The Odyssey - pure fiction?

[Imperial Dave]

https://greekreporter.com/2025/02/18/homers-odyssey-real-events/

Topical with the film on the horizon so I've asked the Greek Reporter bot for their take on the subject....

[Justin Swanton]

I have a lot of Doubt about the Odyssey, a lot of Doubt about Homer, a lot of Doubt about me - do I really exist or am I merely a projection of the Cosmic Mind? 

[Imperial Dave]

 

[Keraunos]

How odd. I see. 

[Justin Swanton]

An' 'e 'ad another adventure 'fore that. Can you believe it?

[Erpingham]

Curiously, I'm sure we had a slightly more detailed version of an article on this on the forum only a couple of weeks ago.  Unfortunately, because the search is still not working for me, I can't find the link 

The basic bones of the Odyssey story seemed quite plausible to me given the era.  A man goes off to a distant war.  War ends and he sets off home.  He has a series of mishaps which delay his progress but eventually he makes it back home to discover he has been given up for dead and ne'er-do-wells have taken advantage of the situation. He sorts it and everyone lives happily ever after.  Unfortunately, this doesn't make much of an epic poem and some elaboration is required.

[Imperial Dave]

yep, same here. I was trying to search for it before posting this one!

[Duncan Head]

Possibly this one - https://greekreporter.com/2025/01/20/places-odysseus-journey-homer-odyssey/ - which is actually linked to from the latest article.

[Erpingham]

That's the one.  Thanks Duncan. I note the same author involved.  Quick turn round on recycling your previous reports, that. 

Add : Our earlier short discussion here

http://soa.org.uk/sm/index.php?topic=8864.0

[Imperial Dave]

i thought I'd done it but honestly couldnt remember hence the (failed) search....

maybe there's an AI bot that can do this for me...? 

[Cantabrigian]

i thought I'd done it but honestly couldnt remember hence the (failed) search....

maybe there's an AI bot that can do this for me...? 

There probably is one that could search for stories that might be of interest to the forum...

[Keraunos]

Forget the bots.  Read Robin Lane Fox's 'The Travelling Heroes : Greeks and their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer'.

[Imperial Dave]

Ahhh...much better. I like Robin Lane Fox books 

[Nick Harbud]

Forget the bots.  Read Robin Lane Fox's 'The Travelling Heroes : Greeks and their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer'.

Or even Michael Woods "In search of the Trojan Wars"

[Nick Harbud]

The basic bones of the Odyssey story seemed quite plausible to me given the era.  A man goes off to a distant war.  War ends and he sets off home.  He has a series of mishaps which delay his progress but eventually he makes it back home to discover he has been given up for dead and ne'er-do-wells have taken advantage of the situation. He sorts it and everyone lives happily ever after.  Unfortunately, this doesn't make much of an epic poem and some elaboration is required.

Hmmm, I once worked with a guy who went though a particularly messy divorce, as a result of which he left UK for foreign parts and, to a large extent, disappeared from view.  Some 20 years later, he returned and discovered that his ex-wife had declared him legally dead and was now living happily in his former house. 

The story has a sort of happy ending.  He made his live presence known to the authorities who immediately recognised his title to the house, leading to him serving an eviction notice and a demand for rent arrears on his ex-wife.