🌊 The Odyssey: Myth or Science?

1. Have you ever read or watched something about Greek mythology? What do you remember?

2. Do you think ancient myths could be based on real events or scientific facts? Give one example if you can.

3. Here are six words from the article you’re about to read. Which ones do you already know? Write a quick definition or guess for each.

Vocabulary preview:

The Odyssey is a myth. It’s doubtful that a man took a literal decade to make it from Troy on the coast of modern-day Turkey to the Greek island of Ithaca after the Trojan War, cursed to make love to witches, journey to Hades, and pick fights with a cyclops. Or at least, if he did take that long, his curse probably involved not asking for directions.

But the tale of Odysseus’ extra-long journey home contains hints of things that people might have encountered in the ancient world, from a real-life cyclops to killer whirlpools and hallucinogenic plants. As Matt Damon steps into the famous wanderer’s sandals in The Odyssey on July 17, here are some of the scientific realities behind his legendary side quests.

The cyclops
In the story, the cyclops Polyphemus—a giant with a taste for human flesh, and of course, only one eye in the center of his head—traps Odysseus’ crew and munches a few for lunch. Odysseus blinds Polyphemus with a heated spear, and the men make their escape, tied to the bellies of Polyphemus’ sheep.

One hypothesis for the origin of this mythical one-eyed giant lies in the fossils of Deinotherium giganteum, an elephant relative that roamed Europe, Asia and Africa between 23 and 8 million years ago. Paleontologists have unearthed its bones on the island of Crete, where the ancient Greeks could have come across them as well. Elephant skulls have relatively small eye holes, with a massive hole in the center. That hole is for the trunk. But as the elephants stood 15 feet (4.6 meters) tall at the shoulder, the huge skull might have been mistaken for the head of a huge, one-eyed person.

But the Greeks could also have been familiar with cyclopia, a rare and deadly congenital defect where the eye sockets and brain don’t properly divide as the human embryo develops. Instead of a nose, the fetus grows a tubular appendage, which usually appears above a single eye. Cyclopia occurs in only one out of every 100,000 human births.

The monster and the whirlpool
Odysseus made a clever escape from Polyphemus, but trapped between the six-headed sea monster Scylla and the mighty whirlpool Charybdis, he wasn’t so lucky. The dangerous passage has its basis in a real place—the Strait of Messina, a narrow channel that runs between Calabria in Italy and the island of Sicily.

In the strait, the Ionian Sea meets the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the two bodies of water have opposing tides—high tide in the Ionian is low tide in the Tyrrhenian, and vice versa. The fast, constantly switching currents and contrasting tides form strange water patterns. When the two currents converge, you can have whirlpools. The tides in the region change every six hours, meaning there’s an opportunity for whirlpools in the strait multiple times per day.

As for the six-headed monster Scylla, there is a massive sea cliff that can be observed also from a distance, especially during the sunset. You can see a very dark shape stretching toward the northern part of the Messina Strait.

The lotus-eaters
On one island, Odysseus sends scouts out to meet the inhabitants. But the inhabitants are “lotus eaters,” who share delicious “lotus” fruit that entrances the crew to desert their task.

Many people’s minds might immediately turn to addictive drugs like opium. But the ancient Greeks knew about poppies and opium, and they did not call them lotuses. Scientists were able to identify plants that the ancient Greeks referred to as “lotus” in seven different genera. Homer says that the “lotus of the Lotophages” was a tree. Some historians have guessed that the Greeks referred to the Chinese date tree as “lotus.” Plants in this genus produce a type of jujube fruit found in North Africa. It doesn’t have any psychoactive properties. But it can be fermented, and a dollop of alcohol is certainly good for forgetfulness.

The witch who turned men into pigs
On another island, the witch Circe waylays Odysseus and his crew. She blends them a potion with “potent drugs to make them totally forget their home.” When the men drink, they are turned into pigs. Odysseus goes to free them, aided by the god Hermes, who digs up a plant called Moly.

It would take real magic to turn men into pigs. But making men believe they are pigs is much easier. The ancient Greeks certainly knew about plants that had mind-altering properties. Plants like datura and belladonna contain compounds like atropine and scopolamine that block receptors for a chemical messenger in the brain called acetylcholine. In the brain it is involved in memory formation and blocking its activity causes hallucinations and possibly delirium.

As for the “moly” that kept Odysseus safe, the antidote to atropine poisoning is physostigmine which occurs in the Calabar bean. Odysseus’ white flower could be snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis, which produces galantamine. Both of these chemicals block the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, which would increase the levels of the chemical messenger.

The Odyssey makes it clear that plants can be medicine, but they can also be poison. “Perhaps the most misleading idea is that ‘natural is safe’ and that ‘nature knows best.'” And while some of the encounters in the epic poem might have a basis in science, a little magic never hurt. “It is just a story. And in a story, anything goes. Plants can turn men into swine, although some people would argue that plants are not necessary for that transformation.”

📖 Glossary

cyclops

a giant from Greek myth with a single eye in the middle of its forehead

paleontologists

scientists who study fossils and ancient life

fossils

the preserved remains or traces of animals and plants from the past

congenital

a condition present from birth, not caused by injury or illness later in life

whirlpool

a rapidly rotating current of water that sucks objects toward its centre

hallucinogenic

causing hallucinations — seeing or hearing things that aren’t real

delirium

a confused mental state with disorientation and agitation

fermented

changed chemically by bacteria or yeast, often to produce alcohol

psychoactive

affecting the mind, mood, or behaviour

antidote

a substance that counteracts a poison

1. According to the article, what might have inspired the idea of a cyclops?

A) A real giant that lived in ancient Greece B) The skull of an ancient elephant relative with a large central hole for its trunk C) A painting of a one-eyed man found in a cave

2. Where is the real-world location of Scylla and Charybdis?

A) The coast of Turkey B) The island of Crete C) The Strait of Messina, between Italy and Sicily

3. What does the article suggest about the “lotus” fruit?

A) It was probably a jujube fruit that could be fermented into alcohol B) It was definitely an opium poppy C) It had strong psychoactive properties

4. How might Circe’s potion have actually worked, according to the article?

A) It contained a poison that killed the men instantly B) It contained compounds that blocked a brain chemical, causing hallucinations and delirium C) It turned them into actual pigs through genetic mutation

1. myth → Check

2. science → Check

3. poison → Check

4. mind → Check

5. hallucination → Check

6. history → Check

1. The doctor explained that the condition was __________, not caused by an accident.

2. After drinking the strange tea, he fell into a state of __________ and didn’t recognise his friends.

3. The museum has an impressive collection of dinosaur __________.

4. Many traditional drinks are made from __________ fruit or grains.

5. The boat was caught in a __________ near the rocks and couldn’t escape.

6. There is no known __________ for this particular type of snake venom.

7. Some mushrooms have __________ properties and should never be eaten.

8. The researcher studied __________ substances to understand how they affect brain chemistry.

1. Do you think myths and legends always have some basis in reality? Can you think of an example from your own culture?

2. If you could take a 10-year journey like Odysseus, where would you go? What would you hope to discover?

3. Have you ever encountered something in nature that seemed almost magical or unexplainable?

4. The article says “natural is safe” is a misleading idea. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Imagine you’re writing a modern Odyssey. Your hero faces a monster in a big city. What is the monster, and what is the “real science” behind it?

Example structure: “The monster is ________. In reality, it’s caused by ________.”