Ancient Greece As It Was, by Eric Chaline

“According to legend, Hephaistos was so enamored of the virginal Athena that he attempted to rape her. The goddess escaped but his seed fell upon the earth, and Erechtheus, half-man, half-snake, was born. The child was taken by Gaia, the earth, to the Acropolis and given to Athena to raise. She in turn entrusted him, hidden in a basket, to the three daughters of Kekrops: Pandrosos, Herse, and Aglauros. Herse and Aglauros were so curious that they opened the basket, went mad when they saw the child, and jumped to their deaths, while the dutiful Pandrosos survived. When he was fully grown, Erechtheus became king of Athens and founded the first temple to Athena Polias.”

Being the History aficionado that I am, I’ve read several History books along my life. I believe my Father is to be blamed on this, since the first History book I read was offered by him when I was a kid. It was a small book about ancient Greece (which I still have), and I recall its mesmerizing illustrations in black, orange, and white. Two and half decades later here I am, returning to the Greeks.

When I laid my eyes on this Ancient Greece As It Was I wasn’t so sure with what to expect of it. It presented itself as a travel guide to Greece as if it was written in 415 BC. Hum, this is probably just something silly for idiots to buy. But, with a price bellow five euros at the bookstore… why not? Besides, I love travelling, and usually buy a lot of travel guides, so I’m widely familiar with the style.

Oh, Zeus, how I looove being wrong. The book is far from being silly. It is one of the most creative and intelligently assembled History books I’ve read so far. It is edited precisely as a travel guide, presenting information about demographics and the geography of Attica (the region of Athens), and even being so amusing as this: “If you are coming from Athens, exit from the Diplyon Gate and walk along the two-lane road outside the northern long wall. The distance of 50 stadia will take you two or three hours depending on the traffic”. This is priceless! Who could have guessed that you could ACTUALLY write a travel guide in Athens 415 BC exactly as you do in 2015 AD? You even have a chapter named “Entertainment on a Budget” and the always present How to Get There, Food and Drink, and – obviously! – Shopping.

Again, I insist: it is in no way a kitsch thing. Each of the entries is marvelously written with all the attention to historical detail, and with all the juicy content that a traveler in 415 BC would want to learn about life, tradition, and History. Even architecture is widely explained, with text boxes explaining the differences, for instance, between Doric and Ionic columns.

Our travel guide starts with a brief highlight of the History of Greece. Needless to say that talking about the History of Greece in 415 BC is recounting the deeds of Theseus, Herakles, and all the praised heroes of yonder. The episodes are ingeniously inserted amidst the chapters that present the structural wonders of Athens, such as the Acropolis. Throughout several pages we are introduced to all the buildings that exist in the Acropolis – not just the Parthenon – where it is explained (when there is information available) who ordered its construction, what are the materials used, and what rituals are performed. It is magnificent the amount of wide spanning information that is cramped in each entry.

The sanctuary of Zeus Polieus (Zeus of the City) overlooks the north of the Acropolis and is divided into two enclosures: the first has a small temple and altar; while the second provides stabling for the oxen sacrificed during the Bouphonia, or ox-killing festival, held in late summer. The altar is a bronze table on which barley cakes are offered. Oxen are driven around the table until one eats the cakes. The guilty ox is sacrificed with an ax by the bouphonos (ox-killer), who immediately drops the ax and runs off. The ax is then tried, cursed, and thrown into the sea. The ox is “resurrected”, with its hide stuffed and displayed in the precinct.

As you didn’t have photos or Google Maps at the time, the book is enriched by many maps and hand-drawn depicted scenes of daily life. It is so well assembled that you can actually imagine the countless blacksmiths working the bronze around the temple of Hephaistos. Your imagination starts buzzing when you try to feel the pulse of the polis of Athens, whose low fertile surrounding terrains pushed the city to become a marvel of industrializations, with countless pottery workshops and amphorae full of olive oil being transported along the roads, to be traded overseas by the much needed cereals and vegetables. This isn’t just a clever History book disguised as a travel guide; this is a jewel that makes you understand who those people were, why they were like that, and captivatingly helps you envision ancient Greece as it was. In the best tradition of Homer, this book addicts you in the History of Greece.

I am unable to enrich this article with further information and images, because, according to the Internet, the book doesn’t exist! You barely can find any info about the book, encountering different versions, titles, even author names (as in the cover that is presented below). And when you search in the publishers’ website (Lyons Press)… you get no results! Yup, just like ancient Greece, I have a thing of myth!

I also have the remaining collection of the series: Ancient Rome As It Was and Ancient Egypt as It Was. I only regret that there isn’t an Ancient Olisippo As It Was.

Oooh, yes: now I have picked your interest. Now you feel compelled to go to Wikipedia and find out “what the heck is Olisippo”. Well, I can only wish you an interesting voyage, and… send my regards to Odysseus. Yes… that one.

Ancient Greece As It Was – Eric Chaline, 2008, Lyons Press

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, by Philip K. Dick

“You were wrong,” Eldritch said. “I did not find God in the Prox system. But I found something better.” With a stick he poked at the gluck; it reluctantly withdrew its cilia, and contracted into itself until at last it was no longer clinging to Leo; it dropped to the ground and traveled away, as Eldritch continued to prod it. “God,” Eldritch said, “promises eternal life. I can do better; I can deliver it.”

Philip K. Dick has been amply celebrated as the best sci-fi writer of all times. And, although I twist my eyebrow and say "Ok, but Frank Herbert (...)", one must say that K. Dick was a master at his craft. After all, he did write the book that inspired Blade Runner, the best movie in History (sorry guys, The Empire Strikes Back is only second best), as well as many books that inspired other successful films, but for now let us focus in The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.

"For everyone lost in the endlessly multiplicating realities of the modern world, remember: Philip K. Dick got there first." This is the quote by Terry Gilliam displayed in the cover of the edition I own (SF Masterworks). It would be hard to find a more appropriate one.

The story runs in a near future when Earth is colonizing Mars, and using "Evolution Therapy" to make human brains more advanced (obviously, only available to whom can afford it). Life for the colonists on Mars isn't easy, so most of them find escapism in a drug called Can-D. But this is no ordinary drug. Can-D allows access to controlled environments predefined by layouts (a sort of maquette), which can be shared by several users (much like nowadays online multiplayer games). Everything seems to be running smoothly, until the day a man named Palmer Eldritch crashes his ship on Pluto, after returning from a voyage to the Proxima Centauri system. Something "out there" may have changed Eldritch, which rapidly starts to threaten the monopoly of Can-D by sampling a new drug called Chew-Z.

Where exactly ends the "real" story, and starts the alternate reality (realities)? Good luck finding out!

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch isn't an easily accessible book to readers not used to hardcore science-fiction. Most will get lost in the alternating dimensions of the narrative. And that just feels marvelous. This is not a book about spaceships and laser guns. It is a book about different struggles, desperation, philosophy, maybe religion, and losing control.

Barney Mayerson is the "favored victim" (but not the single one) of K. Dick's ever changing realities. He works as a sort of market analyst, benefiting from his precog abilities to assess the futures success of new products. Although Mayerson has no difficulty in acquiring lovers, he can't stop obsessing with his ex-wife. The capacity that K. Dick demonstrates in dealing with mundane human aspects, in a sci-fi novel revolving around countless states of reality, is astonishing.

Then, you have Palmer Eldritch, the character that triggers the "translation" that keeps readers twisting the eyebrows. K. Dick is a trickster; no one is really sure of what is reading. "Is this the real reality, or is this...? Waaaait... something doesn't feel right about this..."

It isn't easy to talk about Palmer Eldritch without making some spoilers, but also because you end the book without really knowing who (what?) Eldritch is. And I have to say that is one of the alluring aspects of the story: you're never quite sure about anything in it. And, as expected, you don't really know how it ends. It is good, old, philosophical science fiction, allowing open speculation about almost everything. You never get actually lost in the story (K. Dick was a master weaver), but it requires your full attention and focus. Otherwise, you'll be lost in the... "translation".

It is rather thought-provoking to compare the idea behind the book, published in 1965, with the addiction that today’s communities have with massive multiplayer online roleplaying games. The allure of immersing oneself in an entire fictional world, assuming a different persona (or several), as a way to deny real life itself… Be careful, much like the ending of Christopher Nolan’s Inception, you may end up without knowing whether you are dreaming or awaken.

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch – Philip K. Dick, USA, 1965

O Mostrengo, por Fernando Pessoa

O mostrengo que está no fim do mar

Na noite de breu ergueu-se a voar;

A roda da nau voou três vezes,

Voou três vezes a chiar,

E disse: «Quem é que ousou entrar

Nas minhas cavernas que não desvendo,

Meus tectos negros do fim do mundo?»

E o homem do leme disse, tremendo:

«El-Rei D. João Segundo!»

«De quem são as velas onde me roço?

De quem as quilhas que vejo e ouço?»

Disse o mostrengo, e rodou três vezes,

Três vezes rodou imundo e grosso.

«Quem vem poder o que só eu posso,

Que moro onde nunca ninguém me visse

E escorro os medos do mar sem fundo?»

E o homem do leme tremeu, e disse:

«El-Rei D. João Segundo!»

Três vezes do leme as mãos ergueu,

Três vezes ao leme as reprendeu,

E disse no fim de tremer três vezes:

«Aqui ao leme sou mais do que eu:

Sou um povo que quer o mar que é teu;

E mais que o mostrengo, que me a alma teme

E roda nas trevas do fim do mundo,

Manda a vontade, que me ata ao leme,

De El-Rei D. João Segundo!»

A Mensagem, Fernando Pessoa, 1934