Talk:The Wine-Dark Sea

Move request

 * Support. Unnecessary disambiguation. grendel|khan 21:26, 2005 May 6 (UTC)
 * Neutral to Don't Move Some of O'Brian's titles require disambiguation and it seems reasonable to have a certain consistency in the page titles with the added (novel) after all of them. Given that I am not completely set on that. Dabbler 23:03, 6 May 2005 (UTC)


 * Has been moved already. —Slicing (talk) 01:53, 17 December 2005 (UTC)

The Title "Wine Dark Sea"
I was wondering if anyone can place this line exactly from Homer? Is it from the Iliad? Ivankinsman (talk) 17:19, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes it is from The Iliad but I can't now place the line precisley for you. However, there is a possible explanation of this puzzling phrase. According to a biography, in the latter part of May 1916, Jean Sibelius, the Finnish Composer, took a voyage from Bremen to New York. In a letter he wrote "I saw many glorious nights on the Atlantic...a sunset that was one of the most enchanting...a high sky arching itself over an almost wine-colored sea - violet and blue clouds, a wonderful combination of color." So there it is. Maybe we have an answer for the two and a half millenia question on w.t.h Homer was on about - maybe he was talking about the sea at night-time or in the gloaming. L0ngpar1sh (talk) 00:05, 19 November 2010 (UTC)


 * The phrase shows up in the Odyssey, found in an on-line copy cited in the article in the Title section. It may also show up in The Iliad, but finding it in the Odyssey was enough. A New York Times article from 1983 on this phrase is cited as well, to back up the phrase being oft-used. and, it is not why Homer used the phrase that is cited in the Title section now, more why did O'Brian use it as the title of the book. In one part of the online text of the Odyssey, lightning strikes the waters of the Mediterranean making the wine-dark sea. That seems a reasonable approximation to the undersea volcanic eruption, rainstorms and thunderstorms and the many colors they made in the Pacific Ocean during the chase of the privateer Franklin. The Title section was added a few years back, I think without realizing this discussion was on the Talk page. Hard to remember back that far.  --Prairieplant (talk) 00:18, 28 December 2017 (UTC)


 * I moved the references to this section using reflist-talk. Not sure if page 215 citation is in the right place. The full citation was just sitting there at the bottom of this Talk page. --Prairieplant (talk) 23:55, 27 December 2017 (UTC)

The Reverend Nathaniel Martin
This seems to be the last we hear of Mr Martin, Stephen's close friend and fellow naturalist. O'Brian edges him out of the series with Jack Aubrey bestowing two livings on him from his cousin's, Edward Norton's estate, and with the prospect of a third once the elderly incumbent dies. It seems that Martin has tired of life at sea and looks forward to being at home with his wife and a relatively wealthy lifestyle from the tithes he will receive from his parishioners.Ivankinsman (talk) 09:58, 16 March 2008 (UTC)


 * He had such feelings of guilt for pining after Clarissa Oakes. That guilt destroyed his health and his judgment of his own physical situation, ending his botanizing voyages. His is one of many actions or reactions based on religious beliefs in this novel. --Prairieplant (talk) 23:55, 27 December 2017 (UTC)

Book Jacket
The cover shown in the infobox is not the "First edition cover," is it?Hammerdrill (talk) 16:33, 2 May 2009 (UTC)
 * The first edition was the HarperCollins edition and this looks like the HarperCollins cover, not the US W.W. Norton version. Dabbler (talk) 17:16, 2 May 2009 (UTC)