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Legend (NEW CONCEPTS)
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Ishmael


In: Toronto
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Coyote;

In my judgment you have the meat here for an excellent history-deconstructing essay. I wish you had the assistance of our old friend Wireloop. I am certain he would be able to pick out the significance of all the symbolism contained in the stories.
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Wile E. Coyote


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Ishmael wrote:
Coyote;

In my judgment you have the meat here for an excellent history-deconstructing essay.


Thanks. The original history-deconstructing essay was "Hero" (Legend is a companion piece). In Hero I just deconstructed (took out the names,dates, places etc) the elements of a well known figures story...



HERO

Picture this, a long dusty, rutted road. A woman is riding a donkey, she is heavily pregnant. The father of the unborn child is nowhere to be seen, she is alone and frightened. She has lost two previous new born. What hope does she have? What hope does this child have? She dismounts the donkey and gives birth. The child is a weakling. What to do? She remounts, she is cold, and the coarse dust is choking her. Her child is ill, she heads off towards her uncle's home many miles away.

Rather mysteriously the sickly child survives, his father briefly reappears, but dies round about the time of the child’s third birthday, a regrettable death, but.... he is anyway rather unimportant to this story……in fact the child becomes healthy in his mother's and uncle's care, and attends the local school. Unfortunately, the child can neither read or write and has no aptitude to learn, he is simple. His only gift is remembering the stories of the old ways. You could say he was born with the mind of an old peasant.

Despite his incapacity to read, our young man, (the story is abridged) is sent to a religious college, but he is wasting his time surrounded by books that he will never be able to read. What hope is there for such an illiterate child? Modernity has changed the Land of Dusty Roads, and whilst his fellow students around him take the advantage that a good education can offer, our young man is resolutely stuck, to coin a phrase, in the dark ages.

So far, so normal, it’s, I have to admit, a rather boring story about a simple unfortunate child, with a miraculous birth but wasted life. Still, as is the way of stories like this, fate (as they say) now intervenes to change our young man’s life. Somewhere, in a far-off metropolis, an unloved leader of a disgruntled people decides to widen his empire, and launches a invasion of the Land of Dusty Roads. Our child, a poor scholar but stout-hearted simpleton, joins the resistance…… now the miraculous birth makes sense, to any reader, all the faults that the young man have are now transformed into virtues. He is the ideal soldier; where others, unused to adversity, show lack of courage or fall to the temptations of money, flesh and power that warfare offers, our simple young man is willing to sacrifice all, in the cause of simply reclaiming the Dusty Roads. All of his previous hardships were training for this heroic mission.

As the war rages, our young man undertakes many heroic deeds. On one occasion, he loses one eye on the field of battle, this only serves to focus his resolve and further increases his fearless reputation. His commander rewards his sacrifice with the gift of a AK47, typically our hero accepts this weapon, sells it, and proposes to his sweetheart, as he only now has the money to support her.

Not surprisingly, our young man is also rewarded by promotion through the ranks, whereas others are promoted through family or favour he advances through heroic fabled deeds. However, being an illiterate, he still cannot receive or give written orders, so at first this halts his progression as modern warfare is so heavily dependent on communication. Still, as word of mouth amongst the lower ranks spreads knowledge of our hero’s achievements, this becomes less and less a disadvantage, and more and more of an advantage, now his verbal orders are zealously followed as all the other soldiers aspire to be like our great one-eyed hero. No one dares to alter his words and they are passed on strictly verbatim.

Such is the importance of these quasi-religious orders, only a few dare to challenge the Authority of the one-eyed soldier. Still there are nagging rumors, spread from other jealous commanders…. “he was a simple child, uneducated” ….. “they say he might be a bastard.” If such unkind words are mentioned in peacetime, how much more likely they will be uttered at a time of war? Does his single eye mean that he is more focused or is he half blind others enquire?

The war rages, our one-eyed hero is dejected, he makes a decision to attend a famous shrine. He travels down the dusty roads with a select band of followers, he stands in front of the mighty double doors, and asks to be let in, the Keeper of the ancient prophet’s cloak tells him to return later that day. Our one-eyed hero bathes and returns, he follows the keeper through a labyrinth of rooms. They finally come to a chest, the Keeper opens the chest, inside is a box, he opens the box, to reveal a smaller box. The process continues (to mount the tension) finally (at last) the Keeper reveals a gilded key, and unlocks the final box. The Keeper takes out the cloak and hands it gingerly to our hero. Only a King of the Dusty Roads can wear the cloak, or so that is what the legends say... It fits!...our hero declares himself king, and all the other commanders must now kneel, and unquestioningly submit to his verbal orders. They have no choice; written orders are forever abolished. The cloak means that the king is now all powerful, his word is law.

I would like to give this story a happy ending, but our Hero was destined to fight a never ending battle for the Land of Dusty Roads, some claim to still see him on his motorbike, rifle over shoulder driving down those never ending roads. Maybe he will return? Maybe not ....maybe he is dead .... All that remains is a single grainy photograph. The power of his mighty cloak kept him invisible to both his comrades and his enemies. We now only know him through his story, which is the sole reason I have decided to retell it.


Who can believe that, in this day and age, such a humble simple boy would rise to be such a famous hero?



So far the Great British Public have only eliminated Jesus and Che Guevara........
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Mick Harper
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In: London
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When I got to

Despite his incapacity to read, our young man, (the story is abridged) is sent to a religious college

I assumed it was going to be Joseph Stalin. This was confirmed when I read

Somewhere, in a far-off metropolis, an unloved leader of a disgruntled people decides to widen his empire, and launches a invasion ...

Until this

On one occasion, he loses one eye on the field of battle, this only serves to focus his resolve and further increases his fearless reputation. His commander rewards his sacrifice with the gift of a AK47

and I realised it was Moshe Dayan.
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Hatty
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In: Berkshire
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I thought of Osama bin Laden.
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Ishmael


In: Toronto
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Wile E. Coyote wrote:

HERO

Picture this, a long dusty, rutted road....


I don't get it.
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Wile E. Coyote


In: Arizona
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The answer is No to Stalin, No to Moshe Dayan, No to OBL, these can be added to Jesus and Guevara.

Apologies for those that dont like the format, I was trying for something different.
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Mick Harper
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In: London
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We don't like different round here. No wait...
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Wile E. Coyote


In: Arizona
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It gets worse...... it was conceived as a triptych.

When folks have admitted defeat with "Hero" they move onto ...."The Boys Book of Imaginary Battles....."
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Mick Harper
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We are your willing foot soldiers. Lead us 'ere ye gan.

Hatty, Case Red.
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Hatty
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In: Berkshire
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Talking of 'Masada' and, er, Case Red, it turns out the earliest representation of the Star of David is in an 11th-century manuscript, the so-called Leningrad Codex.

The hexagram was adopted as a national Jewish symbol in 1897 though the term Star of David or 'Shield' (magen in Hebrew = shield) was apparently used in the 17th century. I noticed a conspiracy theory that the hexagram is an emblem of the satanic Rothschilds. Since noticing the tendency for toll-houses to be hexagonal, it's possible there may be something in this apparent correlation.

Wiki is helpful as ever
The use of the hexagram in a Jewish context as a possibly meaningful symbol may occur as early as the 11th century, in the decoration of the carpet page of the famous Tanakh manuscript, the Leningrad Codex dated 1008. Similarly, the symbol illuminates a medieval Tanakh manuscript dated 1307 belonging to Rabbi Yosef bar Yehuda ben Marvas from Toledo, Spain.

Except the Leningrad Codex is not quite kosher

The Leningrad Codex, in extraordinarily pristine condition after a millennium, also provides an example of medieval Jewish art. Sixteen of the pages contain decorative geometric patterns that illuminate passages from the text. The carpet page shows a star with the names of the scribes on the edges and a blessing written in the middle.

Extraordinarily pristine indeed. But maybe not so extraordinary since

The codex is now preserved in the National Library of Russia, accessioned as "Firkovich B 19 A". Its former owner, the Crimean Karaite collector Abraham Firkovich, left no indication in his writings where he had acquired the codex, which was taken to Odessa in 1838 and later transferred to the Imperial Library in St Petersburg.

Firkovich had an overwhelming desire to forge a Jewish identity for Crimean Karaites. He managed somehow to amass many, allegedly valuable, manuscripts

Firkovich collected a vast number of Hebrew, Arabic and Samaritan manuscripts during his many travels in his search for evidence concerning the traditions of his people. ...

As a result of his research he became focused on the origin of the ancestors of the Crimean Karaite. Who he claimed where the descendants of Israelite teachers (mainly from the tribes of Simeon and Levi and their Carian bodyguard from Caphtor)[citation needed] who had arrived in Crimea to convert the natives before the common era[citation needed] (thus not being culpable for the crucifixion of Jesus). His theories persuaded the Russian imperial court that Crimean Karaites cannot be accused in Jesus Crucifixion and they were excluded from the restrictive measures against Jews.

Upon his death in 1874, Firkovich's collection was bought by the Russian National Library

Russians aren't too particular about provenance. But anyway no-one else is likely to question the Leningrad Codex's authenticity because it is believed to be the oldest biblical Hebrew manuscript (by American scholars at least, if not Russian librarians)

As an original work by Tiberian masoretes, the Leningrad Codex was older by several centuries than the other Hebrew manuscripts which had been used for all previous editions of printed Hebrew bibles
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Mick Harper
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Not the least interesting feature of the story is that it is called The Leningrad Codex. I suppose it does give it a patina of the long-ago.
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Wile E. Coyote


In: Arizona
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Mick Harper wrote:
We are your willing foot soldiers. Lead us 'ere ye gan.

Hatty, Case Red.


Wiley, Case Nut.....
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Wile E. Coyote


In: Arizona
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Here is recently added page to the Case Nut file.

It features a battle far too insignificant for "The Boys Book of Imaginary Battles" (Hey we are hoping to get Stephen Fry to read the Audio version, so we need more elephants and chariots....), Still its importance is that, even Orthodoxy has now realized that things are not quite what was previously imagined..... North of the civilized world.

So, for enthusiastic but naive younger boys... and older armchair generals (far too set in their ways) it's an easy place to start.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mons_Graupius

wiki wrote:

The Caledonii were the last unconquered British tribe (and were never fully subdued). After many years of avoiding the fight, the Caledonians were forced to join battle when the Romans marched on the main granaries of the Caledonians, just as they had been filled from the harvest. The Caledonians had no choice but to fight, or starve over the next winter.


Tacitus likes these seasonal explanations........but for once even orthodoxy has its doubts.

wiki wrote:


The decisive victory reported by Tacitus was criticized by some historians, however, who believe an engagement of some description did not occur. One author has suggested that the emperor Domitian may have been informed of the fraudulence of his claims to have won a significant victory



Cripes they can clearly see a problem but......but their consistent answer...... informing an imaginary emperor of an imaginary battle....only serves to show the paradigm is wrong......


According to Tacitus, allied auxiliary infantry, 8,000 in number, were in the center, while 3,000 cavalry were on the flanks, with the Roman legionaries in front of their camp as a reserve.[2] Estimates for the size of the Roman army range from 17,000 to 30,000;[3][4] although Tacitus says that 11,000 auxiliaries were engaged, along with a further four squadrons of cavalry, the number of legionaries in reserve is uncertain. The Caledonian army, which Tacitus claims was led by Calgacus (Tacitus only mentions him as giving a speech, probably fictitious),[5][6] was said to be over 30,000 strong. It was stationed mostly on higher ground; its front ranks were on the level ground, but the other ranks rose in tiers, up the slope of the hill in a horseshoe formation. The Caledonian chariotry charged about on the level plain between the two armies.

After a brief exchange of missiles, Agricola ordered auxiliaries to launch a frontal attack on the enemy. These were based around four cohorts of Batavians and two cohorts of Tungrian swordsmen. The Caledonians were cut down and trampled on the lower slopes of the hill. Those at the top attempted an outflanking movement, but were themselves outflanked by Roman cavalry. The Caledonians were then comprehensively routed and fled for the shelter of nearby woodland, but were relentlessly pursued by well-organised Roman units.

It is said that the Roman Legions took no part in the battle, being held in reserve throughout. According to Tacitus, 10,000 Caledonian lives were lost at a cost of only 360 auxiliary troops. 20,000 Caledonians retreated into the woods, where they fared considerably better against pursuing forces. Roman scouts were unable to locate the remaining Caledonian forces the next morning.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricola_(book)

Wiley notes that Agricola was father in law to Tacitus...the legion held in reserve was the Ninth. (so they say). The Batavi are fearsome warriors battle-hardened in the Germanic wars, with cohorts under their own commanders transferred to Britannia. In fact as Tacitus could have told you many moons ago when introducing us to to the Batavi in his companion Germania.....


The first Batavi commander we know of is named Chariovalda, who led a charge across the VÄ«surgis (Weser) river against the Cherusci led by Arminius during the campaigns of Germanicus in Germania Transrhenana.[6]


So the Batavi have form when it comes to helping Lost Legions (Legends)
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Wile E. Coyote


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Help is at hand for those still trying to Google the answer to Hero.

http://wmbriggs.com/post/18038/
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Ishmael


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It is perhaps not a matter of surprise, if in the lapse of time, which is unlimited, while fortune is continually changing her course, spontaneity should often result in the same incidents; for, if the number of elemental things is not limited, fortune has in the abundance of material a bountiful supply of sameness of results; and, if things are implicated in a dependence upon definite numbers, it is of necessity that the same things must often happen, being effected by the same means....


This is amazing! The writer of Plutarch is already aware of the problem of duplicated history---though even his works would themselves be assigned to the wrong era! This is stunning.

Might this suggest that the writer of Plutarch was attempting to be honest? If so, if the era in which he was writing could be identified, would it give his history greater authenticity (allowing for the duplication problem he identifies). Of course, his explanation for the problem was wrong.

But could he really not have known that many of his sources were duplication or forgeries? Is it not more likely that he simply did not care and was attempting to distract the reader from the problem. In which case the sincerity of his own work would be as doubtful.
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