All language subtitles for Clash.of.the.Gods.S01E07.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-deadorbit_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: His name is Odysseus,
and he's on a mission--

to return home to the woman
he loves before she marries

someone else.

Blocking his way are
bloodthirsty monsters,

enchanting seductress,
treacherous seas,

and angry gods.

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

This is the continuing journey
of Odysseus, the epic quest

of the greatest mythical
hero of all time.

To us, it is myth.

But to the ancients, it was
reality, and perhaps even

a blueprint for one of
the Christian gospels.

This is the real story as it was
originally told of The Odyssey.

[THEME MUSIC]

The story of Odysseus,
King of Ithaca,

is not like tales of
other mythological heroes.

He's not a god with
special superpowers.

Instead, his character is
written as a regular man trying

to get home from a 10-year
war to his wife and son.

SCOTT HULER: Everybody
can relate to this guy.

This is all of us like to
spend more time with my family.

I don't like my job.

I'm not treated the
way I want to be.

And I'm tired.

I want to go home.

That's Odysseus' story.

NARRATOR: But the Odyssey
is not just a return home.

It's a race against time.

As Odysseus battles
danger on the high seas,

his wife, Penelope,
anxiously awaits his return

and wonders if she's
become a sailor's widow.

Meanwhile, a rogue's
gallery of suitors

is knocking at her door,
pressuring her to forget

her husband and marry again.

And according to custom,
he who wins the crown

will win the crown.

If Odysseus doesn't
get home in time,

he'll lose his family,
and his kingdom.

The aristocracy of the
area starts saying, Odysseus

isn't coming home.

We don't know what happened to
him, but he's not coming back.

So we need to decide who's
going to be king instead of him.

The person who
would be a candidate

would be the person who
marries Penelope since everyone

assumed that she
was now a widow.

NARRATOR: Odysseus has
struggled to get home in time

is the central focus
of The Odyssey.

This epic myth was the Greek
author Homer's most famous

work.

And to the ancients, it was more
than just entertaining fiction.

It was a guidebook to
living in a dangerous world.

We need to understand, we need
to tell stories to make sense

of our world.

And so the Greeks had myths.

These are incredibly
human characters

going through incredibly
human emotions.

NARRATOR: Odysseus'
adventures on the high seas

reflected how the Greeks
viewed the unknown world

beyond their shores.

His myth was written at a time
when their empire was just

beginning to expand
across the seas.

GEORGE ZARKADAKIS: Odysseus
represents someone who is

very, very prototypical Greek.

Greece at the time was
a very poor country.

It's a rocky place
surrounded by the sea.

So people had to make their
fortunes by being adventurers.

It was the only way you can
make it in ancient Greece.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

NARRATOR: In the myth,
Odysseus' heroic journey home

began with his
departure from Troy,

where he had spent 10 years
fighting the Trojan War.

He had hoped his return to
his home island of Ithaca

would be quick and painless.

But for him and his soldiers,
it turned into a trip from hell.

On a stop for supplies several
weeks into the journey,

Odysseus narrowly escaped
death at the hands

of a man-eating
cyclops, only to draw

the wrath of the monstrous
father, the powerful sea

god, Poseidon.

KRISTINA MILNOR: By
attacking the son of a god,

he makes a double mistake.

One is he angers a
god, but the second

is he angers the god of the sea.

He's sailing home.

SCOTT HULER: And
that's the curse

that is working
against a disease

the entire rest of his journey.

Poseidon, one of the
most powerful gods

has this personal
antipathy to a disease.

NARRATOR: Now, Odysseus
is way off course.

Months into a journey that
should have taken weeks.

Little does he know, he's
got years still to go.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

But Odysseus is not
one to surrender

in the face of adversity.

PETER STRUCK: He may be
knocked down just as much

as all the rest of us, and even
harder than all the rest of us,

but he always can get back up.

He can always find a way.

And I think that really
crystallizes this desire

that all of us have to make
it through, to persevere.

He's just a human being up
against all kinds of odds, up

against gods, and he has
to make it through simply

on his intelligence.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

NARRATOR: Desperate for
an escape from Poseidon's

stormy seas, the
hero and his men

make landfall on a coastline
overflowing with food.

Odysseus sends a scouting party
to investigate while he stays

close to shore.

The men discover a stone palace
surrounded by wolves and lions.

There, they meet the
beautiful sorceress, Circe.

For these Greek warriors
who have been out at sea

for the past four months,
she's a stirring sight.

And so are her maids.

Circe invites the men into her
home to enjoy a sumptuous feast

of food and flesh.

DAVID GEORGE: Circe
is supposed to show us

what happens when
men get led astray

not by drugs, but by sex.

And men coming home when you've
got sexy woman with great power

that can make you happy, give
you anything you want, well,

what does that do?

It turns me into pigs.

NARRATOR: As Odysseus' men
indulge their appetites,

the sorceress teaches
them a hard lesson.

She literally transforms
the men into swine.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[PIGS SQUEALING]

But one man manages to escape
Circe's spell and returns

to warn Odysseus.

Without hesitation, he sets
out to confront the goddess.

KRISTINA MILNOR: He has this
almost optimism about the way

things are.

He has this idea that any
challenge that comes his way,

he can overcome.

And he never really
seems to falter in that.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

NARRATOR: According to the myth,
on the way to Circe's palace

where his men have
been turned into pigs,

Odysseus crossed his paths
with a valuable ally--

the ancient Greek
messenger god, Hermes.

KRISTINA MILNOR:
He's often the god

who is sent from Mount
Olympus down to Earth

to perform errands essentially.

He's sent to Odysseus
with a drug called Moly.

We don't really
know what this was,

but it has mystical powers.

He gives it to
Odysseus and Odysseus

takes it so that he's actually
not subject to Circe's powers.

NARRATOR: Ancient
storytellers may

have referred to this mythical
wonder drug as Holy Moly,

and inspired the
phrase we know today.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

With the power of his
Moly protecting him,

Odysseus swaggers
into Circe's palace.

Circe tries to turn him
into a pig but fails.

So she changes tactics.

She lures him into her bedroom,
but Odysseus plays hard to get.

Odysseus responds,
not so fast.

Before I agree to this, you have
to promise to turn my men back

into human beings.

And you have to promise no more
funny business, no more turning

any of us into animals.

And Circe agrees to these terms.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

NARRATOR: With that, Odysseus
enters the inner sanctum

of the sex goddess, and doesn't
come out for a whole year.

KRISTINA MILNOR:
This to us seems

like an extramarital affair.

Homer doesn't really
seem to think that this

is a problem in any way.

This likely has to do
with the double standard

in Greek society, that is to
say women were expected to be

chaste and loyal, not to
seek or particularly enjoy

sexual relationships.

Whereas men could go
out and have really

a lot of different
extramarital affairs

without anybody thinking
that it was wrong.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

NARRATOR: After
one year, Odysseus

decides enough is enough.

He's had his tryst,
but his heart

is with his wife, Penelope.

And he must get home.

DAVID GEORGE: I
think at this point,

the Odyssey is trying to show
us something about Odysseus.

He is a man like any other man.

He should be
striving to get home.

He owes Penelope, and
he owes Ithaca a king.

And the longer he spends
with Circe's, the more

he is denying what is owed.

NARRATOR: But before he can
set sail for his home island

of Ithaca, he'll have
to make another detour

to visit a place that isn't
on the map, but beneath it--

the underworld of the dead.

It is a harrowing chapter
in Odysseus' journey

that some scholars
believe even influenced

one of the Christian gospels.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Odysseus, the mythical
hero in Homer's Odyssey

has been away from
his family and kingdom

for almost 12 years.

He spent a decade fighting
the Trojan War and a full year

in the bedroom of
Circe, the sex goddess.

Now, he knows the time has
come to move on and get home.

Circe consents to his leaving
but imparts an ominous warning.

To overcome the curse of the
sea god Poseidon and get home,

he'll need instructions from
the blind prophet, Tiresias.

Just one problem--

Tiresias is dead.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

Odysseus must now
make an unplanned stop

in the underworld of Hades.

I think you're
just going home,

you're going someplace that
you didn't expect to go.

You're going to hell.

BARRY STRAUSS: Odysseus is
horrified at this thought.

No human has ever gone
to Hades and survived.

NARRATOR: But Odysseus
has no choice.

Poseidon's power over
the seas is strong

and he's getting nowhere fast.

If he ever hopes to reclaim
his family and his kingdom,

he must seek out Tiresias
in the underworld.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

Today, we picture hell as a
pit of fire and brimstone.

But the ancient Greeks
saw it differently.

PETER STRUCK: The
ancient Greek underworld

is mostly characterized
by being misty and cool.

In contrast to later ideas
that come in with Christianity

of the underworld as being a
place of eternal punishment,

it's not a kind of nasty,
hot, fiery furnace.

Instead, what we've got
is a gray area that's

difficult to see, that's misty,
murky, and very far away.

NARRATOR: Odysseus makes a
harrowing descent into Hades.

The agonized cries of perished
souls echo from all sides.

[SOULS WAILING]

Inside the gates, he comes
face to face with the prophet

Tiresias, who explains
that Odysseus and his men

can overcome the
wrath of Poseidon

and make it home if they
follow his instructions.

SCOTT HULER: Tiresias gives
him very specific advice.

Above all, what you need
to do is not eat the cattle

of the sun god Helios.

No matter what else you
do, do not eat this cattle.

NARRATOR: It's advice that will
come back to haunt Odysseus.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

As the souls of the dead
begin to close in on him,

Odysseus makes his escape from
the underworld, more determined

than ever to get home.

[SOULS WAILING]

He has done what no living man
is supposed to be able to do,

survive a trip to Hades.

So goes the myth.

But what is the link to reality?

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

Some scholars
believe this chapter

of The Odyssey influenced
one of Christianity's most

sacred texts.

The Gospel of Mark.

It's almost impossible to
overestimate the importance

of Homer for ancient Greeks.

BARRY STRAUSS: Mark, of
course, was a Greek speaker.

The Gospels are
written in Greek.

He almost certainly would have
known the story of The Odyssey.

So if there are things
in the Book of Mark

that remind us of
The Odyssey, that

may well not be an accident.

NARRATOR: A close comparison
of The Odyssey and the Gospel

of Mark reveals some
shocking parallels.

Both stories revolve around the
hardships of a suffering hero--

Odysseus and Jesus.

Both main characters have
carpentry backgrounds.

Odysseus was a skilled
woodworker who even built

his own palace in Ithaca.

Jesus was the son of a
carpenter and in one passage

in the Book of
Mark, he himself is

referred to as the carpenter.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

But the most
intriguing connection

is the similarity between
Odysseus' visit to Hades

and Jesus' last days on Earth.

Both stories begin
with a banquet.

Odysseus and his men
feasting at Circe's palace.

Jesus and his apostles
at the Last Supper.

Then as their comrades
sleep, both men

agonize about their impending
encounter with death.

DENNIS MACDONALD: When Odysseus
learns from Circe that he needs

to go to Hades,
he despairs of it.

And the reason is, and he says
so, that no mortal has ever

gone to Hades and returned.

Jesus is about to die,
he has the Last Supper

with his disciples, he despairs
of life because he knows

he must face the cross.

NARRATOR: Ultimately, Odysseus
would travel to the underworld

of the dead and return.

Jesus would die on the cross
and then rise to new life.

Could these parallels be
more than coincidence?

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

As the myth continues, Odysseus
leaves Hades and set sail

for Ithaca.

He is finally on
his way home again.

But in his path lurks
another obstacle,

the island of the sirens.

DAVID GEORGE: The sirens are
these creatures whose songs are

so beautiful that they pull you
off course and you shipwreck.

[SIRENS SINGING]

NARRATOR: Odysseus knows he
is approaching the island

of the sirens so
he orders his men

to plug their ears with beeswax
to prevent them from hearing

the siren song.

But Odysseus, a man of
insatiable curiosity,

is the exception
to his own rule.

He has the crew tie
him to the ship's mast.

This way, he can
listen to the sirens

without steering the ship toward
the island's rocky shores.

As they roll through, he's
screaming untie me, untie me,

but they can't hear him.

[ODYSSEUS SCREAMING]

And so he hears what
the siren song is.

The only human who's
done it and survived.

But for the ancients, you
see this scene depicted again

and again on face painting
after face painting,

and it's meant to show you
what the ideal man is about,

doing whatever is necessary
to learn something new.

NARRATOR: Odysseus'
encounter with the sirens

is one of mythology's
best known stories.

But new evidence suggests
the song of the sirens

may be more than just a legend.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

Italy's Li Galli Islands.

Traditionally, they
have been cited

as the setting of the story.

Centuries ago, they were even
called Le Sirenuse, the islands

of the sirens.

In 2004, a team of
German scientists

set out to investigate
their link to the Odyssey,

and made a stunning discovery.

What the German team found on
this island was that there was

a naturally-occurring formation
of rocks that served as kind

of a natural megaphone.

Any sort of sound source that
happened to be located there,

the sound waves
would bounce off them

and they would amplify
them out off the coast.

But even with this
built-in megaphone,

human voices are impossible
to hear offshore.

So what could have
made such a loud sound?

Monk seals--
centuries ago, there

were common throughout
the Mediterranean,

including the Li Galli Islands.

JOHN RENNIE: The German
team was able to demonstrate

the sound of their
cries actually

could be heard quite
clearly off the coast.

NARRATOR: Could this be
the call that lured sailors

to a rocky grave?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Back on the high seas,
Odysseus has survived his brush

with the sirens.

But an even deadlier challenge
lies beyond the next wave.

To make it home
to Ithaca, you'll

have to confront one of
two terrifying threats.

Some researchers believe these
dangers were real and may still

be out there.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Odysseus' shrewdness
has helped him

survive a series of deadly
obstacles on the high seas.

But he's not the only
one using his wits.

Hundreds of miles away in his
kingdom of Ithaca, his wife

is keeping her suitors at bay
with a clever ruse of her own.

She promises she will
marry one of them

as soon as she finishes weaving
a burial shroud for Odysseus'

father.

But each night,
she unweaves what

she has woven during the day.

This trick has been
buying her time for years.

Just as Odysseus is
characterized by his craftiness

and his cleverness and
his ability to weave plots

and plans, so also Penelope
has her claim to being

able to weave plots and plans.

NARRATOR: Penelope is doing
her best to remain hopeful

but she doesn't know what
has become of her husband.

She really has no idea
whether Odysseus is still alive.

And if he is still alive,
whether he's on his way

back to her or maybe he's just
decided to go somewhere else.

It's a terrible
state of not knowing.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile, a horrific
set of new obstacle stands

between Odysseus and home.

He must now choose
between two deadly routes.

The first runs through
the wandering rocks,

floating boulders that
smash ships so hard.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

The second slips through a
narrow channel flanked on one

side by a man-eating sea
monster called the Scylla

and on the other by a
massive whirlpool known

as the Charybdis.

SCOTT HULER: So it is this
terrifying sea monster

with many heads and many eyes,
this terrifying creature who

you know for a fact will grab
up six of your men and eat them.

[MONSTER GROWLING]

They sail by Scylla,
that is what will happen.

[MONSTER GROWLING]

PETER STRUCK: Facing the
Scylla is the Charybdis,

a giant vortex that twirls
around and sucks into itself

and sort of vomits back up all
the stuff in any nearby area.

If Odysseus would
go close to that,

he would risk having his whole
ship capsized and sucked down

into the bottom of the deep.

NARRATOR: Odysseus is literally
trapped between a rock

and a hard place.

In fact, some believe this is
where the cliche originated.

He orders his men to
avoid the wandering rocks

and instead sail
for the hard place,

The Strait of Scylla
and Charybdis.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

There, Odysseus faces
two grim options--

death to some or death to all.

He realizes in a kind
of cold calculated way

that losing his whole ship would
be a worse outcome than losing

a few of his men.

So he decides actively to
steer closer to the Scylla.

BARRY STRAUSS: There's a
lesson here, of course,

and the lesson is the most
gentle and caring commander

sometimes has to be willing
to sacrifice some of his men

in order to get the
mission accomplished.

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

NARRATOR: As they entered the
strait, the sky goes dark.

Suddenly, multiple tsunamis
appear out of nowhere.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

Odysseus leads the ship
away from the Charybdis.

As they passed by, the giant
whirlpool sucks up the ocean,

seizing everything
within its reach.

Suddenly, from the
opposite side of the ship,

the Scylla strikes.

[MONSTER GROWLING]

It snatches six men
off the ship's deck

and swallows them whole.

[MONSTER GROWLING]

[MAN SCREAMING]

[MONSTER GROWLING]

Odysseus describes this as
the worst moment of his travels.

His men being carried
away in the mouths

of this awful creature,
crying his name.

Odysseus, help us, help us.

And he can't, and not
only that, Odysseus

knows that those men are
dying because of his decision.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

NARRATOR: For centuries,
scholars of The Odyssey

puzzled over what
might have inspired

Homer's monstrous Scylla.

[MONSTER GROWLING]

Then in the mid-1800s, corpses
of massive tentacled beasts

washed up on shores
across the globe.

This was the answer--

giant squid.

Overnight, fiction became fact.

JOHN RENNIE: Giant squid is
a creature that's basically

as long as a school bus.

Now, imagine how
big a giant squid

had to look to sailors who
were in boats that were just

a few dozen feet long.

NARRATOR: Was the Scylla
based on real sightings

of a giant squid?

And what about its neighbor,
the whirlpool Charybdis?

Modern oceanographers
have discovered

a giant whirlpool zone that
matches its description

in the narrow Strait of Messina
between Italy and Sicily.

JOHN RENNIE: To the North,
you have the Tyrrhenian Sea,

to the South the Ionian Sea.

The waters of the
Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas

actually are quite different.

As a result, the water
moving back and forth

through these straits is
tremendously churned up

and you get huge whirlpools
and vicious tides.

We can scarcely imagine just
how powerful they must have been

back in ancient times,
especially for sailors who

are going through them.

NARRATOR: Giant squids,
treacherous whirlpools--

two real-life threats
faced by ancient sailors.

Could they have been the
inspiration behind this chapter

of The Odyssey?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

In the myth, Odysseus has just
seen six of his men torn apart

by the Scylla.

When his ship reaches safety,
he gives into his shell

shocked cruise demand for rest.

Despite the prophet
Tiresias' warning

to stay away from
the sun god's cattle,

he agrees to make
landfall on the island

where the cattle are kept.

Odysseus sees the cattle,
and says to his men,

OK, we're on the island
overnight, whatever you do,

don't eat them.

Do not eat them.

But with supplies running low
and starvation setting in,

the crew disobeys Odysseus
and butchers the cattle.

It will be the last
meal they ever eat.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Helios, the sun god is
furious, and turns to Zeus,

the king of gods for justice.

KRISTINA MILNOR: Angering
a god in antiquity

was one of the worst
moves you can make.

The gods didn't have a lot of
qualms about using their powers

to punish mortals that
they disapproved of.

Zeus agrees to punish
the trespassers.

He sends a perfect storm that
strikes down Odysseus' ship.

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

All the men perish
Except for one.

Odysseus is spared because he
alone didn't eat the cattle.

But this is where
the good news ends.

Now, he has no man, no boat,
and no idea where he is.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

After three years
at sea, Odysseus

has lost all his men and ships.

He is alone, isolated, and
still no closer to home.

He is washed up on
the island paradise

of another beautiful
seductress, the nymph, Calypso.

In Greek mythology, nymphs
were pretty young girls

with magical powers, every
man's wildest fantasy.

MICHAEL FONTAINE: They lived
in forests and in woodlands.

As their name implies
nymphs or nymphomaniac,

as our English word,
they were very spritely

in their behavior.

NARRATOR: At this
point, Odysseus

is relieved just to be alive.

Washing up on the island
of beautiful nymph

is an unexpected bonus.

While his wife
Penelope faithfully

preserves her
chastity back home,

Odysseus treats himself to
another extramarital tryst.

This time, he winds up
staying seven years.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

PETER STRUCK: Odysseus was given
license to pretty much sleep

with whoever he wants.

There doesn't seem to be in
Homer's tale any particularly

negative connotation that's
attached to Odysseus'

dalliances.

In fact, they seem to make him
into a greater more powerful

kind of man because he can
conquer all these women.

NARRATOR: Calypso promises
Odysseus immortality

if he'll stay with
her forever, but he

refuses, knowing he must return
to his wife and his kingdom.

In some ways, it's a stupid
choice to pick mortality

and being a man over
being a demigod.

But for Odysseus,
it's not a question.

He must reject Calypso,
he must leave Calypso

to fulfill his fate as a man.

NARRATOR: But with no
ship to take him home,

Odysseus must take matters
into his own hands.

He builds himself a boat.

DENNIS MACDONALD:
For ancient Greeks,

carpentry was understood to
be one of the great gifts

and intellectual
accomplishments in antiquity.

We often call Odysseus,
his craft, a raft.

But it's anything but a
raft, it's got a mast,

it's got a rudder,
it's got gunwales.

It was a metaphor of his wisdom.

It's a part of his
cleverness that he's

able to be such
a wise carpenter.

NARRATOR: When the
boat is finished,

Odysseus returns to sea.

He has spent nearly 20
years away from home.

Now, the end of the road
is finally in sight.

And it's not a moment too soon.

Back on the home front,
his loyal wife Penelope

has exhausted all
of her stall tactics

to ward off the men who have
pursued her year after year.

Her suitors are
losing their patients.

The suitors say,
he's not coming home.

He's not coming back.

His ship must have been
destroyed on the way.

You must choose one of us
as Odysseus' his successor.

NARRATOR: Can Odysseus get back
to Ithaca before it's too late?

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

Like many elements
of Homer's Odyssey,

the island home of Odysseus has
a clear connection to reality.

For centuries, scholars have
pondered which Greek island

the author had in mind when
he wrote his epic story.

Traditionally, it is believed
to be a Greek island known today

as Ithaki.

But Homer's writings
about Ithaca

don't match up with its
modern day namesake.

ROBERT BITTLESTONE:
Look at what Homer says.

Homer says, Ithaca is
the western island.

The furthest out to
sea, and its low-lying,

and you think, hello,
this is completely wrong.

Ithaki is not the
farthest out to the west,

it's not the
farthest out to sea.

NARRATOR: When researchers
compared ancient maps

with modern day
satellite images,

an island called
Kefalonia next to Ithaki

caught their attention.

It seemed to match Homer's
description of Ithaca

in every way but one.

ROBERT BITTLESTONE: What Homer
describes is four islands.

He says there should
be four islands here.

Well, we have a problem.

There's only really three.

Where's the fourth island?

And he also says that Homer's
Ithaca, he just uses it,

should be farther to the west.

Now, you solve the problem if
you split Kefalonia in half.

If you say that the western
peninsula of Kefalonia

3,000 years ago might have
been a free-standing island.

NARRATOR: Could this single
island once have been two?

In 2006, a team of scientists
set out to solve the mystery.

Using high-tech surveying
equipment, the kind used in oil

and gas exploration, they
drilled a 400-foot hole

into the ground of the
low-lying valley that

lies between Kefalonia's
east and west branches.

If there was ever a
split in the island,

this would have been the place.

ROBERT BITTLESTONE: We went
on drilling until we ran out

of drill stem, actually,
and that was about 50 meters

below sea level.

And at no point did we hit
a solid mountain bedrock.

Now, you know how
unlikely it is that.

The simplest explanation of that
is to say that at some point,

the sea went through that valley
and you can still see residue

of that today.

NARRATOR: These results
suggest that the valley was

once underwater.

And it makes Kefalonia
a prime candidate

for being Homer's Ithaca,
the island Odysseus finally

saw on the horizon 20
years after he went off

to fight the Trojan War.

KRISTINA MILNOR:
Odysseus never gave up.

He spent years
trying to get home

but he was going to get
home one way or another.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Against all odds,
Odysseus is finally home.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

It is the moment he has been
dreaming about for the past two

decades, but there is no
homecoming parade waiting

for him.

Instead, the final
arrangements are being

made to redistribute his power.

Unless he could pull
off one more miracle,

Odysseus will lose everything
he's fought to come home to.

It is the setup for
a dramatic ending,

but could Odysseus' homecoming
have really happened?

And if so, when?

Using clues buried
in The Odyssey,

modern astronomers have been
able to pinpoint the exact date

Homer had in mind.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

Odysseus' returned to
Ithaca was a journey that

took 20 years, sent over
600 men to their graves,

and 14 ships to the sea floor.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Finally, after
all that, the hero

is home but is he too late to
save his wife and his kingdom?

SCOTT HULER: When Odysseus
returns home, his island,

kingdom of Ithaca, is in
a state of complete chaos.

[MEN LAUGHING]

Everything has been
going terribly wrong.

His wife is beset,
his household is

beset by suitors, 108 suitors.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

[MEN LAUGHING]

NARRATOR: Odysseus realizes he
can't just walk into his palace

and reclaim his former life.

These suitors have long coveted
his queen and his kingdom.

If they find out that
Odysseus has returned,

they will undoubtedly
try to kill him before he

can recapture his throne.

One last time, Odysseus must
outwit, outlast, and outplay

his enemies to survive.

KRISTINA MILNOR: When
Odysseus arrives Ithaca,

he doesn't come with
a great following.

He doesn't arrive as the
great returning king.

He actually disguises
himself as an old beggar.

And he does this probably
partially because he's not

sure of what reception
he'll receive.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile,
Odysseus' long suffering wife

Penelope finally yields
to the suitors pressure

and announces an archery contest
to determine her new husband.

Whoever can string Odysseus' bow
and shoot an arrow through 12

axes will win her
hand in marriage.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

It is the fateful day in Ithaca.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

Just before the game
is about to begin,

Homer writes that the sun
is blotted out of the sky.

For centuries, this one
line has been scrutinized.

Is it a poetic device
to build suspense?

Or the record of a real event?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Even the ancient
Greeks thought this maybe

meant that Odysseus
was returning home

on the day of a total eclipse.

NARRATOR: Recently, scientists
examined the Odyssey

for astronomical evidence that
could reveal the exact date

Homer was referring to.

JOHN RENNIE: They looked more
closely at all the references

in The Odyssey that
might refer to something

about astronomical events.

They then tried to match up
those combinations of events

with their eclipse dates.

And they found that,
in fact, it all

matched for one of those
eclipses, one that took place

on April 16th, 1178 BC.

So it's possible that that was
the day when Odysseus returned

home to Penelope.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

NARRATOR: In the myth, a two
decade pursuit of Penelope

now comes down to
one main event.

One suitor after another proved
too weak to string Odysseus

bow.

[MEN LAUGHING]

They are all about to give up
when a tattered beggar steps

forward.

DAVID GEORGE: And the beggar
steps up and wants a turn.

By the rules, he
should have a turn.

Their response is to
be irate and to deride.

NARRATOR: But the beggar strings
the bow without any hesitation.

And the laughing suddenly stops.

He lines up his shot, it flies
straight through the 12 axe

handles.

The contest is over,
but the suitors

are not about to give
up without a fight.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

Odysseus' final battle ends
with the suitors slaughtered

and the hero victorious.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

He has won back his throne.

Now, he has to win
back his woman.

The king of cunning has
one last test to pass.

PETER STRUCK: After Odysseus
has slaughtered all the suitors,

then he and Penelope enjoy
a very intimate moment,

and they sit across from each
other lit only by firelight.

Penelope has one last test.

After a long conversation,
she says to her servants,

I want this stranger
to be comfortable

so please bring my own
bed out of my chambers

and put it on the porch
and let this stranger

sleep in my own bed.

At that point, Odysseus realizes
that his wife is giving him

a final test.

And he says, Penelope,
I know this is a test.

I built our bit around this
tree, rooted into the ground.

Our bed cannot be moved.

Because she has never let
anyone inside of that bedroom,

she knows for sure only Odysseus
would know that that bed's not

movable.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

NARRATOR: Odysseus' long
journey, his odyssey,

is at its end, but his
legend will endure.

PETER STRUCK: It was common
among ancient Greek warriors

to have as a decoration on their
armor the figure of Odysseus.

He was there for them
as a symbol of someone

who had always endured pain.

Odysseus' very name in
Greek means man of pain.

He suffers like
all of us suffer.

But maybe unlike all of us,
Odysseus always also endures.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

So it's that ability, I
think, to always get back up

after being knocked down that
makes him a character that's

so relatable to people
over many centuries.

[MUSIC PLAYING]