I’m in the Mediterranean on the trail of a legend. A warrior from Greece who triumphed at Troy. His name is Odysseus. And he is the hero of a two and a half thousand year old poem called the Odyssey. It’s the diary of a wandering man and a lost soul. He describes a ten-year journey criss-crossing these oceans and pinballing between islands. Professor Simon Armitage, Gods and Monsters: Homer’s Odyssey, BBC 2010
The Troy described by the poet Homer is a powerful city state. But then the Greeks came here to fight a famous war. For ten years they tried to smash through its impregnable walls. And for ten years they failed. It’s a bloody and blinding conflict. ibid.
Before he can find out who he really is he must first be broken. ibid.
Getting home to Ithaca should only take ten weeks but in fact it takes ten years as Odysseus suffers a spectacular fall from grace. For him it will be the journey from Hell. ibid.
As Odysseus leaves Troy he is in holiday mood. ibid.
Blurting out his name just to show off is not a huge mistake. That’s because the Cyclops’ father is Poseidon, God of the sea. And annoying a god like him is a very bad idea. ibid.
Like the aforementioned giants Circe is also a man-eater. A perfect example of one of the Odyssey’s greatest themes – temptation. ibid.
Odysseus’s behaviour is questionable to say the least. ibid.
Finally, he is about to understand the meaning of death. ibid.
News of his mother’s death shakes Odysseus to the core. ibid.
Is this how heroes are treated by the gods? ibid.
Odysseus is a man who likes to sail close to the wind. ibid.
A mutiny is precisely what Odysseus is about to face. ibid.
Odysseus and the men will pay a heavy price for their barbecue. ibid.
In his absence Odysseus’s mountain palace has been overrun by the so-called suitors. ibid.
Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, enters the palace just in time for the start of the competition. While Penelope waits upstairs, the suitors each take their turn ... Odysseus hits the mark first time. In the melee loyal servants quietly lock the doors. Odysseus then shakes off his beggar’s disguise, and the bloodbath begins. Homer doesn’t spare us the details. ibid.
He has been away for twenty years. ibid.
The poem ends with Odysseus getting the girl and the glory. ibid.
All he has is that longing to return. ibid.
He will always remain an endlessly intriguing and enigmatic character. And we have Homer to thank for that. ibid.
A terrifying monster – half man, half bull. According to ancient myth the Minotaur was imprisoned inside a labyrinth where hapless human victims were sacrificed. But could the bloodcurdling story be linked to a real place? Ancient X Files: Holy Grail and the Minotaur, National Geographic 2010
The Greek god Dionysus was a man-god said to be the ‘Son of Zeus’. He was killed, buried, descended into hell, and rose from the dead to sit at the right hand of the father. His empty tomb at Delphi was long preserved and venerated by believers. Dan Barker, Godless
cf.
They bring up Dionysus. December 25th is of no relevance. Keith Thompson, Zeitgeist Debunked, 2012
As it is, the Greek story has it that no sooner was Dionysus born than Zeus sewed him up in his thigh and carried him away to Nysa in Ethiopia beyond Egypt; and as for Pan, the Greeks do not know what became of him after his birth. It is therefore plain to me that the Greeks learned the names of these two gods later than the names of all the others, and trace the birth of both to the time when they gained the knowledge. Herodotus, Histories 2.146
3,200 Years Ago: After decades of warfare Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, has forced the kingdoms of Greece into a loose alliance. Only Thessaly remains unconquered. Agamemnon’s brother Menelaus, King of Sparta, is weary of battle. He seeks to make peace with Troy, the most powerful rival to the emerging Greek nation. Achilles, considered the greatest warrior ever born, fights for the Greek Army. But his disdain for Agamemnon’s rule threatens to break the fragile alliance apart. Troy 2004 starring Brad Pitt & Eric Bana & Orlando Bloom & Rose Byrne & Peter O’Toole & Diane Kruger & Brian Cox & Sean Bean & Julie Christie & Saffron Burrows et al, director Wolfgang Petersen, opening caption
Will our actions echo across the centuries? ibid. commentary
Good day for the crows. I like your land. I think we’ll stay. ibid. Agamemnon
I wouldn’t be bothering with the shield then would I? That’s why no-one will remember your name. ibid. Achilles to boy
Imagine a king who fights his own battles. Wouldn’t that be a sight? ibid. Achilles to Agamemnon
Is there no-one else? Is there no-one else? ibid. Achilles to Thessalian king
I have made many mistakes this week. ibid. Helen to Paris
You’d let Troy burn for this woman? ibid.
We’re sending the largest fleet that ever sailed. A thousand ships. ibid. Odysseus to Achilles
This war will never be forgotten. Nor will the heroes who fight in it. ibid.
I knew they would come for you long before you were born. ibid. Thetis to Achilles
Your glory walks hand in hand with your doom. ibid.
Do not mock the gods. ibid. Priam to Hector
War is young men dying and old men talking. ibid. Odysseus to Achilles
History remembers kings not soldiers. ibid. Agamemnon to Achilles
Before my time is done I will look down on your corpse and smile. ibid. Achilles to Agamemnon
This is about power not love. ibid. Hector to Helen
At night I see their faces. All the men I’ve killed. ibid. Achilles to Patroclus
We men are wretched things. ibid.
The gods envy us. They envy us because we’re mortal. ibid. Achilles to Briseis
No father ever had a better son. ibid. Priam to Hector
It never ends. ibid. Briseis to Achilles
Let me place two coins on his eyes for the boatman. ibid. Priam to Achilles
Let Troy burn! ibid. Agamemnon
If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with giants. ibid. commentary
Hades is the realm of the dead, and the Greeks believed that when they died they went down into Hades. Hades most likely could be seen as a kind of literal place underground. Dr Marvin Meyer, Chapman University
Mathematics was the discipline that endowed the Greeks with ultimate truth. Stephen Hawking’s Universe: Seeing is Believing
The Ancient Greeks carved their gods to look like themselves, like people. Matthew Collings, This is Civilisation I: Ye Gods, BBC 2007
The Greeks are always looking over their shoulder at what everyone else is doing. ibid.
The Elgin Marbles, removed from the Parthenon by Lord Elgin in the 19th century and brought to England. ibid.
Greek culture bring is self-awareness, self-scrutiny, self-defining. The Greeks question what society can be. ibid.
The Antikythera Mechanism is an ancient Greek mechanical model of the solar system, and has been described as the oldest example of an analogue computer. Alien Portals: Strange Artifacts, Devices and Technology, Amazon 2024