Is the Odyssey myth or memory?

Welcome to the History Extra podcast. From the role of women to slavery and the role of the hero, the Odyssey has much to tell us about the ancient world. In this third episode of our Sunday series on the epic and its afterlife, Dr. Daisy Dunn guides Kev Lochan through some of its key themes. Around twenty eight hundred years ago, a poet, or perhaps many poets, set down a story that had been travelling by word and mouth for centuries.

It told of a king trying to get home from a war. It should have taken him weeks. Instead, it took ten years. The king was Odysseus, and the poem The Odyssey.

You might know some of the stories of the one eyed Cyclops, the sweet song of the sirens, or the witch that turned his crew into pigs, but beneath the gods and the monsters and the wine dark sea are there historical truths to be found. I'm Kevlochan and I'm joined by Doctor Daisy Dunn, award winning classicist, author, and all round expert on the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. Her books include the Ladybird Expert book on Homer and The Missing Thread, a new history of the ancient world through the women who shaped it. This time we're delving into the archaeology of Bronze Age Greece, looking for clues that might tell us what, if anything, in the Odyssey is based on facts.

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