PROLOGUE

This book is based on Homer’s books Iliad and Odyssey. While Iliad describes the war of the peoples of Achaea and Troia, Odyssey tells the journey of king Ulysseus, who participated in the Trojan war, to the Caucasus, the homeland of his ancestors, and to the Land of the Dead there. This work is divided into two parts. The first chapter discusses the main tribes that supported the Trojan king Priam and their historical relations with the Caucasus. Here the attention was focused on the Thracians, Thraco-Phrygians, Pelasgians, Celts, Mysians, Libyans, Lydians, Carians, and other related tribes who supported the king of Troy, Priam.

In the second chapter Homer’s Odyssey is studied. In this book, Homer described the journey of the king of Argos, Ulysseus (Odysseus), who returned to his homeland after the Trojan War. Although it is generally believed that Ulysseus made this voyage in the Mediterranean basin, in our opinion, this voyage took place in the Black Sea basin.

I am deeply indebted to Dr. Nilgün Elam for a rigorous pre-reading and editing the Turkish version as well as its English version of this book. She also dedicated her time to checking the quotations from the ancient Greek texts and controlling the related terminology. I am extremely grateful to Mr. Mehmet Gönen for translating the Turkish text into English. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Mr. Hakan Candemir for the technical support in the preparation of the e-book. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Mr. Enes Özkan for dedicating his technical skills to the design of the cover of the book. I wish you a good reading …

(Balkar) Selçuk Bağlar

March 2023

                                                                                                                   Van/Turkey