Odysseus

Sing, Pallas:


Archaeologists claim they discover the palace of Odysseus!

An 8th BC century palace which Greek archaeologists claim was the home of Odysseus has been discovered in Ithaca, fuelling theories that the hero of Homer's epic poem was real.
Just one problem. "Odysseus" in the ancient Greek means "Troublemaker."* It's possible that some Greek mother named her son "Troublemaker..."

...but it's more likely that the name is properly bound to a trickster god, from a forgotten period. The heroes and the gods by the time that Homer wrote down his epics (or dictated them, as is more likely -- see Albert Lord's Singer of Tales) moved among each other quite freely, suggesting that they may have been of a similar class in earlier times. The word apotheosis means the point at which a hero achieves godhood.

So let's say instead: An interesting ancient palace has been found on Ithaca! That is no small thing, even if there never was a bow strung there, by a king dressed as a beggar, whose dog had just died.

* See G. E. Dimock, Jr., in Harold Bloom's Odysseus/Ulysses.

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