Polyphemus
Subject in History
Polyphemus has come up in 1 episode across 1 podcast in TMT, including The Rest Is History. 2 people have made recorded remarks about it.
What people said
Dominic SandbrookBritish historian, author and co-host of The Rest Is History
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”
The Rest Is History: 687. The Odyssey: Hero of the Trojan Horse (Part 1) (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 36:57
Tom HollandEnglish actor cast as Telemachus
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”
The Rest Is History: 687. The Odyssey: Hero of the Trojan Horse (Part 1) (Jul 12, 2026) · Listen from 36:23
Podcasts
- The Rest Is History · 1 episode
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.