687. The Odyssey: Hero of the Trojan Horse (Part 1)

Episode of The Rest Is History · July 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.

Summary

Opening with Russell Crowe reading the first lines of Daniel Mendelsohn's translation, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook began a two-part series on Homer's Odyssey, timed ahead of Christopher Nolan's film adaptation. Holland explained that the Odyssey was the story that first drew him to Greek mythology and history, and said he would tell it chronologically rather than following Homer's structure, supplementing Homer with other ancient sources such as the tale of Odysseus feigning madness to avoid the Trojan War.

Holland narrated Odysseus's voyage from Troy: the sack of Ismaros, the land of the Lotus-eaters, the blinding of the Cyclops Polyphemus and his curse invoking Poseidon, the bag of winds from Aeolus, the massacre by the Laestrygonians, the year with the sorceress Circe, the consultation with Tiresias in the underworld and the meeting with Achilles, the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, and the slaughter of the cattle of the sun god, which left Odysseus the sole survivor washed up on Calypso's island. Sandbrook repeatedly joked about the crew's Australian-style fondness for barbecues.

Between episodes of narration the hosts discussed interpretation. Holland argued that many of the monsters reflect the anxieties of Greek colonists settling Sicily and the western Mediterranean, citing Carol Dougherty's The Raft of Odysseus and comparing the poem to Star Trek's reflection of 1960s America; he also mentioned Adrienne Mayor's theory that dwarf elephant skulls inspired the Cyclops myth. Sandbrook favoured reading such episodes as literary symbols of the fear of the unknown, and singled out Achilles's lament in the underworld as the poem's most interesting moment for undermining the cult of heroic glory. The episode ended with Odysseus trapped by Calypso, to be continued in part two.

Chapters

  1. 0:12

    Opening reading and introduction

    After Russell Crowe reads the Odyssey's opening, the hosts introduce the poem as a foundational work of Western culture and note Christopher Nolan's forthcoming film.

  2. 6:24

    Approach and the fall of Troy

    Holland explains he will tell the story chronologically and sets the scene at the end of the Trojan War and the ruse of the Trojan Horse.

  3. 9:08

    Odysseus, Athena and Penelope

    Holland profiles Odysseus as the cunning king of Ithaca, his bond with Athena, and his attempt to feign madness to stay with Penelope.

  4. 14:01

    Ismaros and the Lotus-eaters

    Odysseus sacks Ismaros, receives Maron's potent wine, and drags his crew away from the Lotus-eaters, prompting discussion of what the lotus represented.

  5. 21:07

    The Cyclops Polyphemus

    Holland narrates the capture in Polyphemus's cave, the 'No one' trick, the blinding, the escape under the sheep, and Polyphemus's curse.

  6. 34:36

    Myth, geography and colonisation

    The hosts debate whether the adventures reflect real places and the anxieties of Greek colonists in Sicily, citing Adrienne Mayor and Carol Dougherty.

  7. 39:04

    Aeolus and the Laestrygonians

    The bag of winds is opened by the crew, and eleven ships are destroyed by cannibal giants in a seemingly perfect harbour.

  8. 44:43

    Circe's island

    Circe turns Eurylochus's men into pigs, Hermes gives Odysseus moly, and Odysseus stays a year in what Holland describes as a shamanic otherworld.

  9. 51:44

    The land of the dead

    Odysseus consults Tiresias, meets his mother and Agamemnon, and hears Achilles regret choosing glory over a long life.

  10. 57:33

    Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, and the cattle of the sun

    Following Circe's advice Odysseus passes the Sirens and Scylla, but his men eat the sacred cattle and Zeus destroys the ship.

  11. 1:07:06

    Calypso and cliffhanger

    Holland links the perils to Sicily, and Odysseus arrives alone at Calypso's island where he is held for years, setting up part two.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

  • Tom Holland

    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”

    Listen from 2:12 · Odyssey

  • Dominic SandbrookCame true

    Sandbrook states that Christopher Nolan's film of The Odyssey was due for release on 17 July.

    “Christopher Nolan, by an extraordinary coincidence, has made a film of The Odyssey that is coming out later this week”

    Listen from 5:01 · The Odyssey (2026 film)

  • Tom Holland

    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”

    Listen from 6:00 · Odyssey

  • Tom Holland

    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”

    Listen from 9:08 · Odyssey

  • Tom Holland

    Holland suggests the Victorian theory that the lotus was opium reveals more about Victorian society than about Homer.

    “victorian scholars thought that probably it was opium and i think this probably says more about the victorians than it does about homer”

    Listen from 19:29 · Lotus-eaters

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook argues the lotus is more likely a literary symbol of losing sight of one's goal than a real plant.

    “the lotus eating, no? That it's basically about losing yourself and losing sight of your goal”

    Listen from 20:14 · Lotus-eaters

  • Tom Holland

    Holland cites the theory that skulls of extinct Sicilian dwarf elephants, whose nasal cavity resembles a single eye, inspired the Cyclops myth.

    “she suggested that there were dwarf elephants on Sicily. So they'd gone extinct long before ancient Greek times”

    Listen from 36:23 · Polyphemus

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook contends that the Cyclops story is inspired by fear of the unknown rather than by mundane explanations such as fossils.

    “This is inspired by the fear of the unknown, the fear of the monstrous, all of that kind of stuff”

    Listen from 36:57 · Polyphemus

  • Tom Holland

    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”

    Listen from 37:03 · Greek colonisation

  • Tom Holland

    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”

    Listen from 37:22 · Greek colonisation

  • Tom Holland

    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”

    Listen from 44:12 · Greek colonisation

  • Tom Holland

    Holland says Odysseus's sexual relationship with Circe was no moral issue for Homer despite his devotion to Penelope.

    “His sexual relationship with Circe is a complete non-issue to Homer”

    Listen from 50:52 · Circe

  • Tom Holland

    Holland interprets Circe as a shaman-like figure who leads Odysseus into a magical dimension where time moves differently, akin to an initiation.

    “I think that there's a kind of quality of the shaman about Circe, the sense that she has conducted Odysseus and his men into a dimension of mystery and magic”

    Listen from 51:20 · Circe

  • Dominic Sandbrook

    Sandbrook calls Achilles's underworld lament the most interesting moment in the Odyssey because it undermines the cult of heroic glory.

    “So to me, that is the single most interesting moment of the entire Odyssey. because it undermines the cult of the hero”

    Listen from 56:27 · Nekyia

  • Linked moment · 57:34Skip to 57:34 using a listen link in the info box.

    Tom Holland

    Holland argues the Greek cult of glory was shadowed by the absence of any heaven for all but the greatest, making life's brilliance more precious.

    “there is no equivalent of the Christian or Muslim heaven for all but the very greatest”

    Listen from 57:34 · Nekyia

  • Tom Holland

    Holland explains that solar cattle appear widely in Indo-European myth and their theft always represents an insult to the cosmic order.

    “notions of solar cattle seem to have been very widespread. in the myths of the ancient Indo-Europeans”

    Listen from 1:03:40 · Cattle of Helios

  • Tom Holland

    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”

    Listen from 1:04:53 · Odyssey

  • Tom Holland

    Holland notes that Scylla and Charybdis were identified with the dangerous Strait of Messina, part of a pattern linking the adventures to Sicily.

    “was identified with the Straits of Messina between Sicily and Italy, where you have whirlpools and riptides, and it was generally dreaded by ancient sailors”

    Listen from 1:07:09 · Scylla and Charybdis

People

In the conversation

Discussed

  • HomerAncient Greek poet credited with the Iliad and the Odyssey
  • Daniel MendelsohnAmerican classicist and translator of the Odyssey, friend of the show
  • Christopher NolanBritish-American film director adapting the Odyssey for the screen
  • HerodotusAncient Greek historian who described the Egyptian labyrinth
  • Adrienne MayorHistorian of ancient science who proposed fossil explanations for Greek myths, including the Cyclops
  • Carol DoughertyClassical scholar, author of The Raft of Odysseus
  • Madeline MillerAmerican novelist and classics teacher, author of Circe and The Song of Achilles

Topics

More from The Rest Is History

From the publisher

How does The Odyssey, one of the greatest stories of all time, unfold? What historical events may it be based on? And, where might Odysseus, the hero of Homer’s epic, have faced his various trials in real life? Join Tom and Dominic as they unravel the legendary story of Homer’s Odyssey, and its historical precedents. _______ Lloyds. 250 years on and still backing the nation's aspirations. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE: The Ultimate Victorian Adventure* The maddest expedition in history and it’s NEVER been heard before on the show: join Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook LIVE at the Southbank as they tell the bonkers story of Queen Victoria ordering one of history’s most daring assignments ever. Tickets available for Friday 4th September, the Saturday show is SOLD OUT. https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/the-rest-is-history-the-ultimate-victorian-adventure/ Join The Rest Is History Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to every series and live show tickets, a members-only newsletter, discounted books from the show, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at the⁠⁠restishistory.com⁠ To read our new newsletter, sign up at: ⁠therestishistory.com/newsletters⁠ Advertise with us: ⁠Partnerships@goalhanger.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editors: Jack Meek, Harry Swan + Adam Thornton Social Producer: Harry Balden Producers: Tabby Syrett & Aaliyah Akude Senior Producer: Callum Hill Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 30, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

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