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On August 1st, tell Kocharian and Sargsyan: "The Sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness invades the world."

I was recently thinking about Pashinian's The Opposite Side of the World
[1] and noting to myself how the series of sometimes strange, sometimes
redemptive, sometimes horrifying encounters that it comprises resemble
those of Homer's Odysseus. Then I noticed a second and a third
parallel. Odysseus returns to his Ithaca after a twenty-year absence to
find that his wife, Penelope, is being hounded by two suitors who want
to take his place. Ter-Petrossian formed the Gharabagh Committee in
1988, twenty years ago, and he literally fought a war against
Azerbaijan, just like Odysseus who fought a war against Troy.

Since Penelope is the queen of Ithaca, whoever convinces her to declare
Odysseus dead and marry him will become the king of Ithaca, which is,
of course, their main motivation. There are two main suitors, or proci,
Antinous and Eurymachus, just like Yerevan's "suitors" are two,
Kocharyan and Sargsyan. There are many other minor suitors as well,
just like there are many mafia Dons in Armenia. The two main defenders
of Ithaca are Odysseus and his son, Telemachus; Yerevan's defenders are
Levon Ter-Petrossian and Nikol Pashinian, at least that his how I see
it and have seen it in this blog. Too boot, the suitors plot to kill
Telemachus, just like Kocharyan and Sargsyan have ordered the NSS to
kill Pashinian.

That makes seven coincidences so far, I think.
But those are nothing compared what I stumbled upon while looking
deeper into the matter. Homer says
that, upon arrival at Ithaca, Oddyseus notices Venus, the Morning Star,
on the horizon at dawn. He also says that the night before the suitors
are massacred there is a new moon and that on the day of the massacre
there is a total eclipse of the sun... I know what you're thinking; I
was thinking the same thing: Could it be that a total eclipse of the
sun is due to take place on August 1st? And could it be that on August
1st there will be a new moon? Yes.

On August 1st, there will be a total eclipse of the Sun.

On August 1st, there will be a new moon in Armenia.

As
for Odysseus's spotting Venus on the horizon upon arrival, the question
is, What could be considered Ter-Petrossian's "arrival" on the Armenian
political scene in the last six months? It is not an easy question, and
I'm not sure whether it has a clear answer. What is clear, however, is
that Venus became the Morning Star this year on February the 1st,
and it remained the Morning Star throughout the elections, the sit-ins,
and the March 1st and 2nd incidents. If you observed the horizon at
dawn on any of those days, you would have seen bright Venus.
Personally, I set the date of Ter-Petrossian's "arrival" on February
24th, the day the CEC declared Sargsyan the winner of the elections,
and Ter-Petrossian stepped up to the microphone and told the
participants of the sit-ins, "The CEC's announcement has no bearing on
our struggle; the struggle continues." Pashinian says
of this moment: "I consider this to have been the people's movement's
most important stage. Here, the movement underwent awe-striking
metamorphoses."

I am one who doesn't believe in coincidences
being more than what they are--coincidences. But I have to admit that
the sheer number of coincidences involved in this case stopped me in my
tracks for a second and made me wonder. That is when I noticed the most
important connection between Odysseus's and Pashinian's journeys: What
gives them the will and the determination to persevere against all odds
is a simple longing for their rightful home. Indeed, may all those who
consider their rightful home a free and independent Armenia, governed
under the rule of law, and free from treacherous parasites, may these
true heirs of Armenia have the iron will and unwavering determination
of Odysseus, and may they prevail against Armenia's treacherous suitors
Kocharian and Sargsyan--on August 1st.

P.S. I did a little
search on the internet to see whether anyone else had noticed these
coincidences between Odysseus and Pashinian, and--unsurprisingly, by
now--I came across yet another coincidence: an open letter addressed to
Sargsyan reminding him of the journey of Odysseus and signed by a woman
named--Penelope.

P.P.S. Remembering Pashinian's declaration not long ago that he is going to come above-ground in a short while, one wonders whether his Journey shouldn't be coming to a close within a week.

1. Tzitzernak is translating Pashinian's Journey to the Opposite Side of the World. I'm indexing the entries here, what I haven't indexed you can find on Tzitzernak's blog.