R0XAPXAM Collection – Homeric Odyssey Books 13‑20 and 19th‑Century Homeopathic Medical Correspondence

Overview

The R0XAPXAM Collection is a digital assemblage that unites two distinct content types: (1) plain‑text transcriptions of Homer’s Odyssey Books 13 through 20 and (2) a scanned issue (No. 6) of the German‑language journal Correspondenzblatt der homöopathischen Aerzte dated 19 March 1836. Both sub‑collections are hosted in the ARKE Institute repository and are publicly accessible under a Public Domain dedication.

Background

The Odyssey texts derive from a scholarly edition of the 8th‑century BCE epic and were digitised to support classical‑literature research and digital‑humanities projects. Metadata linking characters, locations, and objects are supplied in an accompanying JSON file. The medical journal issue originates from the N. A. Akademie der homöopathischen Heilkunst in Allentau (Lecha) and reflects the academy’s practice of circulating clinical observations among German‑speaking physicians and their counterparts in Ohio, USA, during the 1830s. Both components were organized during a recent re‑cataloguing effort that grouped files by content type.

Contents

• Odyssey Books 13‑20 (files book13.txt – book20.txt):
- Book 13 – Ulysses departs Scheria and lands in Ithaca. - Book 14 – Encounter with the swineherd Eumaeus. - Book 15 – Athena summons Telemachus; his return from Sparta. - Book 16 – Reunion of Ulysses and Telemachus; plotting the suitors’ defeat. - Book 17 – Ulysses, still disguised, enters the palace and suffers abuse. - Book 18 – Beggar‑Ulysses fights the tramp Irus; Athena intervenes. - Book 19 – Penelope’s “scar” recognition scene. - Book 20 – Omens, sleeplessness, and suitor conspiracies.
• Correspondenzblatt der homöopathischen Aerzte (single scanned page):

- Front matter identifying the academy, editor C. Zering, and submission address. - Case 64 – Headache and left‑eye inflammation (1833‑1834, 1836) treated with herbal‑soup vapor, compresses, and Spigelia. - Case 65 – Left‑eye “exploding” pain relieved by Nux vomica and Spigelia; discussion of ocular pterygium. - Metadata linking case dates, substances, and trans‑Atlantic physician correspondence.

Scope

The collection spans two temporal and disciplinary realms: the literary segment covers the latter half of the Odyssey (c. 800‑700 BCE) and the associated mythic geography of Ithaca and surrounding islands; the medical segment documents homeopathic case reports from 1833‑1836, focusing on neurological and ophthalmic disorders treated in Allentau (Lecha) and Ohio, USA. Subject headings include Greek literature, Homeric epic, ancient Greek medicine, homeopathy, 19th‑century clinical case reporting, and trans‑Atlantic medical exchange. The material is intended for scholars of classical studies, historians of medicine, and digital archivists seeking heterogeneous primary sources within a single curated collection.