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According to ancient Greek historians the fall of
Eusebius in Preparation for the Gospel, Book 10 states
"'And in the eighteenth year of the reign of Agamemnon Troy was taken,
in the first year of the reign in Athens of Demophon
son of Theseus, on the twelfth day of the month Thargelion, as Dionysius the Argive
says. 'But Agius and Dercylus
in their third Book say, on the eighth day of the last decade of the month Panemus: Hellanicus says, on
the twelfth of Thargelion; and some of the writers
of Athenian history say, on the eighth of the last decade, in the last year
of the reign of Menestheus, at the full moon. The
poet who wrote The Little Iliad says: ‘At
Since the ancient Greeks used a lunar calendar, the full moon can only occur in the middle of the month by definition, which indicates that the reference to the last decade of the month by the Athenians above must be referring to the second decade of the month, since there are only two full decades in a lunar month and the 28/29 of the month would be nowhere near a full moon.
According to the Parian Marble Troy is taken on the 7 days before the end
of the month of Thargelion or the 22 of the month
in the 22 year of Menestheus. According to Diodorus,
The majority of the ancient Historians quoted above agree
that the capture of
Using the facts at our disposal it is possible to resolve this problem.
Agamemnon returns to
Troy is therefore captured at 0318h (using Online Bible
data) on the night of the full moon of 14/15 May 1182 BC (1183/82 BC) which
is 15 Thargelion (based on approximating this year
with the calendar for 2013/2014)
and is only 3 days later than the date given by Hellanicus.
Agamemnon’s return to Mycenae takes place on 13 Gamelion
which is 02/03 February 1181 BC (equivalent to 2014/2015 AD), so taking Hellanicus date of the 12 of Thargelion
for the capture of Troy and assuming the rape of Cassandra took place on the
day after, along with conception then this gives 266 days until 13 Gamelion or exactly 38 weeks. Using the Pregnancy Due Date
Calculator and assuming the first day of the last menstrual period was on
April 28, the estimated date of conception would be on May 12 (13 Thargelion) and the estimated date of birth would occur
on February 2 which in 1181 BC and corresponds to 13 Gamelion
in the Athenian calendar. Alternatively conception could have taken place a
day earlier on the day
Comparing these dates to those of Diodorus, Jerome, and the Parian Marble indicates that Diodorus has given the correct year for when Troy was captured, ie. 1183/82 BC. Since Thargelion is only 2 months away from the end of the year the Parian Marble dates the capture of Troy to the start of the following year or 1182/81 BC and should be amended so it reads “on the 7th day before the end of the month Thargelion in the previous year.” Jerome on the other hand dates the end of the Trojan war to the start of the first full year in which Aegisthus rules over Mycenane and Demophon over Athens.
Greek ChronologyExtant Greek King ListsCatalogue and Chronology of Extant Literature
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