For 1,000 years, a cult worshipped the hero of the Odyssey

The Odyssey was far more than entertainment to ancient Greeks. Archaeologists have unearthed evidence of a cult that revered the Homeric hero on his legendary home island of Ithaca.

At the start of the Odyssey, the epic poem's war-weary protagonist finds himself trapped on a remote island by the goddess Calypso. She promises Odysseus immortality and eternal youth if he chooses to stay with her. But after 10 years of waging war against the Trojans alongside other Greek heroes, Odysseus longs to return to his family and home on the Greek island of Ithaca and "see even just the smoke that rises from his own homeland", as Emily Wilson writes in her translation of Homer's epic.

Odysseus' perilous, decade-long journey home sees him trick a cyclops, outsmart a sorceress and survive countless disasters.

But Odysseus' legacy doesn't end there. There is one final, real-life twist in the adventures of this mythical king: Odysseus inspired a spiritual cult that lasted a thousand years. Evidence from archaeological excavations suggests worship of the Homeric hero began around the 9th Century BC, when his turbulent voyage was narrated in oral poems, and appears to have gained momentum after the Odyssey was written down in the late 8th Century BC.

Historical remains of this hero cult include a sanctuary dedicated to Odysseus on Ithaca, as well as recently unearthed coins and tiles bearing his name.

The discoveries shine a light on the fascinating interplay between real people, fictional heroes, and spirituality in the ancient world – and hold wider lessons on hero worship during this era.

In the Odyssey, as the Homeric hero is tossed around stormy seas, the thought of Ithaca keeps him going. "No country could be sweeter," he says in book nine of the epic poem. 

Meanwhile, Odysseus' family and the Ithacan people desperately await his return. His wife Penelope describes Odysseus as "godlike" and a "noble, lionhearted husband, most talented and brave of all the Greeks".

In real life, Odysseus also left a mark on Ithaca, a mountainous island that lies to the west of mainland Greece. Discoveries here and elsewhere paint a picture of a mythical character who played a central role in the religious and civic lives of ancient Greeks.

Excavations on the island started in the late 19th Century and have uncovered an array of Odysseus-themed artefacts, including a miniature bronze bust of the Homeric hero. A decree found in modern-day Turkey in the late 19th Century, in the ruins of an ancient Greek city, mentions a sanctuary dedicated to the worship of Odysseus, referred to as "Odysseion", on Ithaca. The decree, which dates back to 207BC and was issued by the city-state of Ithaca, also mentions an "Odysseia", a festival held in the Greek hero's honour.

In 2025, archaeologists from the University of Ioannina in Greece shed a clearer light on the previous finds. They revealed that they had found evidence of this Odysseion on Ithaca, following excavations in the ruins of a monumental complex known as the School of Homer.

Amid these ruins, which date to the Hellenistic period (4th to 1st Century BC), the archaeologists found a series of bronze coins, inscribed on one side with Odysseus's bearded head, "so familiar to us from innumerable works of Greek and Roman art", says Yannos Lolos, emeritus professor of prehistoric archaeology at the University of Ioannina, who led the research.

The archaeologists also unearthed fragments of three roof tiles inscribed with the name of the Greek hero. These finds identify the School of Homer with the Odysseion, says Christina Marabea, an archaeologist who carried out the excavations alongside Lolos. Two of these fragments are stamped with the words "of Odysseus" (ΟΔΥCCEOC, in ancient Greek), "clearly pointing to the existence of a shrine of the hero at the site", she says.

The format of the inscription "of Odysseus" is known from other sanctuaries dedicated to well-known gods in the ancient Greek world, Marabea explains. For example, in those other sanctuaries, roof tiles were found bearing inscriptions such as "of Poseidon" and "of Apollo" – meaning, the buildings were dedicated to those gods. The phrasing "of Odysseus" on the roof tiles in Ithaca therefore suggests this particular sanctuary was dedicated to the mythical hero, she says.

The third tile fragment reads like a dedication, "to Odysseus", and was likely left there by a pilgrim, according to Marabea. Leaving a variety of votives (such as clay or bronze objects and figurines inscribed with a simple dedication or prayer) is a "widespread ritual at many ancient sanctuaries", she says.

Together, the finds reveal "new and decisive evidence" that the School of Homer acted as a public sanctuary and assembly point for local citizens "primarily intended for the worship of the Trojan War hero", Odysseus, during the Hellenistic era and early Roman period, says Lolos. 

"The civic assembly met at the Odysseion, while the sanctuary of Odysseus, as evidenced primarily by the two roof tiles stamped with his name, might well have been the epicentre of worship, frequented by local and foreign pilgrims alike in veneration of the hero," says Marabea.

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These new discoveries build on previous archaeological findings. During the 1930s, 12 bronze tripod cauldrons dating back to the 9th and 8th Centuries BC were discovered inside a "coastal cult cave" in northwestern Ithaca. These were likely "votives in honour of Odysseus," says Marabea.

The decree found in modern-day Turkey reveals different aspects of the cult.

"It contains an invitation to the demos (people of Magnesia) for a privileged presidency at the Odysseia [festival]," says Marabea. "We cannot be exactly sure what took place at this festival but it probably involved athletic games and theatrical performances of epic poems." 

At the Odysseia festival, there may have been events inspired by Odysseus' exploits in the Homeric poem, such as discus-throwing and archery, says Joel Christensen, professor of classics at The City University of New York. Animal sacrifices to the hero and Odysseus' divine patron Athena, the goddess of wisdom, are also likely to have taken place, he says.

Sanctuaries dedicated to mythological heroes were common throughout the ancient Greek world, where the lines between myth and reality were somewhat fluid.

"As the Greeks were colonising and trading throughout the Mediterranean, they took their gods and heroes and stories with them, and mythical figures who travelled a lot became really important," says Christensen.

Mythical heroes such as Hercules, also known as Heracles, who ventured out to complete his 12 labours; and Jason, who set out on a quest to steal the Golden Fleece, "all show up at different cult sites", says Christensen. There was cult worship of Heracles in Rome as early as 600BC and a sanctuary dedicated to the hero on the Greek island of Thasos, he adds. 

Hero cult worship is "about the creation of identity and about affiliating your local group and your family with something bigger", says Christensen.

"The cult hero site fulfills this very important human need to have proximity to the divine," he says. The heroes were considered "demigods, who are rooted near us and give us access to the divine. The closest analogue in the modern world is probably Christian saints."

Odysseus is "a figure who transcends the boundaries of life and death," Christensen adds. In book 11 of the Odyssey, the hero descends into the underworld to consult a prophet about his homeward journey. "He talks to the dead and comes back…he is a powerful vehicle for moving from one domain to another."

Cult hero sites also helped put Greek city-states on the map. As the independent states develop a shared Greek (pan-Hellenic) culture, "they start to write themselves into a common narrative", says Christensen. The Odyssey most likely started out as oral poems which were eventually written down.

"The epics are part of a living, vibrant mythical tradition that over time favours Trojan War narratives over others, in part because of the development of a larger Greek identity," he says. "As the Odyssey made the leap from local narratives to a pan-Hellenic narrative, the people on Ithaca identified their island and their history with Odysseus."

The artefacts unearthed in Ithaca date from the 9th Century BC right up until the Roman era (1st to 2nd Century AD). This shows that the Odyssey's legacy on Ithaca lasted "a very long time", says Marabea. 

Cult worship lasted "roughly a thousand years after the conjectured return from Troy of the legendary king to his native island (around 1200BC) and about 500 years after the composition of the Odyssey (around 750-700BC)," Marabea says.

Christensen says it is not surprising that the hero and the tale of the Odyssey left such a mark. "We now live in a culture of television and radio. Before all that, myths were the threads that knitted different communities together," he says. "As a travelling figure, Odysseus is one of the best ancient heroes to do that."

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