endeavour travelled alone.  ibid.    

 

Conditions below must have been appalling let alone the smell.  And disease was rife.  ibid.    

 

Over 2,000,000 sailors had died from scurvy.  ibid.    

 

Banks had accidentally stumbled across the cure for scurvy.  ibid.    

 

After 33 weeks at sea land was finally spotted: Cook had arrived … in paradise.  ibid.           

 

The Transit of Venus is an incredibly rare event.  ibid.  

 

Cook’s mission was now revealed: the discovery of the fabled Great Southern Continent.  ibid.  

 

 

In the Spring of 1892 a charismatic Norwegian explorer called Fridjtof Nansen announced a daring plan to venture into all this: the Arctic, unmanned and unconquered.  At the top of the world was the ultimate goal – the North Pole.  Voyages of Discovery s1e3: Fridjtof Nansen   

 

The most extraordinary voyage in history.  ibid.  

 

Nansen’s crew now faced years alone in the Arctic.  ibid.  

 

Cadbury’s sponsored the expedition.  ibid.

 

His voyage of discovery had failed … His obsession would not die.  ibid.

 

Nansen had an extraordinary new plan.  To leave the ship and ski the remaining 600 kilometres to the Pole.  ibid.

 

You can lose over four litres of liquid a day … Melting as much snow as he needed … His remarkable talent for invention served him well.  ibid.

 

They were almost going backwards.  It was a gut-wrenching blow.  ibid.

 

 

Victoria Falls: a white man arrived accompanied by over 200 Africans: his name was David Livingstone.  Neil Oliver, The Last Explorers s1e1: David Livingstone, BBC 2019

 

He was here to save souls.  David Livingstone was one of a small group of explorers who took the stage as the great age of exploration was drawing to a close.  ibid.

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