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Homer’s Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus’ attempt to return home from Troy to Ithaca. Historians agree that Troy was in northwest Anatolia, while Ithaca was off Western Greece. However, a popular theory among some researchers today is that the Odyssey is actually set in the Baltic Sea around Scandinavia. What is the supposed evidence for this, and does it stand up to scrutiny? Why might the Odyssey be set in Scandinavia? The basic reason for this theory is that, according to some researchers, there are many details in the Iliad and the Odyssey which do not correspond to the...

In the seventh century BCE, the Greek poet Homer wrote the Odyssey. This fascinating tale of adventure and loss would captivate readers for centuries, even millennia. It tells the story of Odysseus attempting to travel home after the Trojan War. One of the most intriguing things about this lengthy poem is that there is significant controversy surrounding the locations mentioned throughout. Based on the best available evidence, where did Odysseus really travel to in the Odyssey? Does the Odyssey take place all over the Mediterranean? The most common belief is that the Odyssey takes place over a very large area....

Universal Pictures has announced on X that acclaimed director Christopher Nolan’s next film will be an adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey. The British director’s next project is tipped to be a “mythic action epic” and will be shot with cutting-edge IMAX films. It will be released in theaters worldwide on July 17, 2026. The film’s cast is star-studded, as Nolan has assembled an all-star roster to do justice to one of the most influential writings in human history. Cast members for this project include Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, and Charlize Theron. This will...

For over two millennia in the West, familiarity with the literature, philosophy, and values of the Classical World has been synonymous with education itself. The traditions of the Greeks explain why Western Culture’s unique tenets of democracy, capitalism, civil liberty, and constitutional government are now sweeping the globe. Yet the general public in America knows less about its cultural origins than ever before, as Classical education rapidly disappears from our high school and university curricula. Acclaimed classicists Hanson and Heath raise an impassioned call to arms: if we lose our knowledge of the Greeks, we lose our understanding of who...

A 1,500-year-old mosaic depiction of Homer's Iliad which was found by a walker in a farmer's field has been described by experts as the 'most exciting' Roman discovery of its kind in the UK in the last 100 years. The artwork, which is the first known example in the UK, was unearthed on private land in Rutland, East Midlands.... ...The remains of the mosaic, which measures approximately 31 feet by 21 feet, are the first in the UK and one of only a handful in the world to depict the Ancient Greek poet Homer's story about hero Achilles and his...

Classically-educated colonial Americans learned to be wary of monarchy from the Iliad and the Odyssey. It is very likely that, in July 1776, many Americans heard sermons based on the text of Psalm 143:6 -- “Put not your trust in princes….” One suspects that ministers used words even more harsh than those in the Declaration of Independence, where “the present King of Great Britain” was assailed for “repeated injuries and usurpations, all having their direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.” George III had been much admired by colonials. They had erected an equestrian statue to...

A sustained effort is under way to deny children access to literature. Under the slogan #DisruptTexts, critical-theory ideologues, schoolteachers and Twitter agitators are purging and propagandizing against classic texts—everything from Homer to F. Scott Fitzgerald to Dr. Seuss. Their ethos holds that children shouldn’t have to read stories written in anything other than the present-day vernacular—especially those "in which racism, sexism, ableism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of hate are the norm," as young-adult novelist Padma Venkatraman writes in School Library Journal. No author is valuable enough to spare, Ms. Venkatraman instructs: "Absolving Shakespeare of responsibility by mentioning that he lived...

A sustained effort is under way to deny children access to literature. Under the slogan #DisruptTexts, critical-theory ideologues, schoolteachers and Twitter agitators are purging and propagandizing against classic texts—everything from Homer to F. Scott Fitzgerald to Dr. Seuss. Their ethos holds that children shouldn’t have to read stories written in anything other than the present-day vernacular—especially those “in which racism, sexism, ableism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of hate are the norm,” as young-adult novelist Padma Venkatraman writes in School Library Journal. No author is valuable enough to spare, Ms. Venkatraman instructs: “Absolving Shakespeare of responsibility by mentioning that he lived...

For students of ancient civilizations, one of the curious facts is that the site of Troy (Hisarlik in western Turkey), whose walls Homer describes as overlooking the sea, is now 6.5 kilometers inland at the closest point to the Aegean. Millions of modern-day tourists have visited that inland site since Schliemann excavated it in the 19th century. Portions of the walls and towers are clearly visible — but the Aegean is nowhere in sight. Why? Because the world's oceans and seas were different at the time of the Trojan War that Homer celebrated in the Iliad. The seas were higher...

Oxford University has shocked classics students by proposing to drop two of the most important texts from its syllabus. Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad may be made optional in an attempt to modernise the degree course, amid a drop in schools teaching Latin and Greek. But undergraduates say the works are vital to understanding the subject. Jan Preiss, a second-year at New College and president of the Oxford Latinitas Project, has started a petition to keep the texts. 'Removing Homer and Virgil would be a terrible and fatal mistake,' he said.

A chunk of worked limestone unearthed at a dig came from to the lost throne of Agamemnon, the ancient Greek hero revered by Homer in The Iliad, his epic story of the Trojan War, according to an archaeologist. Christofilis Maggidis, who leads excavations in Mycenae, in the north-eastern Peloponnese, said that the 110lb (50kg) slab was found two years ago in a streambed metres from a palace that collapsed during an earthquake in about 1200 BC. “This is one of the most emblematic and significant finds from the Mycenaean era,” Mr Maggidis said after an elaborate, year-long study of the...

Christopher Nolan’s latest epic production, ”The Odyssey”, brought Hollywood star Matt Damon to Greece. Filming is underway for the highly anticipated adaptation of Homer’s legendary epic poem in Greece with the production already working hard for the much-anticipated film. With a star-covered cast and a whopping $250 million production budget, this ambitious cinematic project is expected to be one of the most talked-about films of recent years. Matt Damon in Greece to begin filming Matt Damon, who will star in the new film as Odysseus, arrived in Greece a few days ago to film key scenes for the new film...

A civilization confident in itself reads the Iliad. A civilization in decline denounces it. Guess which one we are. A confident civilization does not quake at the sight of Homer. It does not avert its gaze from Pericles or issue trigger warnings before mentioning Caesar. It does not treat the Iliad like some toxic spill to be cordoned off by hazmat crews. Yet ours does. As Victor Davis Hanson and John Heath warned in Who Killed Homer?, the gravest threat to the classics is not public indifference but professors themselves—men and women who, having ceased to teach Homer, now cower...

For thousands of years, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey were the oldest epic stories that Europeans know of. But is it possible that Homer was, in turn, influenced by the stories of other civilizations to the east of Greece? We are joined by Mary Bachvarova, an expert on both the ancient Greek and Hittite traditions, to explore this fascinating question. This is episode 42 of the "Ancient Greece Declassified" podcast. A Hittite Version of the Trojan War?! | 1:03:07 Lantern Jack | 10.2K subscribers | 329,200 views | November 28, 2021

Epic Genes: Dating The Iliad This 3-inch-high bronze statue from Crete, dating to the early seventh century B.C.E., depicts a young boy and a blind musician. According to ancient tradition, Homer was a blind poet. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Epic Genes: Dating The Iliad This 3-inch-high bronze statue from Crete, dating to the early seventh century B.C.E., depicts a young boy and a blind musician. According to ancient tradition, Homer was a blind poet. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Homer’s epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey have been hit with trigger warnings by a university for “distressing” content.The University of Exeter has come under fire after telling undergraduates they may “encounter views and content that they may find uncomfortable” in their Greek mythology studies.In what has been branded as a “parody” and “bonkers”, students enroled on the Women in Homer module are told material could be “challenging”.With references to sexual violence, rape and infant mortality, undergraduates are also advised they should “feel free to deal with it in ways that help (eg to leave the classroom, contact Wellbeing,...

A would-be burglar in Rome was caught after stopping to read a book on Greek mythology in the middle of a theft, Italian media reports. The 38-year-old reportedly gained access to a flat in the Italian capital's Prati district via the balcony but became distracted after picking up a book about Homer's Iliad on a bedside table. The 71-year-old homeowner is said to have awoken and confronted the alleged thief, who was engrossed in the book. News of the failed burglary attracted the attention of the book's author, who told local media he wanted to send the man a copy...

An experiment inspired by Homer's description of combat in The Iliad tested the capabilities of the Dendra armour suit from Greece's Bronze AgeModern military volunteers donned replicas of ancient Greek armour and engaged in exercises inspired by Homer's epic poem The Iliad. The demonstration shows how elite Bronze Age warriors could have fought in heavy protective gear during sustained combat.The experiment's results strongly suggest that the 3500-year-old Dendra armour suit – one of the oldest complete suits of metal armour from Europe's Bronze Age – was indeed suitable for battle. Some scholars have argued that it was merely a ceremonial...

Achilles, the main character of the Iliad, remains one of the emblematic heroes of Greek mythology and modern literature for his bravery and fierceness in avenging the death of his best friend, Patroclus. Homer’s epic poem, along with The Odyssey, has retained enormous influence on Western literature to this very day, and this is also true for Achilles, the fearless warrior who became the very symbol of gallantry. “Sing, Goddess, of the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,” is the opening line of the Iliad, the poem that describes a few weeks of the ten-year Trojan War, mainly the many feats...