Stream now with KPBS Passport / Watch Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV
Is King Odysseus, the Trojan Horse-building genius of Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey, merely a fictional figure in classic literature? Or was he a real, flesh-and-blood man who lived and died in ancient Greece? That’s the central question explored in “Odysseus Returns,” which follows the quest of amateur historian Makis Mataxas to convince the world that he’s discovered the tomb of Odysseus. Instead of being celebrated, his findings trigger a storm of controversy and an archaeological mystery that spans three decades. The documentary includes readings from Homer narrated by Morgan Freeman.
In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus wanders the world for two decades before returning to his beloved homeland. For thousands of years, historians have believed the Greek hero’s home was the island of Ithaca, known today as Ithaki.
Although archaeologists discovered the remains of Troy, Mycenae, and other cities of Bronze Age Mycenaean civilization in the 19th century, they have continued to search in vain for almost 200 years on Ithaca, where no ruins of an ancient city have ever been found.
So, in 1991, when Metaxas, mayor of a village on Ithaki’s neighboring island of Kefalonia, claims that clues in the Odyssey led him right to the door of a 3,000-year-old Mycenaean king’s tomb, archeologists are skeptical. But an excavation by Greece’s leading archeologist, Lazaros Kolonas, unearths a seal stone carved out of rock crystal, a type of jewelry used by Mycenaean nobility to prove their identity and one of the most important artifacts of the Bronze Age. The design on the seal bears an uncanny resemblance to a design described by Homer on a prized possession of Odysseus.
But instead of these history-making findings earning worldwide acclaim, they ignite a firestorm of controversy. Citizens of Ithaki, who passionately believe their island to be the homeland of Odysseus, become furious at the prospect of losing their ancient claim — and major draw for tourism. The battle becomes all the more pointed when Metaxas is elected governor of both islands. Political rivalries between Ithaki and Kefalonia lead to the discovery being swept aside and unpublished. The ancient treasures taken from the tomb are locked in a dusty museum storeroom for almost 30 years.
Now, after three decades of suppression, the mystery comes full circle. University of Kansas classics professor John Younger, the world’s foremost expert on Mycenaean and Minoan seal stones, comes to Kefalonia to study the seal found in the tomb. And, after more than two decades away, archeologist Lazaros Kolonas returns to the site, finally agreeing to go on the record about whether this tomb really belonged to Homer’s legendary king, Odysseus.
Watch On Your Schedule: “Odysseus Returns” is available to stream with KPBS Passport, a benefit for members supporting KPBS at $60 or more yearly, using your computer, smartphone, tablet, Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire or Chromecast. Learn how to activate your benefit now.
Credits: Produced by James Younger and Kelly Mendelsohn. Executive Producers are Lori McCreary, Morgan Freeman. and Seth Ward.
