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Historian Explains the ENTIRE ODYSSEY — Transcript

by Dan Snow's History Hit · 8,181 words · 1,322 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00The Odyssey, the ultimate journey. A
0:03story thousands of years old about a
0:06hero, Odysseus, enduring everything
0:09nature, God, and man, and woman can
0:13throw at him
0:14as he tries to get home. It is the most
0:17famous journey in history. [music] It is
0:19the first journey, and this is
0:21everything you need to know. Friends,
0:24>> [music]
0:24>> today we are telling that story, the
0:26Odyssey, in this episode using my mega
0:29pad. We're going to map Odysseus's
0:32journey across the Mediterranean. Here
0:34is a map of the Mediterranean. We're
0:35going to trace his epic voyage as he
0:37sails from up here all the way across
0:40the Mediterranean, tossed by storms,
0:42perhaps even out of the Mediterranean,
0:44until he arrives back here
0:47in Ithaca. [music]
0:48Yes, I hear you shouting. It is fantasy,
0:52but like all literature, it's inspired
0:54by real places. So, we're going to
0:56attempt to make sense of this convoluted
0:59journey, and explore some of the many
1:02theories about where some of the places
1:04he goes could have been
1:06in the real world.
1:08We're going to tell the story. We're
1:09going to talk about the challenges he
1:11faces, Cyclopses, Sirens, Lotus-Eaters,
1:15and what this mega myth all means,
1:18because this is the greatest adventure
1:19story ever written.
1:21So, let's do it.
1:32So, a little backstory before we get
1:34into things. This is what you need to
1:36know. The Odyssey was a poem. It was
1:38spoken. It was sung over generations,
1:40and it evolved. Bits were added. Bits
1:42were edited until someone, we call them
1:45Homer, wrote it down around about the
1:488th century BC.
1:50The Odyssey is set in a period a few
1:53hundred years before that. The
1:55technology and the places mentioned
1:58suggest the story is set around 1200 BC
2:01in what we call the Mycenaean age. This
2:05is the late Bronze Age. I've got a map
2:07here of the world that shows the big
2:10players. The late Bronze Age world,
2:12which is roughly speaking 1600 to 1200
2:14BC, was dominated by several powerful
2:18interconnected civilizations, including
2:20famously you've got the Egyptians here
2:24in and around the Nile Valley. We've
2:28also got
2:29these guys up here, the Hittites,
2:32roughly speaking dominating much of
2:35Anatolia, much of what is today Turkey.
2:39Over to the west in Greece, we have got
2:43the famous Mycenaean civilization
2:47that spreads across Greece and the
2:49islands of the Aegean. So, over here,
2:53let's put them in green, we've got sort
2:55of wealthy cities down this
2:58coastal strip of the Levant, what is
3:00today Lebanon, Israel, Palestine. Then
3:03as we go further west, let's go orange,
3:07we have the Kassites down in Babylon,
3:10which is just off the map here, but it's
3:11towards the Persian Gulf. And then we
3:13have the Assyrians in Mesopotamia. So,
3:16let's put them around about here.
3:20These kingdoms are linked by maritime
3:24trading network works right across the
3:26Eastern Mediterranean. We know there's
3:27lots of exchange, lots of contact
3:30between them all. We've got ships
3:32carrying copper, very importantly, from
3:35Cyprus [snorts] here. That's going in
3:36all directions. It's going into the
3:38Greek world, it's going down to Egypt
3:40here, but we've also got tin from
3:43Central Asia flowing in. We've got
3:45luxury goods, grain, ivory, gold, wine,
3:49olive oil, textiles right across this
3:53network.
3:54Bronze production, really, really
3:56important. That depended on
3:58long-distance trade because copper and
4:00tin, which you use to make bronze, come
4:02from very different regions. A lot of
4:05that tin, if you can believe this, is
4:06coming either overland or by sea routes
4:11from little old England today, a great
4:13source of tin.
4:15Now, relations between these great
4:17powers, they're a mix of diplomacy,
4:19trade, and sometimes warfare. You get
4:21kingdoms forming, you get alliances, you
4:23get marriage ties, but you do
4:25occasionally get conflict. We do know
4:27about one major battle. Uh it was the
4:29Battle of Kadesh. It was between the
4:30Egyptians and Hittites. You got the
4:32Hittites marching down here just to a
4:33spot in modern Syria, and you have the
4:36Egyptians under Ramses, let's see, they
4:39march in there and they meet at Kadesh.
4:43There's also piracy, there's coastal
4:45raiding. These things are common. Now,
4:48let's look at Greece over here. Look at
4:50this. They were seafarers. They were
4:53traders. Their pottery has been found
4:55across the Mediterranean world.
4:57And they probably acted as merchants and
5:00raiders, occasionally both at the same
5:02time. We know they regularly traveled to
5:04Egypt and the Nile. This is the world
5:08that later inspired stories like the
5:11Odyssey. Okay, that's the context. What
5:13about the Odyssey itself? It tells the
5:15story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, an
5:18island right on the edge of the Greek
5:19world. Today, there's an island called
5:21Ithaca, just over here. This one here,
5:25in fact. Now, I'll come back to whether
5:27that's actually, in fact, Ithaca in a in
5:29a second.
5:30Odysseus spends 10 years trying to
5:33return home after fighting a massive,
5:36decade-long war in Troy, which is what
5:39we'd now call in Asia Minor. That is up
5:43here,
5:44at the northwest of modern-day Turkey.
5:48He faces storms. He faces monsters. He
5:50faces gods. He faces temptation. And he
5:53deals with his own flaws along the way.
5:56It's split into 24 different books.
5:58While he's trying to get home, his wife
6:00is being besieged by men trying to marry
6:02her cuz they all think her husband's
6:03dead. And these suitors are eating all
6:06the food in in in the royal storerooms.
6:09They're drinking all the wine in his
6:10cellars. They're being mean to
6:12Odysseus's teenage son, Telemachus.
6:14They're generally being a total pain.
6:17So, I'm going to be telling the story of
6:18the Odyssey, but I'm also going to get
6:19into that millennia-old game of trying
6:21to work out if there any real-world
6:24locations
6:25that Odysseus might have actually
6:27visited or or certainly that inspired
6:29the tale. So, let's zoom back out to our
6:31map of the whole of the Mediterranean
6:33world. As you can see here, we've got
6:35the whole thing laid out and we're going
6:36to mark
6:38places where scholars and thinkers and
6:40fans have speculated that Odysseus would
6:44have visited or traveled to across the
6:47Mediterranean and beyond on this map
6:50here. So, you can see, for example,
6:51we've got modern-day countries like
6:53Turkey, Greece, we've got places like
6:55Sicily, Malta, North Africa. Some
6:58theories get a bit rogue. Plutarch, the
7:00ancient Greek historian, has him
7:03visiting the shores of the UK, but we'll
7:05get into that a little later on. But for
7:08the moment, we're starting a little old
7:10place in northwestern Turkey today
7:14called
7:16Troy.
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8:12The Greeks have been fighting the
8:14Trojans for years, in fact, a decade.
8:17And actually, just looking at the
8:18geography, you can see why it's such a
8:19valuable place.
8:21It sits on the banks of the Bosphorus,
8:23this narrowed channel that leads from
8:26the Mediterranean
8:27into the Black Sea. It's always been an
8:29important place. Today, the city of
8:30Istanbul is there. People have fought
8:34over this stretch of water, this
8:35landscape, for millennia. It's right on
8:38the edge of Asia where it meets Europe.
8:41Now, eventually, the Greeks come up with
8:44a cunning plan to capture the obstinate
8:46city, a gigantic wooden horse. This
8:49makes sense when you think about the
8:50fact that the Trojans were famous for
8:53horsemanship. They absolutely loved
8:54horses. The the the horse became it was
8:57a powerful symbolic offering. The Greeks
9:00appeared to abandon the siege. They
9:02packed up their tents. They rode off in
9:05their ships over the horizon. But, they
9:06left behind in front of the gates of
9:08Troy this massive horse made of wood.
9:11Now, the Trojans debated what to do with
9:12the horse. There was a a princess called
9:15Cassandra. She was a a prophet
9:16prophetess, and she warned that if you
9:18brought the horse inside the city, it
9:20would bring on disaster, but everyone
9:21ignored her.
9:23Instead, the Trojans dragged the horse
9:25through the gates into the city. They
9:27believed the war was over. They
9:29celebrated. They cracked open those last
9:31few
9:32uh barrels of wine. They had a party.
9:34But, as they slept, a hidden hatch
9:37opened in the horse's belly. Elite Greek
9:40warriors climbed out including Odysseus,
9:43sacker of cities, Neoptolemus, son of
9:46Achilles, Thrasymedes, son of Nestor.
9:49They all got great names. And the Greeks
9:51crept through the streets over the
9:54drunken revelers, and they overpowered
9:56the gate guards. They lifted the great
9:59beam that held the gates shut
10:02and opened the gates. Those gates closed
10:06for a decade when are thrown open from
10:08within. The Greek army had crept back
10:11overnight under cover of darkness. They
10:13were waiting for those gates to open.
10:14They entered the city and they ransacked
10:17it.
10:18The terrible destruction of Troy began.
10:20Men were butchered. Blood ran through
10:23the streets. Women and children were
10:26enslaved. They were marched off to the
10:29ships in shackles. Troy was burned. It
10:33was destroyed. What's exciting is that
10:37we think we know where Troy was. In the
10:3919th century, an archaeologist
10:41discovered the remains of a wealthy city
10:44in northwest Turkey overlooking the
10:46Mediterranean, right on the edge of
10:48Asia, as I said. Now, it's a very
10:50complicated place to get your head
10:51around. Here is a a map of of what the
10:54surviving archaeology tells us. It is a
10:57place that was built and rebuilt several
10:59times over the centuries. There was a
11:00fortified city, a settlement on this
11:03little hilltop as early as 3,000 BC. So,
11:06we call that Troy 1. And we can see this
11:10outer fortification here is Troy 1.
11:15That was then destroyed by fire, and
11:17Troy 2 was built. That was also
11:20destroyed after a while, and then we get
11:22Troy 3.
11:24You get the picture. What we're left
11:26with is like a a lasagna of Troys, all
11:29built on top of each other at different
11:31times. And we try we try and work out
11:33which ruin, which bit of archaeology
11:35relates to which period. Now, I recently
11:37went to Troy. Let's take a look at some
11:38of these images. It's a beautiful place
11:40to go, too. You can see it's slightly
11:42raised up on that hill overlooking the
11:43surrounding landscape. Great place for a
11:46fortified settlement. The Troys that
11:48we're interested in are, I'm sorry to do
11:51this, six and seven.
11:53They're big cities. Uh there is a sort
11:56of ceremonial, religious, important
11:59citadel in the middle, and then lots of
12:00residential and commercial buildings
12:02stretching off into that plane in the
12:04distance, only a fragment of which have
12:06been excavated. Now, Troy six was
12:10destroyed in around 1300. Troy seven was
12:13destroyed a smidge over 100 years after
12:16that. Both of those are roughly in the
12:20set of dates that the Odyssey is set in.
12:24So, perhaps perhaps the Odyssey reflects
12:28a real war, a real siege that took place
12:30that ended in the destruction of this
12:33city
12:34of Troy.
12:35Now, let's get back to the story. Let's
12:36get back to the Odyssey. What you've got
12:37to remember is that there is no unified
12:40Greece at the time. Doesn't exist. Let's
12:42come back out to our map of the Greek
12:45world here. There we go.
12:47Instead, you've got
12:49rival kingdoms, warlords. Yes, they're
12:52linked by language and religion and
12:54culture, but they're fiercely proud of
12:57their independence. All of these
12:59different contingents obviously they all
13:00fall out the minute they capture Troy,
13:02and they all sail home in their little
13:04fleets back to their their particular
13:06parts of the Greek world. You've got
13:07people like the Spartans who come from
13:09down here. You've got the Cretans who
13:12come from the big island of Crete. And
13:14you've got the Ithacans heading back to
13:17their little island of Ithaca over
13:19there. And their ships were loaded with
13:22plunder and slaves.
13:25Odysseus's long
13:28and disastrous journey
13:30has begun.
13:38The gods were angry at the Greeks for
13:40their astonishing
13:41rapacious violence. So, everything goes
13:45wrong pretty quickly cuz they've annoyed
13:46the gods. Odysseus is blown from Troy
13:49here. Look at this where the where the
13:50horse is.
13:51Up north
13:53to Thrace, this part of the world. Up
13:57there, he didn't want to go there, but
13:59he since he's there, he takes the
14:00opportunity to sack another city. As he
14:03put it,
14:04"I sacked the town and killed the men.
14:07We took their wives and shared their
14:10riches equally among us." I should say
14:12at this point that a close reading of
14:13the Odyssey makes it a little tricky for
14:15a modern audience to really
14:17root for Odysseus.
14:19Uh I It's interesting. There's a
14:20classicist Emily Hauser I interviewed
14:22for a project on this. She explained to
14:24me that a Greek hero is not necessarily
14:27someone who we just admire, the hero in
14:29the modern sense.
14:31To the Greeks, a hero is someone
14:32actually who's got main character
14:34energy, sure, but someone whose ambition
14:36for glory ultimately leads them and
14:38everyone around them to ruin. So,
14:41they're a character that we just can't
14:42look away from.
14:44It's true that Odysseus,
14:46he often makes mistakes and most of them
14:48are born from his ambition.
14:51And he makes one now. The Thracians are
14:53the people up here. They counterattacked
14:55Odysseus and he and his men barely
14:58escaped. On they sailed down here
15:02into the Aegean.
15:04So, I'll put a little helmet up there
15:06for Odysseus's first stop on his journey
15:08home. But, let's quickly talk about the
15:10sort of the geography, really,
15:12of of the Greek world. Look at that.
15:14Look at that. It's a place of the
15:15islands. It's fragmented. This is a a
15:18culture of seafarers. It's a maritime
15:21culture because you've got to sail from
15:23A to B. The mountainous interior of
15:26Greece is very hard to travel across, so
15:28people are sailing around the coast. And
15:31it's a coast of headlands and bays and
15:34harbors and caves. These are places to
15:37shelter from storms and enemies.
15:40And that creates a world of diversity, a
15:44world of pirates and kings who are often
15:46the same person. And it means that each
15:48one of these islands has its own
15:50particular customs and rulers and
15:52character.
15:53And it means that Odysseus never knows
15:55quite what kind of society he'll
15:57encounter next.
15:59That's very different to the large
16:01unified
16:03river-based civilizations place like
16:05Egypt down here or Mesopotamia over in
16:09Asia. The Greek world was much more
16:11fractured, much more maritime.
16:14Odysseus is about to launch himself into
16:17that world, but also a world of fantasy
16:19and magic because he's about to have his
16:22first unreal experience.
16:31A violent storm drives him and his men
16:34for 10 days until they arrive at a lush
16:38island inhabited by the Lotus-Eaters.
16:42Now, where was this mysterious island of
16:45Lotus-Eaters? We've got all sorts of
16:47theories. One takes us to Jerba in
16:51Tunisia, just here.
16:54That's the most enduring and widely
16:57accepted geographical theory. But we've
16:59also got, well, the whole of the Libyan
17:01coast here. Could have been somewhere
17:02along there. That's where the ancient
17:04Greek historian Herodotus placed the
17:05Lotus-Eaters, somewhere on the coast of
17:08Libya.
17:09And he described them as a people that
17:12ate the fruit of a special tree that
17:15tasted like dates. Some people suggest
17:18it could be on the Atlantic coast of
17:19Morocco way
17:21to the west because they argue that
17:22Homer intended for this land to be at
17:24the extreme edge of the known world. And
17:27it's true that the lush coast of Morocco
17:30does vaguely fit the mythical
17:32description of this place that was at
17:34the end of the world. We are going to
17:35stick with Jerba in Tunisia. So, let's
17:38chart this journey. They're blown down
17:41here by this terrible storm
17:45until they reach Jerba.
17:48Some men, when they arrived at this
17:50place, went inland and they discovered
17:52these lotus eaters. These were people
17:55who
17:56were ate an addictive special fruit. And
18:00once they ate it, well, they lost all
18:02their ambition. In fact, the sailors who
18:05discovered these guys tried the fruit
18:07and they lost all of their will to
18:09return home. Odysseus had to go inland.
18:12He had to drag them back to the ships
18:15and he tied them beneath the benches.
18:17So, this is Odysseus's first brush with
18:19the supernatural.
18:21It certainly wouldn't be his last. So,
18:22I'm putting the little lotus there in
18:24Tunisia for the second stop on his
18:28mythical journey. Right, next, we have
18:31reached the most famous moment of the
18:33story, I think.
18:35Odysseus pulls up at another island.
18:38This one home to the Cyclops, the
18:42one-eyed giant.
18:49Now, we have obviously no idea where
18:50this is. Euripides, the ancient Greek
18:53playwright, he locates the land of the
18:56Cyclops on the isle of Sicily. So, let's
19:00zoom out a bit and come over to Sicily
19:02here, the big island off the south coast
19:06of Italy. He thinks it's near Mount
19:08Etna.
19:09Now, Virgil, the Roman epic poet, he has
19:13the Cyclops also living on Sicily, also
19:16near Mount Etna. Now, who am I to
19:18disagree with Euripides and Virgil?
19:21Let's say that Odysseus' next voyage is
19:24up here
19:25to northeast Sicily
19:29in the shadow of Etna.
19:31We're told that Odysseus lands on a
19:33fog-covered island with a with a good
19:35natural harbor. He and his men feast on
19:38wild goats. They drink strong wine
19:40camping on the beach. Then Odysseus and
19:4312 chosen companions explore inland, and
19:46they discover a giant cave. There's
19:48cheeses in there. There are livestock
19:51pens full of sheep and lambs.
19:54But everything's on a huge scale. It's
19:56clearly home to a giant. Now, his men
19:59want to steal supplies and get out of
20:01there immediately, and I do not blame
20:03them. Odysseus, strangely, insists on
20:05staying to meet the cave's owner.
20:08Well, he would live to regret that,
20:10because that night a giant got back. A
20:13Cyclops. One big eye in the middle of
20:16his ugly forehead. He rolled a massive
20:19stone across the cave entrance. He
20:21trapped the Greeks inside. After
20:23Odysseus says, "Hey, what about a bit of
20:25hospitality?" the Cyclops grabs two of
20:27his men and gobbles them down. Odysseus
20:30wants revenge immediately, but realizes
20:33there's no point killing the Cyclops
20:34because they cannot move the huge stone
20:36blocking the exit. The next morning,
20:39Cyclops eats two more men, and Odysseus
20:42comes up with a plan. He prepares a big
20:45wooden stake. This big piece of big log
20:47in there. He sharpens the end and turns
20:49it into a spear. So, that night when
20:51Cyclops returns, and eats another two
20:53men for dinner, by the way, Odysseus
20:55offers him strong wine. The Cyclops
20:58becomes drunk. He collapses. Odysseus'
21:01men heat the sharpened stake in the
21:04fire. Then they all heft it onto their
21:06shoulders, and drive it into the
21:09Cyclops' single eye. Blood pours out.
21:13The eye crackles, we're told, like hot
21:15metal in water. The Cyclops is blinded.
21:18He falls into a kind of fitful sleep,
21:21but in the morning he wakes up, and he's
21:22forced to roll away the rock that guards
21:25the entrance to the cave, cuz he's going
21:27to let his going to let his sheep out to
21:28go and graze. But Cyclops has got his
21:30arm across the entrance, making sure
21:32that only his sheep can get through.
21:34Odysseus ties his men beneath the
21:37sheep's bellies, and the Greeks escape
21:40unnoticed
21:42hanging from the bottom of the flock.
21:44They flee to their ship. By the way,
21:46they steal the sheep, and then they
21:48start rowing away. But Odysseus cannot
21:51resist
21:52at this point doing something very, very
21:55stupid. He taunts the Cyclops from the
21:58sea. His crew beg him to stop provoking
22:00the giant. Instead, Odysseus proudly
22:03reveals his name. He shouts that he is
22:06Odysseus, king of Ithaca. Now, the
22:09Cyclops, who was called Polyphemus, he
22:12also reveals his identity.
22:13Disappointingly, he reveals he is the
22:15son of the sea god Poseidon, and he
22:18prays for revenge. He says, "May
22:20Odysseus never return home, or if he
22:23does get home, may he be late, and
22:25broken, and alone."
22:28That curse terrifies Odysseus's crew.
22:32They sail onward, but they're now
22:34shaken. They're mourning their dead, and
22:36they're very worried that the god of the
22:39sea, Poseidon,
22:41has condemned them.
22:43Now, what's all this mean? I think the
22:45Cyclops chapter of the story symbolizes
22:48a clash between sort of civilization and
22:50savagery. And the Cyclops is seen as a
22:53an evil figure because he violates the
22:55sacred Greek code of xenia, which means
22:58hospitality, uh
23:00because he eats his guests.
23:02And the story also highlights Odysseus's
23:04cunning. He's famous, isn't he, all over
23:06the world ever since for being the
23:07cleverest of the Greeks. So, he's he's
23:09showing cunning. He manages to overcome
23:11brute force. He escapes through
23:13deception, through trickery and
23:14planning, rather than physical prowess.
23:18But, let's just say this also exposes
23:22Odysseus's greatest flaws, greed and
23:26pride.
23:27Why on earth was he snooping around this
23:29cave in the first place, stealing things
23:31and hoping for a gift from the owner?
23:33And why, by the thunderbolts of Zeus,
23:37did he reveal his true name after
23:40escaping?
23:41Because he's arrogant. Because he wants
23:43the world to know that it was him.
23:45But actually, he's now cursed. He turned
23:48victory
23:50into disaster.
23:57So, I've got my Cyclops there now. Let's
23:59get on with the next stage of the
24:00journey because Odysseus's men are
24:01sailing on. They're mourning their
24:03mounting casualties. They're getting a
24:04bit worried. But they reach the floating
24:07island of Aeolus, ruler of the winds. In
24:11the ancient and modern worlds, uh this
24:14part of the myth is tied to the Aeolian
24:16Islands, which are actually very close
24:18by. They're located right here in the
24:21Tyrrhenian Sea. We've got Lipari.
24:24It's the largest and it's the most
24:27populous today of all these islands. And
24:29ancient
24:30writers associated Lipari directly with
24:33the home of Aeolus. But Stromboli,
24:35you've heard of that, another
24:37island in this archipelago, this one
24:39over here, famous for its continually
24:42active volcano. It's also linked to this
24:45myth because inhabitants used to predict
24:48the weather based on the shape and
24:51direction of the smoke and the clouds
24:53rising from the volcano's peak. And that
24:56was a skill that was a that was all
24:57attributed to the god of the winds.
25:00Anyway, this was a place of feasting and
25:03ease. And Aeolus gives Odysseus a
25:07leather bag tied with silver wire
25:10containing all the nasty winds, all the
25:12stormy winds, leaving only the perfect
25:14wind to get home to Ithaca. So, let's
25:17assume it's the Aeolian Islands. I'm
25:18going to take Odysseus the long way
25:20around for reasons I will explain later
25:22on. So, here he goes, he's sailing
25:24around there.
25:25And he arrives
25:26at the Aeolian Islands.
25:28Now, he's got his bag of wind.
25:31He's feeling good about himself. They've
25:32got full bellies. They've had a bit of
25:33feasting. And they're going to sail with
25:36those wonderful winds
25:38all the way
25:40from the Aeolian Islands
25:42around here
25:45back towards Ithaca and the Greek world.
25:49For 9 days and nights, they sailed
25:51perfectly until Ithaca itself appears on
25:54the horizon. But at that exact point,
25:56exhausted from steering constantly,
25:59Odysseus
26:00falls asleep. Now, his crew believe he's
26:04hiding treasure from them.
26:06And they
26:07crawl down and open the leather bag. ALL
26:11THE WINDS BURST out of the bag. There's
26:13a terrible storm, and his fleet is blown
26:16all the way back again
26:19to Aeolus. And that second time, Aeolus
26:22refuses to help. He's convinced Odysseus
26:26is hated by the gods. He doesn't want to
26:27be involved. And the crew row their
26:30ships miserably onwards. After a week of
26:34rowing, which is all that's a lot of
26:35rowing, they reach Laestrygonia,
26:39which turns out to be a land of giant
26:41cannibals. Now, it's funny this bit, cuz
26:43it's not one of the most famous moments
26:45in the Odyssey, but for me, it's
26:46certainly one of the most important.
26:47Now, where did all this take place?
26:49You'll be surprised to learn we have
26:51absolutely no idea. But
26:54really, it could be anywhere. People
26:55have come up with theories from Sicily
26:58here to Sardinia, and indeed all the way
27:01out into the Atlantic.
27:04However, later writers like Thucydides,
27:07the great Greek historian, or Pliny the
27:10Elder, the Roman, they argued that
27:11Laestrygonia was a fictionalized account
27:16of early settlements in central Italy.
27:19So, we're going to send Odysseus up to
27:21central Italy
27:24up
27:25here. As they land, they are attacked by
27:29the Laestrygonians.
27:31Giant men hurling massive rocks from the
27:34cliffs, smashing ships to pieces. The
27:38men swimming around in the sea were
27:40speared like fish. Odysseus manages cut
27:43his own ship free and orders his crew to
27:45row for their lives.
27:48Only Odysseus's ship escapes. The rest
27:52of Odysseus's fleet
27:54is destroyed.
27:55So, we've reached the part of the epic
27:57story where now nearly all the survivors
28:00of Troy have been wiped out.
28:03Odysseus and his crew sail on alone,
28:06devastated,
28:08feeling increasingly isolated.
28:16Odysseus and his crew next reached the
28:20island of Aeaea.
28:23Now, my most bonkers theory about where
28:24this island might have been was put
28:25forward by Robert Graves, the wonderful
28:27novelist and poet, uh the British
28:29novelist and poet. He thinks that it was
28:31way up the top of the Adriatic. It was
28:33on the coast of Croatia. But the most
28:35famous, the most long-standing theory uh
28:37that the Greeks and that the ancient
28:38Greeks and ancient Romans believed was
28:40that it was here in a place called Monte
28:45Circeo. And that is important because
28:49Aia, this island, was the home of Circe,
28:52the beautiful sorceress. And today, that
28:54is still known as Monte Circeo. So,
28:57there's a bit of a link there. Now, it
28:59would have appeared more of an island
29:00back then. It's a beautiful promontory
29:02on the on the coast of Italy. It would
29:03have appeared more of an island back
29:04then because it was surrounded by
29:07marshes. So, that is where Roman writers
29:09like Strabo and Virgil believed it was.
29:13And it's very cool it still has that
29:14name today. The crew is exhausted.
29:16They're traumatized. They're grieving
29:17after all their recent losses. They send
29:19a scouting party inland. They're very
29:21fearful they're going to encounter
29:22another monster or hostile tribe of
29:24cannibals. But they actually discover a
29:26beautiful house deep in the woods. And
29:28inside lives Circe. She's described as a
29:31beautiful, dreadful goddess. She
29:34welcomes in the men. She offers them
29:35food and wine.
29:37Uh but one crewman remains suspicious
29:39and he stays outside.
29:41And he witnesses Circe transforming all
29:44the other crewman into pigs. They're
29:47herded into a pigsty. This surviving
29:51crewman runs back to the ship in terror.
29:54And he says to Odysseus, "Let's get out
29:56of here. Don't try and rescue them.
29:57Let's just sail away." But Odysseus
29:59refuses to leave his men behind. And he
30:01marches inland towards the house. And on
30:03the way, he's stopped by Hermes,
30:06messenger of the gods. Uh Hermes warns
30:09him about Circe and he gives him a
30:10magical antidote, a white flower with a
30:14black root. Circe welcomes Odysseus into
30:17her hall. She seats him in comfort and
30:20she secretly laces a drink with her
30:22concoction, her magic spells.
30:25When Circe tries to transform him,
30:27though,
30:28the magic fails. Instead, Odysseus draws
30:31his sword and Circe begs for mercy and
30:34asks Odysseus to become her lover
30:37and her ally. And Odysseus says, "Sure,
30:40but first you have to restore my men to
30:42human form. And Circe does that, and she
30:45turns his men back into humans, and
30:46they're all quite happy. In fact,
30:47Odysseus and his companions remain on a
30:51for a year, feasting, drinking wine,
30:54enjoying comfort and safety, and
30:56Odysseus enjoys Circe's bed as well. But
31:00eventually, the crew remind Odysseus
31:01they still need to get home. But before
31:03they depart, Circe gives them some
31:05crucial advice.
31:07If they're going to get home, they had
31:08to visit the underworld. Now, there he
31:12must seek the spirit of the prophet
31:14Tiresias, cuz only Tiresias can tell him
31:17how to get home safely. This is a
31:19fascinating section of the story, and it
31:20really explores the temptation, the
31:22masculinity, self-control, and the
31:25danger of forgetting your purpose. Homer
31:28reminds us, if we need to be reminded,
31:31that men can easily surrender their
31:33reason and discipline to appetite.
31:36Thanks, Homer.
31:37I'm not sure it took an epic poet to
31:39point that one out. The episode
31:40deliberately twists, again, this Greek
31:42concept of xenia, as I said,
31:44hospitality.
31:45Remember, there's no money in Bronze Age
31:48Greece. There are no hotels. So, when
31:50you travel, you have to rely on the
31:51kindness of strangers. You get food, you
31:53get a bed for the night. And then, when
31:56other people travel, they can expect the
31:58same thing in return. So, it's a whole
32:01culture that depends on trust.
32:03Circe appears to be the perfect host.
32:06She welcomes the strangers and gives
32:07them food. But beneath that hospitality
32:10lies danger. And for Homer's audience,
32:12this really reflects a real anxiety. Not
32:16every welcoming stranger is what they
32:18seem. And in this seafaring world, where
32:22survival depended on hospitality, well,
32:26that was sacred. It could also be
32:28dangerous. The crew push on, following
32:31Circe's instructions. They head to the
32:34underworld.
32:41>> Now, as you have spotted, the underworld
32:43is obviously a mythical location. It is
32:47beyond the edge of the known world, but
32:49ancient Greeks
32:51did believe that they were able to
32:52pinpoint a location.
32:54In the 5th century BC, the Greek
32:56historian Herodotus mentions a river in
33:00northwest Greece, the Acheron,
33:03and he said that there there was an
33:05oracle associated with the underworld
33:08speaking to the dead in that area.
33:10Thucydides, another historian, another
33:11Greek historian, also refers to that
33:14region having mythical associations.
33:18A place where the boundary between this
33:20world and the afterlife was at its
33:21thinnest. Another Greek writer,
33:23Pausanias, says that the rivers in that
33:27part of Greece were entrances to the
33:29underworld. So, let us take Odysseus and
33:31his men back up here to northwest
33:34Greece. There we go.
33:36Boom, in there. Luckily, I've just been
33:38following the footsteps of Odysseus and
33:40his crew.
33:41I happen to see it. Let's check it out.
33:43Hey, you look at this. You can just see
33:44why the ancient Greeks associated this
33:47with the underworld. It was a gloomy,
33:49mysterious, quiet, magical place.
33:52And water spurts from out of the earth.
33:55The rivers appear from underground. You
33:58can walk all the way up it, and truly it
34:01feels like you're passing from one
34:03dimension into another. There is also an
34:06archaeological site there which could be
34:09a necromanteion. It's a cavern in the
34:11earth which some archaeologists think
34:13was a place that subsequent generations
34:15of ancient Greeks would climb down into
34:18and perform rituals which involved
34:21talking to people in the afterlife. That
34:24could be inspired by the Odyssey.
34:27What Odysseus does here is he sacrifices
34:31a sheep. He pours fresh blood into a
34:34trench and that summons the spirits of
34:37the dead. Ghosts swarm around the blood.
34:40Odysseus encounters many famous people.
34:43You've got the Lord Agamemnon, the
34:45overall commander of the Greek
34:46coalition. He'd been murdered by his
34:49wife and her lover upon returning home.
34:51You have Achilles, the greatest of the
34:53Greek warriors, who was killed in the in
34:55the battle for Troy. You have Patroclus,
34:58Achilles' closest companion and best
35:01friend. You have Ajax, one of the
35:03greatest Greek heroes. But this is also
35:05it's like a who's who. He also sees
35:07other mythical figures. Minos, Heracles,
35:09Sisyphus, Tantalus, you name it. But
35:12he's he's also very sad. He meets the
35:13spirit of his mother. She had died while
35:16he was away at Troy and three times he
35:18tries to embrace his mother, but each
35:20time she slips away because she's a
35:22ghost. And Odysseus finally talks the
35:24prophet Tiresias.
35:26He tells Odysseus that he must sail to
35:29the island of the sun god Helios.
35:32There he will find Helios' sacred herd
35:35of cattle, but under no circumstances
35:38should the cattle be harmed or eaten.
35:40If the crew obey,
35:42they may still reach Ithaca. If the crew
35:44disobey, the ship will be smashed and
35:46destroyed.
35:47Then Tiresias tells Odysseus that the
35:49trouble brewing in Ithaca because all
35:50the suitors are trying to marry
35:53and he says that in order to lift the
35:55curse of Poseidon, he's got to go on
35:56another adventure. He's got to carry an
35:59oar inland until he meets people who
36:01don't know anything about the sea. Then
36:04he's got to put the oar in the ground
36:05and sacrifice a bull to Poseidon.
36:08Only then will Poseidon forgive him. So,
36:11that's quite a mission.
36:18Odysseus sails onwards, but obviously
36:19he's going to face more challenges. The
36:21first are the Sirens. They are monsters
36:24who lure men to their deaths on the rock
36:27by singing a beautiful song. Now,
36:29Odysseus has a plan to get past the
36:31Sirens. He's going to plug his crew's
36:34ears with wax, and he's going to tie
36:36himself to the mast cuz he'd like to
36:38hear their famous song, but he doesn't
36:40want to drive his ship to destruction.
36:43As Odysseus sails past the Sirens, he
36:45hears that sweet song. They're tempting
36:48Odysseus with
36:50stories about himself. They sing of his
36:53heroic deeds. So, obviously, Odysseus
36:55loves that. He begs to be released, but
36:57his crew ignore him. They can't hear
36:58anything cuz they've got they've got wax
36:59in their ears, and they safely row past.
37:02So, let's put the Sirens somewhere
37:04magically
37:06in the middle of the Mediterranean here.
37:08Next, Odysseus comes to a terrible
37:11place, a narrow strait with not one but
37:13two monsters in it.
37:14Charybdis, a giant monster who sucks
37:17down the sea causing a massive
37:18whirlpool, and then eats anything that
37:21gets sucked down and spits out the
37:22debris into the sea,
37:24but also, Scylla, a six-headed monster
37:28lurking in a cave above. Most people
37:30associate this part of the story with
37:32the Straits of Messina right here. These
37:36very narrow straits between Sicily and
37:39mainland Italy.
37:41Odysseus steers the ship away from
37:44Charybdis, but this brings the ship to
37:46within reach of Scylla, and Scylla
37:48snatches six crewmen from the deck,
37:51lifts them up off the ship, and devours
37:53them. Odysseus later calls it the most
37:55heartbreaking sight in all his years at
37:59sea.
38:00They press on to find the island of
38:03Helios. So, I'll put my little whirlpool
38:05right in here.
38:13Shockingly, the island of Helios has no
38:15universally accepted real-world
38:17location. We've got a couple of
38:19geographical clues. Some have speculated
38:22that it's Malta down here.
38:25It's It's halfway between Sicily and
38:26North Africa. It's an important waypoint
38:28if you're trading through the
38:30Mediterranean, but like we got no
38:31evidence. Most ancient Greeks thought it
38:34was Sicily itself.
38:37The name given in the Odyssey is
38:38Thrinacia, which could be linked to
38:41Sicily's roughly triangle three-cornered
38:44shape.
38:45So,
38:46once again, Odysseus is back in Sicily.
38:50Let's take him along there
38:52and put him at the north coast of
38:54Sicily.
38:55Both Tiresias and Circe had warned him,
38:59"Do not touch Helios' sacred cattle on
39:02this island." And Odysseus really had
39:04hoped to avoid the island completely,
39:05but
39:06he has to go there. His men are
39:07exhausted. They They They desperately
39:09want to rest, pull ship up on the shore,
39:11and take a few days off.
39:13Before landing, Odysseus makes them
39:15swear they won't harm the cattle, but
39:17then a violent storm blows up, and
39:20they're trapped on this island for a
39:21month, and supplies run out. They eat
39:23the birds. They eat any fish they can
39:25find,
39:26but they're really really hungry. And
39:27Odysseus goes away. He has a little
39:28pray, and he falls asleep.
39:30And his second-in-command persuades the
39:33crew to break their oath.
39:35He says, "Look, we're going to die
39:36anyway. Let's die with full bellies."
39:38Odysseus wakes up, and he can smell
39:41roasting meat, and he knows what's
39:42coming. He knows it's going to be a
39:44disaster. The men have killed the cattle
39:47of Helios, the sun god.
39:50It's not good.
39:52As soon as the weather clears,
39:54>> [sighs]
39:54>> they set sail. And as soon as they do
39:56so, the sky darkens. There's a terrible
40:00storm. Lightning smashes into the ship.
40:04The whole boat collapses. The mast comes
40:07down. The vessel's shattered, and the
40:10entire crew is killed apart from
40:13Odysseus. He is left clinging to the
40:15wreckage, drifting for days at sea. And
40:19eventually, he's washed ashore on, you
40:21guessed it, a distant, mysterious
40:24island.
40:30This island, Ogygia, is another very
40:33mysterious location in the Odyssey. It's
40:36inhabited by another beautiful goddess,
40:40Calypso. Homer describes it as a sort of
40:42remote paradise where Odysseus will be
40:45held for seven long years. But, he
40:48doesn't provide many geographical
40:50details. As a result, scholars and
40:52travelers have had a great time. There
40:54have been local traditions that have
40:55popped up all over the place. One of the
40:57most persistent is a place on Gozo known
41:01as Calypso's Cave. So, let's take
41:03Odysseus, for the sake of argument,
41:05round to Gozo. Here we go. His ship has
41:08been destroyed. He's coming round here.
41:11He's floating a long way,
41:13and he's reached the island of Gozo
41:16right next to Malta.
41:18That island has dramatic cliffs. It's
41:20got secluded bays. It's got a fertile
41:22landscape. So, you know, it could easily
41:24match Homer's description. And the
41:26locals are thrilled. They tell everyone
41:29who will listen that this is definitely
41:31Ogygia since, well, for centuries that's
41:33been going on.
41:35There are some problems with this. There
41:36is no ancient evidence linking that. So,
41:39the ancient Greeks and the Romans were
41:40not super convinced about that. So, the
41:42association is much later than the
41:44ancient world. I want to just shout out
41:45one of the most rogue theories here. So,
41:47I'm coming out to this big map here
41:48because Plutarch, the ancient Greek
41:49historian, says that this is washed,
41:52swept out of the Mediterranean
41:53altogether into the Atlantic.
41:55And Plutarch says that he was five days
41:58west of Britain. So, what where does
41:59that get us? So, he comes out of the
42:01Mediterranean into the Atlantic, five
42:04days west of Britain. Potentially
42:05Iceland, Greenland,
42:08Newfoundland. Now, I I been to those
42:10places, and they could not be described
42:13as tropical paradises, but who knows?
42:15That's how widely the debate around the
42:18geography of the Odyssey has ranged. But
42:20for our purposes,
42:22we're putting him in slightly more
42:24temperate Gozo.
42:26And on that island, Calypso keeps
42:28Odysseus for years. She loves him. She
42:32wants him to stay.
42:33Homer says that Odysseus is trapped.
42:36He's uh he's he's not willing. He longs
42:39for Ithaca. He longs for his wife,
42:41Penelope. He longs to get home. He
42:43spends his days weeping on the shore.
42:46Poor Odysseus, forced to share the bed
42:49of this beautiful supernatural
42:52woman on this tropical paradise. During
42:55those seven long years,
42:57Penelope, his wife back in Ithaca,
43:00well, she understandably believes her
43:01husband is probably dead. His son,
43:04Telemachus, grows up without knowing his
43:05father. The suitors are pushing ever
43:09harder. They're abusing the rules of
43:11hospitality. They are demanding that she
43:13marries one of them.
43:15Finally, Odysseus catches a break. The
43:18goddess Athena
43:20intervenes on his behalf.
43:22She persuades her father, Zeus, to help
43:25Odysseus. Zeus agrees and orders Calypso
43:30to release poor Odysseus. Hermes, the
43:34messenger god, goes down and delivers
43:36that command to Calypso. So,
43:37reluctantly, Calypso helps Odysseus uh
43:40build a raft, get some supplies
43:42together, and set out
43:45on another voyage across the sea. He's
43:47now alone. He's carrying a bit of food
43:49and wine. He's navigating by the stars.
43:52But,
43:53Poseidon spots him as he's halfway on
43:56this voyage towards Greece
43:58and smashes the raft to bits. Odysseus
44:01ends up once again swimming in the water
44:04and is eventually washed up
44:05on the island of Phaeacia.
44:12So, Phaeacia is another mythical place.
44:15It's full of magic. There's vessels that
44:17steer themselves. There's extraordinary
44:19wealth. There's a special relationship
44:20with the gods in this particular place.
44:23Ancient scholars have suggested Corfu.
44:25That's this island here. Uh it's one of
44:28the most beautiful of the Ionian
44:29Islands. It's got lots of nice harbors
44:31and beaches and and it could easily fit
44:34Homer's description. So, let's take
44:36Odysseus from Calypso here on his raft
44:41via catastrophic shipwreck
44:43up here
44:44to Corfu.
44:46Odysseus is washed ashore. He's naked.
44:49He's exhausted. He's alone. He hides
44:50beneath leaves. He's terrified about
44:52what awaits him. But, instead of
44:53monsters, he meets a princess, Nausicaa,
44:57daughter of the king. She's playing on
44:58the beach.
45:00Odysseus wins her trust and manages to
45:02get himself into the royal palace.
45:04And then he tells the story of his
45:06wanderings. And the Phaeacians are
45:08spellbound. The king orders a ship to
45:11take him home loaded with treasure and
45:14gifts.
45:16Odysseus sleeps all the way back. And
45:19the Phaeacians take him to Ithaca. They
45:22carry him ashore asleep. They lay him to
45:24rest on a beach.
45:26Finally, on Ithacan soil
45:29after 20 years away. And importantly, he
45:33might not have any men with him, but
45:35he's got booty. He's got lots of wealth
45:37and treasure given him to him by the
45:38Phaeacians, which means he's actually
45:40richer than he was when he left Troy.
45:42Side note, as the Phaeacians sail away,
45:45Poseidon punishes them for helping
45:46Odysseus by turning their ship into
45:48stone.
45:50So, here's Odysseus
45:51on the final part of his journey being
45:54taken home to Ithaca right there.
45:58Now, I was lucky enough recently to
45:59follow in those footsteps in the wake of
46:01Odysseus. and I too went ashore on
46:03Ithaca for our recent history hit
46:05documentary. I say the real island of
46:09Ithaca, and this is the island today in
46:11Greece that has the name Ithaca,
46:14but there is a little bit of a problem
46:16because Homer specifically says that
46:18Ithaca is the westernmost of these
46:21Ionian Islands, and you can see that
46:23today Ithaca is not the westernmost of
46:26these islands. Look, there's a huge big
46:27island here, Cephalonia, just to the
46:28west. So, some people say the old Ithaca
46:30could be Lefkada up here, or it could be
46:33Cephalonia, but a theory that I find
46:35quite exciting is that this bit of
46:37Cephalonia here, this of peninsula on
46:40the western edge, that this was once an
46:42island, and that because of seismic
46:45activity, let me just rub this out, you
46:47get a land bridge forming here. And that
46:51today is is low-lying, it's quite
46:53marshy,
46:54and that means that Cephalonia was
46:56joined to the island to the west. So,
46:58that could have been
47:00the original Ithaca. Awesome. But for
47:03the moment, we're going to assume that
47:05Ithaca is Ithaca.
47:08Now, as I've mentioned earlier,
47:10this year I was able to follow in
47:11Odysseus's footsteps, I was able to sail
47:13in his wake, and I too washed up on a
47:17beach in Ithaca for my recent History
47:19Hit documentary. It was so exciting to
47:21step foot on Ithaca after years of
47:23hearing stories of the Odyssey and and
47:25reading and studying it.
47:26It's one of those places where
47:27archaeology and tradition and myth and
47:29storytelling all collide. Look,
47:32we need to say it may that be that
47:34everything in this story is pure
47:35fantasy. It may be that looking for
47:37Odysseus's palace is like looking for
47:39Hogwarts in Scotland, but it may be that
47:42there is a kernel of truth, a whisper of
47:45history that inspired the epic story.
47:47So, perhaps just perhaps someone called
47:49Odysseus did once come ashore on this
47:52coast. Just imagine that. It gives you
47:54goosebumps. In In speaking of
47:55goosebumps,
47:56there was a a different island near
47:58Ithaca that we visited where we were
47:59charged by wild boar. They were all
48:02quite chill until the kids arrived. And
48:05at that stage, the mom started to get a
48:07bit nervous that we were getting too
48:08close to the children.
48:09And we did get charged a few times. And
48:12if you'd been there, you'd have heard
48:13and seen some grown men running into the
48:16sea in absolute terror. And strange that
48:19those pigs could swim. There you go. So,
48:21even today these islands are still full
48:23of strange and wonderful things. On
48:26Ithaca, there are sites that are
48:27associated with Odysseus. It's really
48:29interesting.
48:30There are buildings from the right
48:32period, so from the Mycenaean period,
48:34but which we know the ancient Greeks and
48:36the ancient Romans
48:38they believed they were connected with
48:41Odysseus. So, they would visit these
48:43places like like this one here. I've got
48:44an image here. We filmed at a place
48:46called Odysseus's palace.
48:48This is a place that was visited by
48:50ancient tourists who came here to
48:52connect with the Odysseus myth. So,
48:56let's get back to the Odyssey. Our
48:57wandering king Odysseus, he is back in
48:59Ithaca, but he doesn't immediately
49:00reveal himself. Instead, with Athena's
49:03help, he well, he first of all he hides
49:05the treasure that's been given to him by
49:06the Phaeacians, first things first. But
49:08then he realizes to proceed cautiously.
49:10He's been gone for 20 years. A new
49:12generation has grown up with little
49:14personal connection to their absent
49:15king. So, Odysseus has lost everything
49:18that underpinned his power. He hasn't
49:20got any ships, he hasn't got any men.
49:22His his loyal servants have probably
49:24grown old and died. So, instead Athena
49:27disguises him as a beggar and he works
49:29his way into the palace to sort of beg
49:32for food and gather intelligence. And
49:33the suitors mock him, they abuse him. He
49:36watches the feasting, he watches the
49:38music, the partying that's going on. He
49:40watches his his household, his wealth
49:43being consumed by these terrible
49:44suitors. He reveals himself to his son
49:48Telemachus. They have a tearful reunion.
49:51And then they come up with a plan, how
49:53they're going to win back the kingdom.
49:55Athena inspires Penelope, Odysseus's
49:59wife, to announce a contest.
50:01Whoever can string Odysseus's great bow
50:06and shoot an arrow through an opening in
50:0912 axe heads, that person will win her
50:12hand in marriage. The suitors try, they
50:15each take their turn. They compete with
50:17each other. None of them can even string
50:19the bow, they can't bend the bow to fit
50:21the bowstring, let alone shoot an arrow.
50:23The disguised Odysseus, the old beggar,
50:26asks for a turn. He steps up and strings
50:29it effortlessly. Odysseus shoots an
50:32arrow cleanly through all 12 axes and at
50:35that moment he reveals himself.
50:38He kills Antinous, leader of the
50:41suitors, with an arrow through the
50:43throat.
50:45Pandemonium results. The suitors beg for
50:48mercy, they offer repayment. Odysseus
50:51and Telemachus refuse. There is a battle
50:54and father and son, side by side,
50:57slaughter the suitors.
51:00Odysseus then stands victorious, covered
51:03in blood, having reclaimed his palace
51:07and his kingdom. After the slaughter,
51:09Odysseus orders the palace to be cleaned
51:12up and Penelope comes down from her
51:14bedroom, is brought before Odysseus, but
51:17she's pretty skeptical. She's wise.
51:19She's nervous this man is truly her
51:20husband. Could this be a trick by the
51:22gods? So, Penelope tests him. She says,
51:25"Bring down our marriage bed from my
51:27bedroom so that this gentleman can have
51:29a nice rest, he can go to sleep." And
51:31Odysseus reacts immediately. The bed
51:33cannot be moved because he himself built
51:36that bed,
51:37carved from a living olive tree. And
51:40only then Penelope finally believes him.
51:43Only then does she know
51:45that this is the real Odysseus,
51:48the only man who knows that secret.
51:49Husband and wife are reunited.
51:52Odysseus
51:54is finally home.
51:56Well, that's it, folks. That is the end
51:57of this particular Odyssey. I really
51:59hope you've enjoyed it. It was great fun
52:01to make. I actually got a big series
52:03coming up on the Megapad this summer on
52:07the history of Britain. It will be
52:09delivered straight to your devices. Make
52:11sure you smash all the buttons on Dan
52:13Snow's History Hit and they won't miss a
52:15single one. See you next time.
52:20>> [music]
52:26[music]
52:31[music]

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