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The Record (Troy)

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110-512: The Record (also known as The Troy Record ) is a broadsheet daily newspaper once published in Troy , New York . The paper has been published regularly since 1896. It covers all of New York's Capital Region and specifically the city of Troy. On September 1, 2005, The Record changed from a traditional broadsheet layout to a tabloid format similar to that of certain big-city newspapers but subsequently changed back to its original format. The paper

220-516: A humid continental climate ( Köppen Dfa ). The average temperature throughout the year is 50.9 °F (10.5 °C), with the highest average temperature in July being 74.9 °F (23.8 °C), and January being the coldest month with an average temperature of 25.5 °F (−3.6 °C). The annual precipitation is 42.09 inches (1,069 mm). The highest temperature in New York State

330-526: A public relations writer at nearby General Electric . His 1963 novel, Cat's Cradle , was written in the city and is set in Ilium. His recurring main character, Kilgore Trout, is a resident of Cohoes , just across the Hudson River from Troy. Like many old industrial cities, Troy has had to deal with the loss of its manufacturing base, loss of population and wealth to the suburbs, and to other parts of

440-453: A canonical text. The first printed edition of Homer was produced in 1488 in Milan, Italy by Demetrios Chalkokondyles . Today scholars use medieval manuscripts, papyri and other sources; some argue for a "multi-text" view, rather than seeking a single definitive text. The nineteenth-century edition of Arthur Ludwich mainly follows Aristarchus's work, whereas van Thiel's (1991, 1996) follows

550-505: A city in 1816. In the post–Revolutionary War years, as Central New York was first settled, a strong trend to classical names existed, and Troy's naming fits the same pattern as the New York cities of Syracuse, Rome, Utica, Ithaca, and the towns of Sempronius and Manlius, and dozens of other similarly named towns to the west of Troy. Troy's Latin motto is Ilium fuit, Troja est , which means "Ilium was, Troy is". Northern and Western New York

660-610: A clear overall design and that they are not merely strung together from unrelated songs. It is also generally agreed that each poem was composed mostly by a single author, who probably relied heavily on older oral traditions. Nearly all scholars agree that the Doloneia in Book X of the Iliad is not part of the original poem, but rather a later insertion by a different poet. Some ancient scholars believed Homer to have been an eyewitness to

770-463: A community then called West Troy. After the Civil War , the steel production industry moved west to be closer to raw materials. The presence of iron and steel also made it possible for Troy to be an early site in the development of iron storefronts and steel structural supports in architecture, and some significant early examples remain in the city. Troy was an early home of professional baseball and

880-531: A discredited dead end. Starting in around 1928, Milman Parry and Albert Lord , after their studies of folk bards in the Balkans, developed the "Oral-Formulaic Theory" that the Homeric poems were originally composed through improvised oral performances, which relied on traditional epithets and poetic formulas. This theory found very wide scholarly acceptance and explained many previously puzzling features of

990-576: A geography that supported water power, the American Industrial Revolution took hold in this area, making Troy reputedly the fourth-wealthiest city in America around the turn of the 20th century. As a result, Troy is noted for its Victorian architecture. Troy is home to a number of institutions of higher learning, including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute , Hudson Valley Community College and Russell Sage College . Prior to

1100-574: A large area. The city is on the central part of the western border of Rensselaer County. The Hudson River makes up the western border of the city and the county's border with Albany County. The city borders within Rensselaer County, Schaghticoke to the north, Brunswick to the east, and North Greenbush to the south; to the west, the city borders the Albany County town of Colonie , the villages of Menands and Green Island , and

1210-415: A phrase or idea is repeated at both the beginning and end of a story, or a series of such ideas first appears in the order A, B, C ... before being reversed as ... C, B, A) has been observed in the Homeric epics. Opinion differs as to whether these occurrences are a conscious artistic device, a mnemonic aid or a spontaneous feature of human storytelling. Both of the Homeric poems begin with an invocation to

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1320-487: A process that presaged the later use of fiberglass, Kevlar, and carbon-fiber composites. In 1900, Troy annexed Lansingburgh, a former town and village whose standing dates back prior to the War of Independence, in Rensselaer County. Lansingburgh is thus often referred to as "North Troy." However, prior to the annexation that portion of Troy north of Division Street was called North Troy and the neighborhood south of Washington Park

1430-576: A small valley at the south end of the city. The industry first used charcoal and iron ore from the nearby Adirondack Mountains. Later, ore and coal from the Midwest were shipped via the Erie Canal to Troy and were processed before being sent down the Hudson River to New York City. The iron and steel also were used by the extensive federal arsenal located—as it is today—across the Hudson at Watervliet ,

1540-557: A village. The name Troy, after the legendary Greek city of Troy made famous in Homer 's Iliad , was adopted in 1789, before which the tiny community had been known as Ashley's Ferry. The area was formed into the Town of Troy in 1791 from part of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck . The township included today's towns of Brunswick and Grafton . Troy became a village in 1801 then was chartered as

1650-414: Is 86.8% whereas the number of persons with a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.8%. Additionally, due to the increasing age of the internet, the percentage of households with a computer from 2015 to 2019 has increased to 88.5% and those with a broadband Internet subscription lies at 81.5%. The city is also home to numerous churches (Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant), three synagogues, and one mosque. Troy

1760-592: Is Eastern Ionic. Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally . Despite being predominantly known for its tragic and serious themes, the Homeric poems also contain instances of comedy and laughter . Homer's epic poems shaped aspects of ancient Greek culture and education, fostering ideals of heroism, glory, and honor. To Plato , Homer was simply the one who "has taught Greece" ( τὴν Ἑλλάδα πεπαίδευκεν , tēn Helláda pepaídeuken ). In Dante Alighieri 's Divine Comedy , Virgil refers to Homer as "Poet sovereign", king of all poets; in

1870-543: Is a city in the U.S. state of New York and is the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York . It is located on the western edge of that county on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany. Troy has close ties to Albany, New York and nearby Schenectady , forming a region popularly called the Capital District . The city is one of the three major centers for

1980-566: Is called parataxis . The so-called ' type scenes ' ( typische Szenen ), were named by Walter Arend in 1933. He noted that Homer often, when describing frequently recurring activities such as eating, praying , fighting and dressing, used blocks of set phrases in sequence that were then elaborated by the poet. The 'Analyst' school had considered these repetitions as un-Homeric, whereas Arend interpreted them philosophically. Parry and Lord noted that these conventions are found in many other cultures. 'Ring composition' or chiastic structure (when

2090-658: Is fundamentally based on Ionic Greek , in keeping with the tradition that Homer was from Ionia. Linguistic analysis suggests that the Iliad was composed slightly before the Odyssey and that Homeric formulae preserve features older than other parts of the poems. The poems were composed in unrhymed dactylic hexameter ; ancient Greek metre was quantity-based rather than stress-based. Homer frequently uses set phrases such as epithets ('crafty Odysseus ', 'rosy-fingered Dawn ', 'owl-eyed Athena ', etc.), Homeric formulae ('and then answered [him/her], Agamemnon, king of men', 'when

2200-413: Is helping Troy develop a small high-technology sector, particularly in video game development . The downtown core also has a smattering of advertising and architecture firms, and other creative businesses attracted by the area's distinctive architecture. Uncle Sam Atrium is an enclosed urban shopping mall, office space, and parking garage in downtown Troy. RPI is the city's largest private employer. Troy

2310-475: Is home to Victorian and Belle Époque architecture . The Hudson and Mohawk Rivers play their part, as does the Erie Canal and its lesser tributary canal systems, and later the railroads that linked Troy to the rest of the Empire State , New York City to the south, and Utica, New York , Syracuse, New York , Rochester, New York , Buffalo, New York , and the myriad of emergent Great Lakes ' cities in

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2420-556: Is known as the "Collar City" due to its history in shirt, collar, and other textile production. Until the early 1990s, Troy was home to several textile manufacturers, including Cluett, Peabody, a subsidiary of the nation's largest publicly held textile manufacturer West Point-Pepperell Inc. The detachable collar was first established in Troy in 1820 by a Mrs. Montague. Her husband was a prominent blacksmith who complained to his wife that after coming home from work he had no clean white shirts for

2530-474: Is known for its success in the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace. Through much of the 19th and into the early 20th centuries, Troy was one of the most prosperous cities in the United States. Prior to its rise as an industrial center, it was the transshipment point for meat and vegetables from Vermont and New York, which were sent by the Hudson River to New York City. The trade

2640-464: Is owned by 21st Century Media . Its offices were located on Broadway in downtown Troy, until the paper shuttered its offices in early 2019. It is now mainly digital, though the print edition is still published. The Record is the official newspaper of the City of Cohoes . This article about a New York newspaper is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Troy, New York Troy

2750-627: Is planning Troy's redevelopment. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 11.0 square miles (28 km ), of which 0.6 square miles (1.6 km ) (5.44%) is covered by water. Troy is located several miles north of Albany near the junction of the Erie and Champlain canals, via the Hudson River, and is the terminus of the New York Barge Canal . It is the distributing center for

2860-505: The Capture of Oechalia , and the Phocais . These claims are not considered authentic today and were not universally accepted in the ancient world. As with the multitude of legends surrounding Homer's life, they indicate little more than the centrality of Homer to ancient Greek culture. Some ancient accounts about Homer were established early and repeated often. They include that Homer

2970-412: The sachem —the political leader of the indigenous people—at the time. In total, more than 75 individual Mohicans were involved in deed signings in the 17th Century. The site of the city was a part of Rensselaerswyck , a patroonship created by Kiliaen van Rensselaer. Dirck Van der Heyden was one of the first settlers. In 1707, he purchased a farm of 65 acres (26 ha), which in 1787 was laid out as

3080-776: The Corinthian Courthouse constructed of gray granite; the Troy Public Library, built in an elaborate Venetian palazzo style with high-relief carved white marble; the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, designed in the Second Empire style, with a recital hall with highly regarded acoustic properties. There is a rich collection of Colonial , Federal , Italianate , Second Empire , Greek Revival , Egyptian Revival , Gothic Revival and other Romantic period townhouses surrounding

3190-573: The Iliad alone is massive, sprawling over nearly 4,000 oversized pages in a 21st-century printed version and his commentary on the Odyssey an additional nearly 2,000. In 1488, the Greek scholar Demetrios Chalkokondyles published in Florence the editio princeps of the Homeric poems. The earliest modern Homeric scholars started with the same basic approaches towards the Homeric poems as scholars in antiquity. The allegorical interpretation of

3300-897: The Iliad and the Odyssey are associated with the name "Homer". In antiquity, a large number of other works were sometimes attributed to him, including the Homeric Hymns , the Contest of Homer and Hesiod , several epigrams , the Little Iliad , the Nostoi , the Thebaid , the Cypria , the Epigoni , the comic mini-epic Batrachomyomachia ("The Frog–Mouse War"), the Margites ,

3410-443: The Iliad and the Odyssey in the sixth century BC by literate authors. After being written down, Wolf maintained that the two poems were extensively edited, modernized, and eventually shaped into their present state as artistic unities. Wolf and the "Analyst" school, which led the field in the nineteenth century, sought to recover the original, authentic poems which were thought to be concealed by later excrescences. Within

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3520-462: The Muse . In the Iliad , the poet beseeches her to sing of "the anger of Achilles", and in the Odyssey , he asks her to tell of "the man of many ways". A similar opening was later employed by Virgil in his Aeneid . The orally transmitted Homeric poems were put into written form at some point between the eighth and sixth centuries BCE. Some scholars believe that they were dictated to a scribe by

3630-639: The Odyssey during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. As a result of the poems' prominence in classical Greek education, extensive commentaries on them developed to explain parts that were culturally or linguistically difficult. During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, many interpreters, especially the Stoics , who believed that Homeric poems conveyed Stoic doctrines, regarded them as allegories, containing hidden wisdom. Perhaps partially because of

3740-574: The Odyssey in which Telemachus went in search of news of his father not to Menelaus in Sparta but to Idomeneus in Crete, in which Telemachus met up with his father in Crete and conspired with him to return to Ithaca disguised as the soothsayer Theoclymenus, and in which Penelope recognized Odysseus much earlier in the narrative and conspired with him in the destruction of the suitors. Most contemporary scholars, although they disagree on other questions about

3850-616: The Tomhannock Reservoir . A 30-inch cast-iron main was added in 1914. In 2023, the city completed the first phase of installation of two 36-inch pipes totaling approximately 8 miles between the reservoir and the city's Water Treatment Plant as part of a multi-year project to fully replace the existing century-old transmission line. [1] The project began in 2021. [2] [3] [4] When the iron and steel industry moved westward to Pennsylvania around Pittsburgh to be closer to iron ore from Lake Erie and nearby coal and coke needed for

3960-485: The Trojan War ; others thought he had lived up to 500 years afterwards. Contemporary scholars continue to debate the date of the poems. A long history of oral transmission lies behind the composition of the poems, complicating the search for a precise date. At one extreme, Richard Janko has proposed a date for both poems to the eighth century BC based on linguistic analysis and statistics. Barry B. Powell dates

4070-409: The 1960s, when most business had either gone out of business or moved south for cheaper land and labor costs. At one point, Troy was also the second-largest producer of iron in the country, surpassed only by the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . Troy, like many older industrial cities, has been battered by industrial decline and the migration of jobs to the suburbs. Nevertheless, the presence of RPI

4180-421: The 2020 census The racial makeup of the city increased in the percentage of African Americans to 17.5% whereas the number of White residents decreased to 63.5%. The rest of the population was reported to be 0.1% Native American, 4.8% Asian, 9.6% Latino or Hispanic, and 7.3% two or more races. The majority of Troy's population consists of women (51.4%) whereas males makeup the remaining 48.6%. Troy residents under

4290-589: The Albany metropolitan statistical area, which has a population of 1,170,483. At the 2020 census , the population of Troy was 51,401. The area long had been occupied by the Mohican Indian tribe , but Dutch settlement began in the mid-17th century. The Dutch colony was conquered by the English in 1664, renamed Troy in 1789 and was incorporated as a town in 1791. Due to the confluence of major waterways and

4400-545: The Analyst school were two camps: proponents of the "lay theory", which held that the Iliad and the Odyssey were put together from a large number of short, independent songs, and proponents of the "nucleus theory", which held that Homer had originally composed shorter versions of the Iliad and the Odyssey , which later poets expanded and revised. A small group of scholars opposed to the Analysts, dubbed "Unitarians", saw

4510-461: The Bessemer process, and with a similar downturn in the collar industry, Troy's prosperity began to fade. After the passage of Prohibition , and given the strict control of Albany by the O'Connell political machine, Troy became a way station for an illegal alcohol trade from Canada to New York City. Likewise, the stricter control of morality laws in the neighboring New England states encouraged

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4620-800: The Bronze Age Aegean civilisation , which in many ways resembles the ancient Near East more than the society described by Homer. Some aspects of the Homeric world are simply made up; for instance, the Iliad 22.145–56 describes there being two springs that run near the city of Troy, one that runs steaming hot and the other that runs icy cold. It is here that Hector takes his final stand against Achilles. Archaeologists, however, have uncovered no evidence that springs of this description ever actually existed. The Homeric epics are written in an artificial literary language or 'Kunstsprache' only used in epic hexameter poetry. Homeric Greek shows features of multiple regional Greek dialects and periods, but

4730-878: The Division I level and won various championships including the national title in 1954 and 1985. The Hudson Valley CC Vikings participate in Region III of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and in the Mountain Valley Athletic Conference. Russell Sage College's Gators compete at the NCAA Division III level in numerous sports and in, among various conferences, the Empire 8 Conference. In 1892, poll watcher Robert Ross

4840-500: The Form of an epic Poem till Pisistratus ' time, about 500 Years after." Friedrich August Wolf 's Prolegomena ad Homerum , published in 1795, argued that much of the material later incorporated into the Iliad and the Odyssey was originally composed in the tenth century BC in the form of short, separate oral songs, which passed through oral tradition for roughly four hundred years before being assembled into prototypical versions of

4950-476: The Homeric poems that had been so prevalent in antiquity returned to become the prevailing view of the Renaissance . Renaissance humanists praised Homer as the archetypically wise poet, whose writings contain hidden wisdom, disguised through allegory. In western Europe during the Renaissance , Virgil was more widely read than Homer and Homer was often seen through a Virgilian lens. In 1664, contradicting

5060-433: The Homeric poems' extensive use in education, many authors believed that Homer's original purpose had been to educate. Homer's wisdom became so widely praised that he began to acquire the image of almost a prototypical philosopher. Byzantine scholars such as Eustathius of Thessalonica and John Tzetzes produced commentaries, extensions and scholia to Homer, especially in the twelfth century. Eustathius's commentary on

5170-563: The Homeric poems, including their unusually archaic language, their extensive use of stock epithets, and their other "repetitive" features. Many scholars concluded that the "Homeric Question" had finally been answered. Meanwhile, the 'Neoanalysts' sought to bridge the gap between the 'Analysts' and 'Unitarians'. The Neoanalysts sought to trace the relationships between the Homeric poems and other epic poems, which have now been lost, but of which modern scholars do possess some patchy knowledge. Neoanalysts hold that knowledge of earlier versions of

5280-518: The Night Before Christmas"). The poem was published anonymously. Its author has long been believed to have been Clement Clarke Moore , but now is regarded by some as having been Henry Livingston Jr. Scientific and technical proficiency was supported by the presence of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), one of the highest-ranked engineering schools in the country. RPI originally was sponsored by Stephen Van Rensselaer , one of

5390-495: The Paine mansion) , Scent of a Woman , The Bostonians , The Emperor's Club , and The Time Machine . In addition, the television series The Gilded Age filmed in Troy. There are many buildings in a state of disrepair, but community groups and investors are restoring many of them. Troy's downtown historic landmarks include Frear's Troy Cash Bazaar, constructed on a steel infrastructure clad in ornately carved white marble;

5500-507: The Troy Downtown Marina. As home to many art, literature, and music lovers, the city hosts many free shows during the summer, on River Street, in parks, and in cafes and coffee shops. The executive branch consists of a mayor who serves as the chief executive officer of the city. The mayor is responsible for the proper administration of all city affairs placed in his/her charge as empowered by the city charter. The mayor enforces

5610-482: The W. & L. E. Gurley Company factory, which later that year was replaced by the new W. & L. E. Gurley Building , now a National Historic Landmark : Gurley & Sons remains a worldwide leader in precision instrumentation to this day. Troy's one-time great wealth was produced in the steel industry, with the first American Bessemer converter erected on the Wynantskill Creek, a stream with falls in

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5720-431: The age of 5 were reported to be 5.2%, under the age of 18 were 19.6%, and 65 years and over were 11.4%. People with a disability, under age 65 years were 13.3% and those without health insurance (under age 65 years) was outlined to be 5.9%. The population of veterans in 2020 was 1,907, which coincided with those who had disabilities. The number of foreign born persons, between 2015 and 2019, was 8.0%. Economically in 2020,

5830-728: The arrival of Europeans, the Mohican Indians had a number of settlements along the Hudson River near its confluence with the Mohawk River . The land comprising the Poesten Kill and Wynants Kill areas -- "kill" being the Dutch word for "creek" or small stream—were owned by two Mohican groups. The land around the Poesten Kill was owned by Skiwias and was called Panhooseck. The area around the Wynants Kill, known as Paanpack,

5940-542: The burgeoning United States. Natives of Troy expressed their passion for building, using the following materials, for an array of building features: Tiffany and La Farge created magnificent stained-glass windows, transoms and other decorative stained-glass treatments for their customers in Troy. With many examples of intact 19th-century architecture, particularly in its Central Troy Historic District , this has helped to lure several major movies to film in Troy, including Ironweed , The Age of Innocence (filmed partially in

6050-470: The cities of Watervliet and Cohoes. To the northwest, Troy borders the Saratoga County village of Waterford within the town of Waterford . The western edge of the city is flat along the river, and then steeply slopes to higher terrain to the east. The average elevation is 50 feet, with the highest elevation being 500 feet in the eastern part of the city. The city is longer than it is wide, with

6160-684: The city subsequently had no team for seven seasons. Then, from 1879 to 1882, Troy rebounded as home to the National League 's Troy Trojans . They not only were competitive in the league, they fielded a young Dan Brouthers who went on to become baseball's first great slugger. Today's sports scene is quite different.The Tri-City ValleyCats, a minor league professional baseball team, calls the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium at Hudson Valley Community College home. The RPI Engineers are an NCAA Division III sports participant except in ice hockey where it plays at

6270-422: The city's median household income had increased to $ 45,728 per family, with each family reporting to have 2.25 persons residing in them. The per capita income in past 12 months (in 2019 dollars), taken 2015–2019 was $ 25,689 with 24.4% of the population living in poverty. The poverty rate overall has decreased 3.3% since 2013. The education rate of Troy locals, 25 years or more, with a high school graduate or higher

6380-482: The composition of the Iliad and the Odyssey to sometime between 800 and 750 BC, based on the statement from Herodotus , who lived in the late fifth century BC, that Homer lived four hundred years before his own time "and not more" ( καὶ οὐ πλέοσι ) and on the fact that the poems do not mention hoplite battle tactics, inhumation , or literacy. Martin Litchfield West has argued that the Iliad echoes

6490-641: The country. This led to dilapidation and disinvestment until later efforts were made to preserve Troy's architectural and cultural past. As of 2014 , Troy is updating its citywide comprehensive plan for the first time in more than 50 years. The two-year process is known as "Realize Troy" and was initiated by the Troy Redevelopment Foundation (with members from the Emma Willard School, RPI, Russell Sage College , and St. Peter's Health Partners). Urban Strategies Inc. (Toronto)

6600-596: The days of the Roman emperor Hadrian says Epicaste (daughter of Nestor ) and Telemachus (son of Odysseus ) were the parents of Homer. The two best known ancient biographies of Homer are the Life of Homer by the Pseudo-Herodotus and the Contest of Homer and Hesiod . In the early fourth century BC Alcidamas composed a fictional account of a poetry contest at Chalcis with both Homer and Hesiod . Homer

6710-551: The development of openly operating speakeasies and brothels in Troy. Gangsters such as " Legs Diamond " conducted their business in Troy, giving the city a somewhat colorful reputation through World War II. A few of the buildings from that era have since been converted into restaurants, such as the former Old Daly Inn. Kurt Vonnegut lived in Troy and the area, and many of his novels include mentions of "Ilium" (an alternate name for Troy) or surrounding locations. Vonnegut wrote Player Piano in 1952, based on his experiences working as

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6820-545: The divisions back further to the Classical period. Very few credit Homer himself with the divisions. In antiquity, it was widely held that the Homeric poems were collected and organised in Athens in the late sixth century BCE by Pisistratus (died 528/7 BCE), in what subsequent scholars have dubbed the "Peisistratean recension". The idea that the Homeric poems were originally transmitted orally and first written down during

6930-479: The early-born rose-fingered Dawn came to light', 'thus he/she spoke'), simile , type scenes, ring composition and repetition. These habits aid the extemporizing bard, and are characteristic of oral poetry. For instance, the main words of a Homeric sentence are generally placed towards the beginning, whereas literate poets like Virgil or Milton use longer and more complicated syntactical structures. Homer then expands on these ideas in subsequent clauses; this technique

7040-511: The epics can be derived from anomalies of structure and detail in the surviving versions of the Iliad and Odyssey . These anomalies point to earlier versions of the Iliad in which Ajax played a more prominent role, in which the Achaean embassy to Achilles comprised different characters, and in which Patroclus was actually mistaken for Achilles by the Trojans. They point to earlier versions of

7150-432: The genesis of the poems, agree that the Iliad and the Odyssey were not produced by the same author, based on "the many differences of narrative manner, theology, ethics, vocabulary, and geographical perspective, and by the apparently imitative character of certain passages of the Odyssey in relation to the Iliad ." Nearly all scholars agree that the Iliad and the Odyssey are unified poems, in that each poem shows

7260-468: The historical home of Uncle Sam, who is buried in the historic Oakwood Cemetery located on the northern outskirts of the city and the burial site of numerous local luminaries. The iconic Uncle Sam caricature was created by political newspaper cartoonist Thomas Nast . On December 23, 1823, The Troy Sentinel newspaper was the first publisher of the world-famous Christmas poem " A Visit from St. Nicholas " (also known as "The Night Before Christmas" or " 'Twas

7370-477: The immediate downtown. The Hart-Cluett Mansion displays a Federal facade executed in white marble, quarried in Tuckahoe, New York . Often with foundations of rusticated granite block. Medina sandstone , a deep mud-red color, from Medina, New York , was also used. As with many American cities, several city blocks in downtown Troy were razed during the 1970s as a part of an attempted urban renewal plan, which

7480-457: The industry when, in 1933, Sanford Cluett invented a process he called Sanforization , a process that shrinks cotton fabrics thoroughly and permanently. Cluett, Peabody's last main plant in Troy, was closed in the 1980s, but the industrial output of the plant had long been transferred to facilities in the South. In 1906, the city supplied itself with water from a 33-inch riveted-steel main from

7590-434: The judge awarded Hesiod the prize; the poet who praised husbandry , he said, was greater than the one who told tales of battles and slaughter. The study of Homer is one of the oldest topics in scholarship, dating back to antiquity. Nonetheless, the aims of Homeric studies have changed over the course of the millennia. The earliest preserved comments on Homer concern his treatment of the gods, which hostile critics such as

7700-447: The largest industry in town, with a variety of products including detachable collars, arrow shirts, and other apparel. Around the early 20th century, Troy was responsible for making 90% of the collars worn in America. This was also the birthplace of the "white collar" social class, which was a more upscale working class community and the "blue collar" social class, which consisted of mostly factory workers. The industry had mostly died out by

7810-535: The later Iron Age during which they were composed; yet the same heroes are cremated (an Iron Age practice) rather than buried (as they were in the Bronze Age). In some parts of the Homeric poems, heroes are described as carrying large shields like those used by warriors during the Mycenaean period , but, in other places, they are instead described carrying the smaller shields that were commonly used during

7920-603: The later additions as superior, the work of a single inspired poet. By around 1830, the central preoccupations of Homeric scholars, dealing with whether or not "Homer" actually existed, when and how the Homeric poems originated, how they were transmitted, when and how they were finally written down, and their overall unity, had been dubbed "the Homeric Question". Following World War I , the Analyst school began to fall out of favor among Homeric scholars. It did not die out entirely, but it came to be increasingly seen as

8030-615: The latter operating from Albany–Rensselaer station , directly opposite downtown Albany on the east side of the Hudson River. The end of rail passenger service to Troy occurred when the Boston and Maine dropped its Boston–Troy run in January 1958. The Troy Union Station was demolished in 1958. In addition to the strong presence of the early American steel industry, Troy also was a manufacturing center for shirts, shirtwaists, detachable collars and cuffs. In 1825, local resident Hannah Lord Montague

8140-650: The laws of New York State as well as all local laws and ordinances passed by the city council. She or he exercises control over all executive departments of the city government, including the Departments of Finance, Law, Public Safety, Public Works, Public Utilities, and Parks and Recreation. The mayor's term of office is four years, and an incumbent is prohibited from serving for more than two consecutive terms (eight years). Homer Homer ( / ˈ h oʊ m ər / ; Ancient Greek : Ὅμηρος [hómɛːros] , Hómēros ; born c.  8th century BCE )

8250-532: The most prominent members of that family of Dutch colonial origins. RPI was founded in 1824, and eventually absorbed the campus of the short-lived liberal arts-based Troy University , which closed in 1862 during the Civil War. Rensselaer founded RPI for the "application of science to the common purposes of life," and it is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world. The institute

8360-535: The myth of the Trojan War, others that the poem was inspired by multiple similar sieges that took place over the centuries. Most scholars now agree that the Homeric poems depict customs and elements of the material world that are derived from different periods of Greek history. For instance, the heroes in the poems use bronze weapons, characteristic of the Bronze Age in which the poems are set, rather than

8470-491: The next day. Mrs. Montague solved this problem by cutting collars off of her husbands shirts, and reattaching clean ones for him to wear when needed. This created the important industry of detachable collars and shirts in Troy. It also created the need for buttons, as a detachable collar often left gaps between the shirt and the collar, and buttons were used to snap collars in place. Other types of apparel invented in this time were Bishop collars, which were an upright modification of

8580-416: The other extreme, a few American scholars such as Gregory Nagy see "Homer" as a continually evolving tradition, which grew much more stable as the tradition progressed, but which did not fully cease to continue changing and evolving until as late as the middle of the second century BC. "'Homer" is a name of unknown etymological origin, around which many theories were erected in antiquity. One such linkage

8690-527: The poems were created in the eighth century, they continued to be orally transmitted with considerable revision until they were written down in the sixth century. After textualisation, the poems were each divided into 24 rhapsodes, today referred to as books, and labelled by the letters of the Greek alphabet . Most scholars attribute the book divisions to the Hellenistic scholars of Alexandria , in Egypt. Some trace

8800-429: The poet Xenophanes of Colophon denounced as immoral. The allegorist Theagenes of Rhegium is said to have defended Homer by arguing that the Homeric poems are allegories . The Iliad and the Odyssey were widely used as school texts in ancient Greek and Hellenistic cultures. They were the first literary works taught to all students. The Iliad , particularly its first few books, was far more intently studied than

8910-457: The poet and that our inherited versions of the Iliad and Odyssey were in origin orally dictated texts. Albert Lord noted that the Balkan bards that he was studying revised and expanded their songs in their process of dictating. Some scholars hypothesize that a similar process of revision and expansion occurred when the Homeric poems were first written down. Other scholars hold that, after

9020-486: The poetry of Hesiod and that it must have been composed around 660–650 BC at the earliest, with the Odyssey up to a generation later. He also interprets passages in the Iliad as showing knowledge of historical events that occurred in the ancient Near East during the middle of the seventh century BC, including the destruction of Babylon by Sennacherib in 689 BC and the Sack of Thebes by Ashurbanipal in 663/4 BC. At

9130-399: The population. The median household income in 2013 was $ 37,805 (NY average of $ 57,369), and the median family income was $ 47,827 (NYS average of $ 70,485). The median per capita income for the city was $ 20,872 (NY average of $ 32,514). About 27.3% of the population were living in poverty as of 2013. Since then, Troy's population size has increased to 51,401 with 19,899 households, taken from

9240-420: The preface to his translation of the Iliad , Alexander Pope acknowledges that Homer has always been considered the "greatest of poets". From antiquity to the present day, Homeric epics have inspired many famous works of literature, music, art, and film. The question of by whom, when, where and under what circumstances the Iliad and Odyssey were composed continues to be debated. Scholars generally regard

9350-600: The reign of Pisistratus is referenced by the first-century BCE Roman orator Cicero and is also referenced in a number of other surviving sources, including two ancient Lives of Homer . From around 150 BCE, the texts of the Homeric poems found in papyrus fragments exhibit much less variation, and the text seems to have become relatively stable. After the establishment of the Library of Alexandria , Homeric scholars such as Zenodotus of Ephesus, Aristophanes of Byzantium and in particular Aristarchus of Samothrace helped establish

9460-412: The sack of Troy was dated to 1184 BC. By the nineteenth century, there was widespread scholarly skepticism that the Trojan War had ever happened and that Troy had even existed, but in 1873 Heinrich Schliemann announced to the world that he had discovered the ruins of Homer's Troy at Hisarlik in modern Turkey. Some contemporary scholars think the destruction of Troy VIIa c. 1220 BC was the origin of

9570-516: The society depicted by Homer is based on his own or one which was, even at the time of the poems' composition, known only as legends. The Homeric epics are largely set in the east and center of the Mediterranean , with some scattered references to Egypt , Ethiopia and other distant lands, in a warlike society that resembles that of the Greek world slightly before the hypothesized date of the poems' composition. In ancient Greek chronology,

9680-486: The southern part wider than the northern section of the city (the formerly separate city of Lansingburgh). Several kills ( Dutch for creek) pass through Troy and empty into the Hudson. The Poesten Kill and Wynants Kill are the two largest, and both have several small lakes and waterfalls along their routes in the city. Several lakes and reservoirs are within the city, including Ida Lake, Burden Pond, Lansingburgh Reservoir, Bradley Lake, Smarts Pond, and Wright Lake. Troy has

9790-529: The ten-year journey of Odysseus , king of Ithaca , back to his home after the fall of Troy. The epics depict man's struggle, the Odyssey especially so as Odysseus perseveres through punishment of the gods. The poems are in Homeric Greek , also known as Epic Greek, a literary language which shows a mixture of features of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence

9900-484: The time when the poems were written in the early Iron Age. In the Iliad 10.260–265, Odysseus is described as wearing a helmet made of boar's tusks . Such helmets were not worn in Homer's time, but were commonly worn by aristocratic warriors between 1600 and 1150 BC. The decipherment of Linear B in the 1950s by Michael Ventris and continued archaeological investigation has increased modern scholars' understanding of

10010-401: The turn-down collar, dickeys, detached shirt bosoms, and separate cuffs. This industry also gave rise to the laundry industry, when the first laundry store Troy Laundry was opened at 66 North Second St (Fifth Avenue today), and later on, the laundry industry in Troy would spark the creation of the first female union in the country. For close to a hundred years, Cluett, Peabody & Company was

10120-419: The two poems as the works of separate authors. It is thought that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. Many accounts of Homer's life circulated in classical antiquity , the most widespread that he was a blind bard from Ionia , a region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey. Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary . Today, only

10230-440: The widespread praise of Homer as the epitome of wisdom, François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac wrote a scathing attack on the Homeric poems, declaring that they were incoherent, immoral, tasteless, and without style, that Homer never existed, and that the poems were hastily cobbled together by incompetent editors from unrelated oral songs. Fifty years later, the English scholar Richard Bentley concluded that Homer did exist but that he

10340-469: Was a theater of the War of 1812 , and militia and regular army forces were led by Stephen Van Rensselaer of Troy. Quartermaster supplies were shipped through Troy. A local butcher and meatpacker named Samuel Wilson supplied the military, and according to local lore, stamped the meat barrels "U.S." which alternately was interpreted as "United States" and " Uncle Sam ," meaning Wilson. Troy has since claimed to be

10450-560: Was absorbed by Cluett, Peabody & Company . Cluett's Arrow brand shirts still are worn by men across the country. The large labor force required by the shirt manufacturing industry also produced in 1864 the nation's first female labor union , the Collar Laundry Union , founded in Troy by Kate Mullany . On February 23, 1864, 300 members of the union went on strike. After six days, the laundry owners gave in to their demands and raised wages 25%. Further developments arose in

10560-462: Was an Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey , two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature . Homer is considered one of the most revered and influential authors in history. Homer's Iliad centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War . The Odyssey chronicles

10670-532: Was an obscure, prehistoric oral poet whose compositions bear little relation to the Iliad and the Odyssey as they have been passed down. According to Bentley, Homer "wrote a Sequel of Songs and Rhapsodies, to be sung by himself for small Earnings and good Cheer at Festivals and other Days of Merriment; the Ilias he wrote for men, and the Odysseis for the other Sex. These loose songs were not collected together in

10780-509: Was blind (taking as self-referential a passage describing the blind bard Demodocus ), that he resided at Chios , that he was the son of the river Meles and the nymph Critheïs , that he was a wandering bard, that he composed a varying list of other works (the "Homerica"), that he died either in Ios or after failing to solve a riddle set by fishermen, and various explanations for the name "Homer" ( Ὅμηρος , Hómēros ). Another tradition from

10890-572: Was constructed c.  1903 . A short New York Central branch from Rensselaer connected at Troy. Also serving the station was the Boston and Maine Railroad to/from Boston and the Delaware and Hudson Railroad to/from Canada. The railroads quickly made obsolete the 1800s-constructed canals along the Mohawk. The former NYC operates today as CSX for freight service and Amtrak for passenger service,

11000-477: Was expected to win, and answered all of Hesiod's questions and puzzles with ease. Then, each of the poets was invited to recite the best passage from their work. Hesiod selected the beginning of Works and Days : "When the Pleiades born of Atlas  ... all in due season". Homer chose a description of Greek warriors in formation, facing the foe, taken from the Iliad . Though the crowd acclaimed Homer victor,

11110-423: Was never successfully executed, leaving still vacant areas in the vicinity of Federal Street. Today, however, there have since been much more successful efforts to save the remaining historic downtown structures. Part of this effort has been the arrival of the "Antique District" on River Street downtown. Cafes and art galleries are calling the area home. Residents and visitors can access the area via boat and utilize

11220-453: Was owned by Peyhaunet. The land between the creeks, which makes up most of today's downtown and South Troy neighborhood along the Hudson River, was owned by Annape. South of the Wynants Kill and into present-day Town of North Greenbush , the land was owned by Pachquolapiet. These parcels of land were sold to the Dutch between 1630 and 1657, and each purchase was overseen and signed by Skiwias,

11330-450: Was recorded in Troy on July 22, 1926, when it reached 108 °F (42.2 °C). At the 2010 census , 50,129 people, 20,121 households and 10,947 families were residing in the city. The population density was 4,840.1 people/sq mi, with 23,474 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 69.7% White, 16.4% African American, 0.3% Native American, 3.4% Asian, and 4.1% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 7.9% of

11440-652: Was referred to as South Troy. To avoid confusion with streets in Troy following the annexation, Lansingburgh's numbered streets were renamed: its 1st Street, 2nd Street, 3rd Street, etc., became North Troy's 101st Street, 102nd Street, 103rd Street, etc. Lansingburgh was home to the Lansingburgh Academy . In the early 1900s, the New York Central Railroad was formed from earlier railroads and established its "Water Level Route" from New York City to Chicago, via Albany. A Beaux-Arts station

11550-430: Was shot dead and his brother was wounded by operatives of Mayor Edward Murphy, later a U.S. senator, after uncovering a man committing voter fraud. The convicted murderer, Bartholomew "Bat" Shea, was executed in 1896, although another man, John McGough, later admitted he had been the shooter. The initial emphasis on heavier industry later spawned a wide variety of highly engineered mechanical and scientific equipment. Troy

11660-513: Was the home of W. & L. E. Gurley, Co. , makers of precision instruments. Gurley's theodolites were used to survey much of the American West after the Civil War and were highly regarded until laser and digital technology eclipsed the telescope and compass technology in the 1970s. Bells manufactured by Troy's Meneely Bell Company ring all over the world. Troy also was home to a manufacturer of racing shells that used impregnated paper in

11770-471: Was the host of two major league teams. The first team to call Troy home was the Troy Haymakers , a National Association team operating in 1871–72. One of its major players was Williams H. Craver , a Civil War veteran who was a noted catcher and also managed the team. Its last manager was Jimmy Wood , recognized as the first Canadian to play professional baseball. The Troy Haymakers team folded, and

11880-458: Was tired of cleaning her blacksmith-husband's shirts. She cut off the collars of his shirts since only the collar was soiled, bound the edges and attached strings to hold the false collars in place. This also allowed the collars and cuffs to be starched separately. Montague's idea caught on and changed the fashion for American men's dress for a century. Her patented collars and cuffs first were manufactured by Maullin & Blanchard, which eventually

11990-449: Was to the Greek ὅμηρος ( hómēros ' hostage ' or ' surety ' ). The explanations suggested by modern scholars tend to mirror their position on the overall Homeric Question. Nagy interprets it as "he who fits (the song) together". West has advanced both possible Greek and Phoenician etymologies. Scholars continue to debate questions such as whether the Trojan War actually took place – and if so when and where – and to what extent

12100-553: Was vastly increased after the construction of the Erie Canal , with its eastern terminus directly across the Hudson River from Troy at Cohoes in 1825. Another artery constructed was the Champlain Canal. In 1916, Troy Federal Lock opened as one of the first modern locks along the present-day canal system. Troy has nearly been destroyed by fire three times. What was known as the Great Troy Fire of 1862 burned down

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