On New Chronology Yahoo Group there has been a debate surrounding recent re-interpretation of the Homeric story of Odysseus Return to Ithaca (the Athens peninsular). Athens, it is worth pointing out appears to have survived the the worst effects of the Late Bronze Age calamity and large numbers of refugees sought safety there (Cambridge Ancient History) – much as a modern disaster or war might cause refugees to seek the nearest point of refuge. A Greek research team (geologist, astro-physicist and astronomers) say an intense meteor shower is actually described in the terms of 'dove's feathers falling down during the arrival of Telemachus'. The name of the Ionians, migrants from Greece that ended up in western Anatolia in the Iron Age, actually comes from 'doves' (descending doves) so this is a nice way to confirm a link between the two. The Ionians were in effect refugees from descending doves – and these doves had driven them from their homeland.
The research team go on to say that in the next few days thee are other descriptions which also appear to refer to meteoric activity, even bolides (exploding meteors in the atmosphere). The radiant point appears to have been the Pleiades nebula of the constellation of Taurus – which is closely associated with a number of meteor showers produced by the passage of comets in the past.
What intrigues the New Chronology people is not the explanation at hand for the destruction of Late Bronze sites in Greece and the Aegean but the fact that they also claim a solar eclipse is also recorded in conjunction with the meteor shower. We may wonder if it really was a solar eclipse but assuming it was the authors of the article go on to date it using astronomical software. They came up with a date of 1207BC – which implies they were looking for an eclipse close to the conventional date for the Trojan War in Late Bronze times. However, on their side they have the propheicies of Theoclymenus which appear to record the same two phenomena associated with the Return of Odysseus. The New Chronology people have a look around and come up with a likely looking solar eclipse in 961BC but obviously one could root around and find other eclipse data to support almost any revisionist position.
For the article in a computer translation into English go to – http://maajournal.com/Issues/2013/vol13-2/FullText6.pdf … if the link doesn't work go to http://maajournal.com and click on issues and then 2013 and then 2013:2 and you can download the article in full text.