Journey To Delphi

by Frank D. Iannella

Overview

An astonishing adventure awaits young Damian in sixth century BCE Greece as he begins a perilous odyssey filled with betrayal, deceit and treachery. It was a time filled with contradictions turmoil and cruelty. It was also a time which laid the foundation for one of the greatest cultural flowering the world has ever seen. Great practical advances in mathematics were made, particularly in engineering and construction yet numbers seemed to have mystical and magical properties that could help the initiates of mystery schools and cults be elevated to higher levels of consciousness. Myths and legends blended with everyday life. Dionysus roamed the forest while his tomb lay in the Temple of Apollo. A golden statue of a wolf was given a place of honor in this same temple while in another city-state, a statue was found guilty of causing a man's death when he fell off his horse. The statue was sentenced to be drowned. Into this world steps Damian, trying to make sense of all his experiences and encounters while he searches for his destiny. Beautifully written and enthrallingly told, Journey to Delphi is both a profoundly personal and exciting coming of age story of a youth and a society in flux.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467936392
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	08/22/2012
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.76(d)

About the Author

Frank D. Iannella has a bachelor's and master's degree in history from Northern Illinois University.
His master thesis was researched and written at Oriel College, Oxford University. He has finished all but the dissertation for a Ph.D in History. He also holds a master's degree in public administration from the University of Colorado, and is a graduate fellow of the American Film Institute: Center for Advanced Studies. He was presented with the Gold Key award for scholarship from Phi Alpha Theta National History Society. He was a teaching fellow at the University of Colorado and has taught full time at George Williams College, Colorado School of Mines and Shapley International School in Florence, Italy. A mystical experience at Delphi inspired him to write his novel.

Frank Iannella has been a professional astrologer for over 30 years, although now he is semi-retired. He had taken workshops with Dane Rudhyar, and was on the faculty of the American Federation of Astrologers' National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. He taught a popular two semester, six credit-hour course entitled Foundations of the Occult, at the University of Colorado in addition to a three credit-hour class entitled History and Theory of Astrology. KBZW radio, in Denver, CO, had Iannella as a weekly featured guest, discussing Astrology. At the Human Dimensions Institute West in Ojai, California he conducted workshops on several aspects of astrology and dream interpretation. Several articles have been written about him in newspapers and magazines. He lives in Boulder, CO.

Editorial Reviews

An entertaining debut historical novel that depicts tumultuous ancient Greece as seen through the eyes of a young, orphaned slave. Damian is only 12 years old when his parents are killed and most of his village, followers of Orpheus' gentle philosophy, are destroyed by marauders from another Greek village in the early sixth century B.C. He escapes with his tutors, but one of them sells Damian into slavery. At first, the young man performs menial labor on a construction site, but when his masters notice his skill at reading, writing, mathematics and running, he's allowed to train for competitive races and work on building plans. After a spiteful master rapes and cripples Damian, the boy gets his revenge and escapes, and he's eventually reunited with his beloved tutor, Lysis. The two travel to Delphi, Greece's spiritual center, so that Damian may undergo ritual cleansing and serve as a tutor at Delphi's school. He visits the famous Oracle, where he receives an enigmatic message that spurs him to investigate the meaning of his life. Debut author Iannella effectively presents the atmosphere of long-ago Greece, vividly describing its food, clothes, customs, landscape, religion and philosophy. (There are occasional missteps, including characters using the terms "okay" and "guys," which readers may find a bit too modern, and eating potatoes, which didn't make it to Greece until some two millennia later.) He also provides intriguing cultural discussions about the wisdom of sentencing prisoners to death versus banishing them, the real importance of good bookkeeping and the evergreen difficulty of teaching fractions. The novel also paints an engaging, well-rounded portrait of the tough-minded historical tyrant Kleisthenes; after an earthquake, for example, he goes where the fires are thickest, using his authority for the most good. The story perhaps supplies a few too many opportunities for Damian to play the hero, which might have been pruned to better effect. Damian's adventures will continue in a planned second volume. Absorbing adventures in ancient Greece, full of betrayal, friendship, mysticism and science.

Kirkus Reviews