An amateur historian, Makis Metaxas, claims he found the bones of Odysseus, the hero of Homer’s epic poem, the Odyssey. But the discovery is soon embroiled in controversy, and Makis embarks on his own odyssey to convince the world he is right.
Odysseus Returns airs Wednesday, August 28 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV.
Is King Odysseus, the Trojan-horse-building genius in Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, merely a figure of ancient fiction? Or was he flesh-and-blood man? In 1991, Makis Metaxas, a local politician on the Greek island of Kefalonia, discovers a 3000-year-old Mycenaean tomb. Soon, Greece’s leading archeologist, Lazaros Kolonas, begins two years of excavation. The dig culminates with the unearthing of an object that bears an uncanny resemblance to one described by Homer as a prized possession of King Odysseus. But these incredible findings only trigger a storm of controversy.
Now, after three decades of suppression, the story can at last be shared with the world, and the evidence found in the tomb is ready to be scientifically analyzed. Makis and his wife, Hettie Metaxas-Putman Cramer, reveal how they uncovered ancient clues in Homer’s text that lead them to search the area where they later found the tomb. And archeologist Lazaros Kolonas finally returns to the site to go on the record about whether this tomb really belonged to the legendary king, Odysseus.