"The ancient theory of heroic genealogy... reflects paternity at two levels: human and divine. A man's inheritance comes from his human father, but his qualitative superiority among mortals comes from his divine father. When Odysseus is called Zeus-born (diognēs) this does not mean that the poet has forgotten... that he is the son of human Laertes. ...Zeus is often described as impregnating noble ladies, not so much to gratify his lust for women, but because divine parentage was a necessity among the claims of the aristocracy. Odysseus is a superhuman because he is diogenēs; but he is king of Ithaca because of his human father Laertes. Jesus is divine because of his heavenly Father; but he derives his kingship of the Jews from the mortal Joseph, who was heir to the throne (Matthew I). While normative Judaism has has tried to strip the Old Testament of this phenomenon, vestiges have nevertheless remained in the text."
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Ch.VII Further Observations on Homer
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cyrus_H._Gordon
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Cyrus H. Gordon
Cyrus Herzl Gordon (June 29, 1908 – March 30, 2001), was an American author, teacher, linguist, field archaeologist, cryptanalyst and scholar of Near Eastern cultures and ancient languages. He challenged traditional theories about Greek and Hebrew cultures by claiming that these were derived from a common second millenium East Mediterranean foundation.
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