From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
               THE XENA SCROLLS ARCHIVE   
      
   Xena Scroll Pouch #3   
      
      
   Dispatches from the Xena Restoration Society team that translated the Xena   
   Scrolls   
   (as edited by Robert Mellette)   
      
   Pouch 3: X.R.S. Correspondence   
      
   Date: May 18, 1994   
      
   To: XRS   
      
   From: Hasson   
      
   Re: Historians   
      
   What a wonderful headache these Xena Scrolls present. No   
   sooner am I working on this mysterious parchment suspected to be   
   a letter from Homer, when the Dean of the History Department   
   calls me to his office.   
      
   It seems that one of my students discovered a fragment of the   
   scrolls which reads:   
      
   "The Great Warrior Woman, the Brave Poteidaian, Perdicas, The   
   Lady of Poteidaia, and the other brave souls of Troy, all leap   
   from the Mighty Wooden Steed..."   
      
   Apparently, the student who translated this took issue with   
   the Homeric version of the Trojan War, using the Xena Scrolls to   
   support her argument. Brave girl--but it does force an issue that   
   I have been avoiding since the discovery--Where does Xena fit   
   into history and the Homeric myths?   
      
   After two hours of pressure from the entire Department of   
   History, telling me that it is impossible for Trojans to jump out   
   of the Trojan Horse (they seem to have absolutely no problem with   
   Cassandra being able to see the future--which does NOT appear in   
   what fragments we have pieced together of the Gabriellic account)   
   -- I finally conceded that, yes, it was premature of this, or any   
   other student, to use the Xena Scrolls in an undergraduate   
   Homeric History course.   
      
   It hurt me to come to that conclusion, but I did get them to   
   concede that Homer was not writing a Gospel, and that there could   
   be other versions of the Trojan War story just as valid as   
   Homer's. I almost got them to admit that a course called "Homeric   
   History" was as ridiculous as its name--but that was asking a bit   
   much.   
      
   Considering how slowly the academic world accepts change, I   
   think that gaining acceptance of The Xena Scrolls is going to be   
   a long, hard-fought battle.   
      
      
   Hasson   
      
      
   ******************Message Separator******************   
      
   Date: May 18, 1994   
      
   To: XRS   
      
   From: Costantakos   
      
   Re:RE: HISTORIANS   
      
   "Gabriellic Account" Araham?   
      
   Surely you are not so quick to actually name the original   
   author. The letter states, "I've just had read to me the memories   
   and stories of Gabrielle..."that Gabrielle actually wrote them is   
   taking a grand leap. As scientists, as well as linguists, we must   
   be careful not to see what we WANT to see, but what is actually   
   there.   
      
   For example: The stories of Xena and Gabrielle might have been   
   written by the author of the letter (who MIGHT be Homer),had read   
   to me,"read.   
      
   And that's just one argument. Another could be that the   
   stories of Xena and Gabrielle were written by a third party.   
      
   Of course, Janice, you and Marvin will say I'm being a   
   skeptic. To which I say, thank you for the compliment--for by not   
   locking onto one romantic notion, a skeptic keeps his mind open   
   to all possibilities.   
      
   Evan.   
      
      
   ******************Message Separator******************   
      
   Date: May 19, 1994   
      
   To: XRS   
      
   From: Marvin   
      
   Re: Hollywood   
      
   My ex-girlfriend in Berkeley finally got over her codependent   
   thing, got a little self- esteem, is on her own two feet, and   
   decided that she no longer has to torture me behind my back, or   
   do those little things that have made my life even more   
   dysfunctional than usual.   
      
   What's that got to do with the Xena Scrolls? Turns out she's   
   been hoarding my mail, and now that she's canceled the contract   
   she had out on my life, she's seen fit to send me a pouch of   
   every single piece of postage with my name on it that has   
   gathered at that address over the past few years. In and among   
   the numerous sweepstakes that I had already won, was a letter   
   from one Rob Tapert of Renaissance Pictures in Hollywood.   
      
   It seems that, while preparing to produce a new Hercules TV   
   series, Rob had read my Doctoral Thesis on Idiom Translation.   
   Imagine that. They really do read things in Hollywood.   
      
   Well, I just got off the phone with him. What a trip! He's a   
   hell of a nice guy and very well read on the subject at hand. He   
   said that, when Universal Studios asked him and his partner Sam   
   Raimi to do a series of Hercules movies, they started looking for   
   a different angle on the story. That's when they found my thesis,   
   which sparked this whole "Joe Montana-thing."not-enjoy,   
   Homer-on-a-pedestal, kind of thing--but *rather* as a living,   
   breathing, stories-for-the-here-and-now, deal--really appealed to   
   him.   
      
   Rob was sorry we had not gotten to talk earlier, as they were   
   already in production. Then he asked what I was up to, and we   
   spent the next two hours talking about Xena. Man-oh- man, does he   
   love Xena! And when he heard there were references to Hercules in   
   the Xena Scrolls, that was it! He's hooked.   
      
   He asked what the XRS would think if he included Xena as a   
   character in the Hercules series. I can't speak for the rest of   
   us, but I think it's a great idea. After all, raising awareness   
   of Xena is part of our purpose, and what can do that better than   
   a TV show? Why wait around for NOVA to do a documentary that no   
   one will see, when Hollywood can do for Xena what they've done   
   for Hercules and the Argonauts? It may help the grant money flow   
   as well...   
      
   Anyway, I gave him Araham's number, and invited him out for a   
   visit anytime.   
      
      
   Mad Marvin   
      
   Goin' Hollywood!   
      
      
   ******************Message Separator******************   
      
      
   Date: May 19, 1994   
      
   To: XRS   
      
   From: Mad Marvin   
      
   Re:RE: HISTORIANS   
      
   Evan,   
      
   I've got no problem with your holding us to a higher standard   
   of facts before we draw conclusions. But here is another fact   
   to consider:   
      
   The "Letter to Dad" is full of colophons, more than I've seen   
   in any other ancient script. If the person dictating the letter   
   is blind (as Homer was rumored to be),give the scribes the   
   opportunity to jot down more than the usual jokes, comments, and   
   warnings to fellow scribes in the margins?   
      
   Compare that to the scrolls. I haven't seen any colophons in   
   the Xena Scrolls. Not one! So, Mr. Skeptic, what do we learn from   
   that? I'd say, the chances of the scrolls and the letter being   
   written by the same person are very slim. But more than that,   
   since the scrolls have no smart-aleck comments from uppity   
   scribes, I think they might be more than just an exemplar. The   
   Xena Scrolls could be the first draft, the original, the signed   
   first addition, the Master--possibly even the one and only?   
      
   Mad Marvin   
      
   With an expiring Visa in Glyfada   
      
      
   ******************Message Separator******************   
      
      
      
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