What Tom Holland has said about Greek colonisation
3 quotes · 1 episode · Jul 12, 2026
Tom Holland, English actor cast as Telemachus, has been quoted on Greek colonisation 3 times in 1 episode of The Rest Is History, most recently on July 12, 2026. Each quote below is verbatim and links to the moment it was said.
In their words
Holland argues Polyphemus embodies Greek colonists' fear of barbarians who lacked the markers of Greek civilisation, such as agriculture and watered wine.
“I think that Polyphemus is a kind of nightmarish vision of a barbarian who does not live by the rules of life that the Greeks associate with civilization”
The Rest Is History: 687. The Odyssey: Hero of the Trojan Horse (Part 1) (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 37:22
Holland compares the Odyssey to Star Trek, whose fantastical episodes reflected the anxieties of 1960s America.
“so many of those episodes are plainly about anxieties and complex that are manifest in 1960s America”
The Rest Is History: 687. The Odyssey: Hero of the Trojan Horse (Part 1) (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 37:03
Holland reads the Laestrygonian episode as reflecting colonists' fear that ideal sites for settlements would already be occupied by hostile natives.
“with your ships, you see a perfect spot for a colony. I mean, it might be a perfect spot, but that might make it all the more dangerous”
The Rest Is History: 687. The Odyssey: Hero of the Trojan Horse (Part 1) (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 44:12
Episodes
687. The Odyssey: Hero of the Trojan Horse (Part 1)The Rest Is History · Jul 12, 2026 · 1 h 12 min
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook retell the first half of Homer's Odyssey, from Troy's fall to Calypso's island, and probe its roots in Greek colonisation.
Tom Holland on other topics
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- Odyssey · 7 quotes
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- Jefferson–Hemings controversy · 4 quotes
- Apartheid · 4 quotes
- Mona Lisa · 4 quotes