For eons, the city of Troy--whose legendary fall was detailed in Homer's Iliad--was believed to be myth, until archaeologists in the nineteenth century uncovered its ancient walls buried beneath the sands. In the frozen tundra of Greenland, a group of modern-day researchers stumble on a shocking find: a medieval ship buried a half-mile below the ice. The ship's hold contains a collection of even older artifacts--tools of war--dating back to the Bronze Age. Inside the captain's cabin is a magnificent treasure that is as priceless as it is miraculous: a clockwork gold map imbedded with an intricate silver astrolabe. Once activated, the moving map traces the path of Odysseus's famous ship as it sailed away from Troy. But the route detours as the map opens to reveal a fiery river leading to a hidden realm underneath the Mediterranean Sea. It is the subterranean world of Tartarus, the Greek name for Hell. In mythology, Tartarus was where the wicked were punished and the monstrous Titans of old, imprisoned. When word of Tartarus spreads--and of the cache of miraculous weapons said to be hidden there--tensions explode in this volatile region where Turks battle Kurds, terrorists wage war, and civilians suffer untold horrors.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [435]-437).