What Tom Holland has said about Odyssey

Holland argues that the Odyssey's ideal of marriage is not Christian but one where households, not individuals, are united.

“this is very much not a Christian ideal of marriage. This is, um, an ideal of marriage in a world in which it is households rather than individuals who are being joined”

The Rest Is History: 688. The Odyssey: Return of the King (Part 2) (Jul 15, 2026) · Listen from 21:41

Holland notes that Odysseus's claim to be a Cretan is a joke signalling a lie, since Cretans were proverbial liars in antiquity.

“in antiquity, the Cretans were always viewed as notorious liars. So Odysseus is kind of signaling that it's a lie”

The Rest Is History: 688. The Odyssey: Return of the King (Part 2) (Jul 15, 2026) · Listen from 36:05

Holland says that as a child he loved the Odyssey's violence and Odysseus's murderousness as well as his cunning.

“I loved the violence of it and the murderous quality of Odysseus, as well as the cunning aspect of him”

The Rest Is History: 688. The Odyssey: Return of the King (Part 2) (Jul 15, 2026) · Listen from 1:01:55

Holland says the Odyssey was the story that first made him obsessed with Greek mythology and, through it, with history.

“it is the story that first got me obsessed with Greek mythology and therefore with ancient history and therefore with history more generally”

The Rest Is History: 687. The Odyssey: Hero of the Trojan Horse (Part 1) (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 6:00

Holland notes theories that the Sinbad stories of the Arabian Nights derive from the Odyssey.

“there are theories that perhaps the Sinbad cycle, the story of Sinbad the sailor in the Arabian Nights, that perhaps that derived from the Odyssey”

The Rest Is History: 687. The Odyssey: Hero of the Trojan Horse (Part 1) (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 2:12

Holland argues there is a kind of love affair between Odysseus and the goddess Athena.

“there is a kind of love affair there between the mortal and the goddess”

The Rest Is History: 687. The Odyssey: Hero of the Trojan Horse (Part 1) (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 9:08

Holland says the Odyssey is unusual in the emphasis it places on its minor characters, whose deaths the reader feels.

“it is unusual for the emphasis that it places on the minor characters. You kind of come to know them”

The Rest Is History: 687. The Odyssey: Hero of the Trojan Horse (Part 1) (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 1:04:53