Pouch 1: X.R.S. Correspondence




Date: 	October 15, 1993
To:	Costantakos
From: 	Covington
Re:	XENA'S ORIGIN


Professor Costantakos,


I must take issue with your conclusion that Xena was raised in Poteidaia.
Though the scroll you so aptly call "Sins of the Past" may never be fully
translated, it clearly states:


"...Her moment of inner surrender had come, so outside the city of
Poteidaia..." and here the scroll is torn, but it continues 4.5 centimeters
later on the same line, "..The once ignoble profiteer buried her tools of
destruction."


There is no hard evidence that Poteidaia is her home city.  In your earlier
treatise, Xena:  Lost Heroine of Greece, you have attributed the pronoun in
the lines:  "...so she left Poteidaia, her home, to find her adventures..."
to mean Xena; however, this "Sins of the Past" scroll later states, "...not
yet the heroine she will become, now just the mournful daughter of a
mournful mother, the Great Woman set off toward Amphipolis to return to a
life that was never to be."  Clearly, the "Great Woman" is Xena, and
Amphipolis her childhood home.


This begs the question:  who is the woman from Poteidaia?  Obviously, she's
not Xena, since Xena had had enough adventure in her life.  The Amphipolis
chapter of the scroll contains the snippet:  "Poteidaians, known for their
gift of the gab, which she certainly [upheld]..."  So it's clear  that the
mysterious Poteidaian woman was with Xena at Amphipolis, but who she is and
what she was doing there, we may never know.


J. Covington



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Date: 	October 17, 1993
To:	XRS
From: 	Hasson
Re:	Xena's Weapons


Dear Colleagues:


I am working on scroll number 805-01-76911 and am finding several
references to a "mighty staff."  This has caused me to wonder if any of you
have uncovered other evidence of Xena using a staff in addition to her
chakram and sword.  I seem to recall references in 76901 (the so-called
"Sins of the Past" scroll), but it has been so long ago.


I would be most appreciative if one of you could help me out.


Dr. Araham Hasson
Glyfada School of Anthropology



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Date:	October 18, 1993
To:	XRS
From:	Costantakos
Re:	RE: XENA'S WEAPONS


Most certainly Xena was familiar with how to use a staff.  As we see in the
last portion of "Sins of the Past" which reads:


"So Draco of the Violet Crest made her [Xena] a challenge..."  We know from
her contemporaries that challenges then, like challenges for centuries to
come, meant the one challenged got to choose the weapon.  True, much of
this part of the scroll is missing, but we know that "Xena, her arms strong
and sure, took her staff and vaulted over Draco's army and the noble
villagers to land on the scaffold."


So with all of the weapons she could have chosen in this fight for her home
village, Xena chooses a staff, which has always been a mystery to me.  Your
discovery of a "mighty staff" may very well shed some light on this issue.


E. Costantakos
Oxford School of Antiquities



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Date:	October 21, 1993
To:	XRS
From:	Covington
Re:	RE: XENA'S WEAPONS


<So with all of the weapons she could have chosen in this fight for her
home village, Xena chooses a staff, which has always been a mystery to
me.>


Evan,


Nice to see that you read my mail.  I take it you now accept Amphipolis as
Xena's home?  Unfortunately, you are as wrong about Xena's staff as you
were about her hometown.  You have filled in partially legible words with
erroneous guesses. Most certainly Xena was familiar with how to use a
staff.  As we see in the last portion of "Sins of the Past" which reads:


<"So Draco of the Violet Crest made her [Xena] a challenge...">


Here you have inserted the words "made" and "a" where all I see is a tear
in the scroll.  Could it not read, "Draco of the Violet Crest accepted her
challenge?"  This would give Draco the choice of weapons; and, considering
his apparent love for her, he would certainly choose a less-than-lethal
weapon such as a staff.


Evan, Evan, Evan, if it weren't for the fact that you name these scrolls so
well (which I think is clever), I'd think you had lost your touch.


Janice.



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Date:	November 20, 1993
To:	XRS
From:	Costantakos
Re:	DRACO


We are all, of course, familiar with the Draco that brought us "Draconian
Laws," which brings up the question:  Is this the same Draco mentioned in
the Xena Scrolls?


The very clear and beautifully translated (kudos to Dr. Hasson) Draco
segments of the "Sins of the Past" scroll, clearly show a Draco willing to
kill, even his closest advisors, over the slightest offense.  This would
seem to support a "Single Draco Theory."


Unless, of course, Janice has some interpretation she's like to share with
us.



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Date:	November 21, 1993
To:	XRS
From:	Covington


You know me, Evan.  I've got an opinion about *everything*!


My only hesitation in accepting the Single Draco Theory is two fold.
First, we don't have a clear time line of events; and, more subtly, Xena's
Draco seems less cold-hearted than the Draco of "accepted" antiquity.  The
Scrolls read, "Hector, his [ego] hurt more than his body, was not satisfied
with the simple trashing given to him by The Great Warlord.  Knowing that
he could not kill him face-to-face, Hector charged Draco's back."


Is it Draconian to defend yourself?


And his second "victim" was also a case of defense:


"Defeated, humiliated, and humbled under the boots of the Warrior Woman,
Draco still kept his word -- even to the point of defending the Warrior
Princess against his own men."  He also proclaims: "'That which Draco
speaks, indeed [promises?], is as the act itself, and shall be made as real
as the [Earth??? (while the word isn't clear, it is clearly NOT sky!)]
which rests on Atlas' shoulders; even if my sword, my blood, or the blood
of my family or compatriots must be spilled to make it so.'"


Which is classic Draconian philosophy -- impartial, but harsh.  So, I'm
torn, but am leaning toward a variation of the single Draco.  Perhaps this
is an ancestor, or even a teacher of the Draco we've known and feared for
so many generations.


Janice



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Date:	November 22, 1993
To:	XRS
From:	Costantakos


So, Janice, your opinion then is that you're not sure... ?


And what would Marvin's Idiom Translation people do with the "my blood"
speech?


Evan.



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Date:	November 22, 1993
To:	XRS
From:	Mad Marvin
Re:	Idiom Translation


<"'That which Draco speaks, indeed [promises?], is as the act itself, and
shall be made as real as the [Earth??? (while the word isn't clear, it is
clearly NOT sky!)] which rests on Atlas' shoulders; even if my sword, my
blood, or the blood of my family or compatriots must be spilled to make it
so.'">


In Idiom Translation, this would be "A deal's a deal."  Of course, we would
include the poetry of this speech, but if you're trying to turn a 10 year
old onto the classics, you might like having an IT annotated copy handy.


Mad Marvin
Dallas, TX in memorial



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Date:	December 15, 1993
To:	XRS - Folks
From:	Mad Marvin
Re:	"Chariots of War"



First -- Evanski -- Kewl title! and great translation -- for a Classicist!

Next, Xena is kicking some major buttocks in this scroll, but she's also
doing the sensitive thing -- which you don't always see in the ancients.


I mean, the poetry!


"Her pain, not from the warrior's shaft lodged in her side, but from the
comfort of a bed,  a family, and a kind and caring man.  That which would
make us all feel at home, to the Mighty Xena, was but a reminder of the
things she might never have." Could those Greeks line up some words, or
what?


Next thing -- The Chariots:


The scrolls talk of the "Chariots and mighty steeds of Ares, used in war
throughout the lands, now guided by the hand of Sphaerus, son of the feared
and terrible Cycnus, who would soon pass on the reins."


I have this image.  Could it be that, when chariots were phased out of
Greek cavalry, that some guys refused to get into the saddle?  Maybe they'd
take their chariots and some war-like guys, and those kind of women that
like their men in leather, and go off to form raiding parties?  That makes
sense, doesn't it?  I mean, I'm just a linguist, so help me out here.


And so those, "Chariots and Steeds of Ares" would be the baddest of the old
chariot drivers, so when Xena takes them on, she's actually riding against
the best and baddest of the best, right?


By the way, did anyone else notice the line toward the end, "The woman from
Poteidaia, not skilled at horses, nevertheless rode ahead to draw the evil
Cycnus into Xena's trap."  There's that crazy Poteidaia woman again!  Must
have been something to see -- I'm there, you know?


Mad Marvin
With my laptop somewhere in Utah.



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Date:	January 3, 1994
To:	XRS
From:	Covington
Re:	HECTOR


Can we at least all agree that the Hector in "Sins of the Past" is NOT the
same Hector of Troy?



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Date:	January 4, 1994
To:	XRS
From:	Costantakos
Re:	RE:  HECTOR


<Can we at least all agree that the Hector in "Sins of the Past" is NOT the
same Hector of Troy?>


Janice, how can you even ask that question?  To compare Hector of Troy --
"Hector the mighty warrior with his shining helmet" -- to this ... thug!
Marvin's Idiom Translation sums him up best:


"Hector, a bald-headed bully with a nasal condition, lead Draco's men..."
etc.


Clearly, Janice, the name is nothing but a coincidence.


Evan.



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Date:	January 8, 1994
To:     XRS
From:	Mad Marvin
Re:	RE: HECTOR


Evan, chill.


First of all, Janice didn't say that this Hector was the SAME Hector killed
by Achilles.  She's just asking.  Second, while I agree that these two
Hector's aren't the same, isn't it possible that the Xena Scrolls author is
parodying Homer?  Perhaps disin' him.  Or paying some kind of tribute?


Open your mind, Evan!



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Date:	January 20, 1994
To:	XRS
From:	Convington
Re:	January 17, 1994 in Los Angeles


What was I doing when the earthquake hit at 4:31 in the morning?  Sleeping
like a regular person?  No, I was translating this passage from Scroll
Number 805-01-76918:


"Purple was the sky, as the Warrior Woman, weary without sleep, stared
toward the East where their answers would soon rise.  Poteidaia moved to
Amphipolis, to question her feelings for [Petracles].  'You judge him by
his past,' said the once gentlewoman to the once Warrior Princess, 'what if
I were to fix my judgments so on you and your [past].


"Just then Atlas Shrugged, and the earth did shake with such a thunder that
all who felt it move did feel their mortality rattle in their bones."


Irony, thy name is Xena!  And whoever authored these scrolls has lived
through a real quake.  As you'll see in my translation, the descriptions
are too real to be fiction.


Once again, thanks for the phone calls.  I'm fine, my apartment is cracked,
but not broken.  One old wine bottle that I used for a candlestick holder
-- back in college, I think -- broke.  Other than that, just a big mess!


Janice -- shaken, but not stirred.


P.S. -- I'm starting to really like naming these scrolls.  The numbers get
so tiresome.  I'm thinking about calling this one, "Three For Godhood, The
Hard Way."  What do you think?



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Date:   January 22, 1994
To:     XRS
From:   Mad Marvin
Re:     January 17, 1994 in Los Angeles


Janice,


Glad to hear you're okay, but I think your had your brain shook loose!
"Three For Godhood, The Hardway"???  What's that supposed to mean?  I read
your translation today, and I *still* don't get it.  To me, it reads more
like, "A Fistful of Dinars."


Mad Marvin
I can't tell where I am, as it's dark outside.



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Date:   February 5, 1994
To:     XRS
From:   Mad Marvin
Re:     DREAMWORKER  (Scroll # 805-01-76905)


Okay, let me get you there.  Let me get you where you need to be to share
the experience:


It's night.  I'm hanging out with my Indian friend in the desert -- we're
in Nevada or Utah, New Mexico -- that kind of place.  We're sittin' on the
hood of my friend's '75 Chevy Impala watching the stars and trying to spot
satellites and shooters -- and I'm thinking about scroll #76905.  So far
from a translation that I don't even have a title for it, right?  But,
that's my assignment.  Hasson tells me he was never able to make sense of
it, but he thought I might -- 'cause why? -- I don't know.


So anyway, there we are, me and my friend in the desert -- not a soul
around, and she says to me, "it's like a dream."  Well, WHAM!  BAM!  It
hits me, that part we haven't been able to translate (how the hell do you
type Greek on these things?) -- but we all know what I'm talkin' about,
right?  Nobody could figure it -- but suddenly I've got it, it's about
dreams.


See -- how many words do we have for dreams?  Dream, Nightmare, Wet Dream,
Day Dream Believer, R.E.M., The Monkeys, are you with me?  Well this word,
this friggin' Greek word that I can't type on this damn machine, it means
"Guided Dream."  These formerly cool-as-hell-priests-gone-bad were into
guided imagery, the dream god Morpheus, all of that...


So there I am, with my lady in the middle of nowhere, and I pop the laptop
-- load the scanned files and get to work.  The Ancients, the new world
mountains, my lady, the Chevy, are you there?  The stars and the glow of
the computer screen are all you can see for miles.  Are you with me?


Then add to that, this kicking Xena story:


"Elkton The Blind Mystic, too old and wise to rejoice in the coming of his
a foreseen Warrior Woman, took Xena into the meager comfort of his humble
shanty home.  There he summoned up all that was old and good of his ancient
Mystic Ways...  He warned the Mighty Warrior that Morpheus, the evil god of
evil dreams and misguided ambitions, would fight to keep her from her
Poteidaian friend.  'He will use the most powerful weapon that ever was,
and ever will be,' cries the Blind Old Mystic, 'He will use your own doubts
and fears.'"


Is that the truth, or what?  Our own minds... Our own doubts... Our own
fears... How many centuries later will another handicapped old man say,
"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."  Man, oh man.


So my old lady, out in the desert, she was kind of bummed that I was spending more
time with Xena than her, until I started translating out loud.


"Blood-innocence was Morpheus' desire.  To spoil the beauty that is in all
of us.  The more the beauty -- the more the innocence -- the more his
desire to see it fall." There's a smudge here, then "[She] had not felt the
passing of a life by her own hand. She had not looked into the eyes of a
victim as Celesta snuffed out the flame of life.  She had not
[experienced?] the life and death struggles of the Warrior Queen."


So we drank wine and translated into the night.  My Native American
lady-friend met my Ancient Greek lady-friend, and we shared stories of
dreams and gods.


Mad Marvin
In an Airplane over ... some part of Europe.



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Date:	February 7, 1994
To:	XRS
From:	Costantakos
Re:	RE: DREAMWORKER  (Scroll # 805-01-76905)


Marvin --


I can see now why Dr. Hasson brought you on this project.  I would never in
a million years come up with "guided dreams."  Congratulations to you and
your lady friend.


Also I think "Dreamworker" is a bitchin' title, dude.


Evan.



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Date:	March 1, 1994
To:	XRS
From:	Hasson
Re:	RE: DREAMWORKER  (Scroll # 805-01-76905)


Marvin --


I received your entire translation in the mail today.  Of course it's
brilliant, but transcribing it from the papertowel roll you've typed it on
is costing us time and money.  I do wish you'd use the computer more, it
would be a great help to us all.


Hasson.



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Date:	February 7, 1994
To:	XRS
From:	Covington
Re:	RE: DREAMWORKER  (Scroll # 805-01-76905)



I'm right there with you, Marvin!  You got me there.  I especially like the
passage regarding self-defense:


"'To learn the Arts of War is not to learn the Arts of Survival,' mused the
Mistress of both.  'Hermes' winged heels will do one better than Ares'
angry sword, if the sword is too heavy to lift.  A Dionysian frenzy might
repel an attacker as well as my Warrior's Cry.  Use your Poteidaian powers
of verse and wit to overcome your enemies, [and give your friends a break
by not] wielding their swords.'"


Sage advice from a Warrior Princess, and not some thing we're used to
seeing in any pre-historic myths.  It's a refreshing change from the "My
sword's stronger than your sword" babble.  I also like your Idiom
Translation.  It shows Xena's dry sense of humor which gets lost in a
literal one.


And Xena had a war cry.  I wonder what it was like.  Must have sent chills
down the spine.


Janice.



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Date:	March 3, 1994
To:	XRS
From:	Mad Marvin
Re:	Paper Towels


Sorry, Araham, but it takes so damned long for the scroll JPG files to
refresh themselves on the screen, and I was way into the Jack Kerouac thing
at the time -- so it turned out faster for me to type the translation, and
just use the computer for displaying the scroll.


And if you think about it, there's some kind of poetry in typing the
ancient scrolls onto a modern one.


I took a look at the partial scroll you E-mailed to me (805-01-76923).  I
agree, it does look to be a story about Xena's Pop, and there do seem to be
references to her childhood, and something else about Ares, but the rest is
impossible to make out.  I'm working on an idea though.  Can we find out
what pages of the scroll were on top and bottom of this one?  Let me know.


Mad Marvin Still in the States



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Date:	March 7, 1994
To:	XRS
From:	Hasson
Re:	E-Mail Record


As I've discussed with each of the XRS members over the phone, there is a
chance that our E-mail will be published for posterity.  To that end, I've
begun to archive the transmissions.  I'm afraid I've only been able to
recover back to October.  So I will take a brief moment to outline what is
going on.  Regular XRS members may skip over this if they wish.


I am based out of Glyfada, Greece.  It is my job -- with a tremendous
amount of help from graduate students and volunteers, bless them! -- to put
together the pieces of the scroll.  The scrolls themselves are in fantastic
shape, considering their age, but many sections are torn and there are
several scattered pieces that have to be placed like an ancient puzzle.
Unlike the Dead Sea Scrolls, all of the Xena Scrolls are on papyrus, with
the exception of a copper key -- like a table of contents.  The Dead Sea
Scrolls also have a copper key, but were written centuries after Xena's.
Obviously this was a standard practice for some time throughout the
Mediterranean.


Once the scrolls have been assembled as best we can do, they are scanned
using various methods of digitizing.  (Actually, most of that is beyond me.
I'm a tweezers and magnifying glass man).


These digital files are then E-mailed to an XRS member that has been
assigned the task of a detailed translation.  On some occasions, like now,
an XRS member will make a trip out to examine the original scrolls.  Marvin
is currently doing just that, experimenting with art restoration methods to
extract missing pieces of the scrolls from the layers above or below the
tears.  He's hoping all those centuries of one page laying on top of the
other will have caused the ink to make an impression on its neighboring
page.  I wish him luck.


Regarding the authorship of the Scrolls:  We have not been able to
determine who wrote the Xena Scrolls, but so far, it is clear that they
have one author.  Our complete publication will get into details about what
has lead us to this conclusion, but the major point is the handwriting.
It's all the same -- at least as far as we've gotten to date.


Hasson.