The Odyssey

For a long time, people have been fascinated with heroes who've somehow survived great danger and brutal hardship. Back in 800 B.C.E., the Greek poet Homer composed "The Odyssey," one of the great adventure tales of all time, in which his protagonist Odysseus survives shipwrecks , encounters with myriad monsters and a wily sorcerer before finally returning to his family. While some of Odysseus' adventures were fanciful , it now turns out that he may well have been a real person. In 2010, archaeologists announced they had uncovered a palace in ancient Ithaca that fit Homer's description of the place where his hero lived.