The science behind the myth: Homer's "Odyssey" - Matt Kaplan
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- Опубліковано 9 лис 2015
- View full lesson: ed.ted.com/lessons/the-science...
Homer's "Odyssey" recounts the adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus during his journey home from the Trojan War. Though some parts may be based on real events, the encounters with monsters, giants and magicians are considered to be complete fiction. But might there be more to these myths than meets the eye? Matt Kaplan explains why there might be more reality behind the "Odyssey" than many realize.
Lesson by Matt Kaplan, animation by Mike Schell.
I've always heard the plant Hermes gives Odysseus was "Holy Moly" hence where we get the expression from
Matthew Laing It would be holy if given by the gods so technically it could be called Holy Moly.
I Randomly Post Everything I agree
Ohhhhh.... Now I know .
Thnx
I think that it is from holy guacamole, and holy moly is short for that. Maybe
Nah it comes from "Holy Moses" just a minced up "clean" version. Was a popular saying with old superheros.
So Odysseus and his crew were high the whole time? Does this explain how they meet a Cyclops or listen to Sirens?
Whatever they're ingesting makes them waaaaay too creative in their storytelling.
+Zedfinite You know, being out in the open sea for too long can give you some hallucination. Just go out and ask some fisherman nowaday and you got difference kind of crazy stories already :))))
+Sand Shadow Actually after looking it up Jimson Weed is also known as Angles Trumpet which has been used/known to cause someone to forget and cause someone to hallucinate
+Anton K but greeks are seafarers and traders. there may be a loose evidence they might have heard of these herbs, by word of mouth from others.
+Anton K I feel that when they refer to Jimson's Weed, they're referring to the entire genus, not just the single species in North America. All members of the genus have the same hallucinatory effect, and there is a species native to Tunisia, which would have been very accessible to the Greek.
Please can you do more episodes like this? Uncovering the truths in myths and legends?
You might like a show that was on the history channel called "Clash of the Gods." In it they go over popular myths and the historical events that may have caused it. They have 2 episodes that go really deep into The Odyssey.
asaavedra0327 Yeah, I saw the show :)
I love it and wish they'd make more!
"Myths are just truths we've forgotten."
I highly recommend you to read 'The hero with a thousand faces' by J. Campbell
Euhemerism - myths are distorted accounts of real historical events, history in disguise
I love the art in this! Fantastic.
Odyseeus is usually depicted with a beard
*+CybeargPlays* Reminds me a bit of _Another World_.
Hanrui Huang
It is Art ;)
It is free of interpretation
bricknose tru
bricknose mee tooooooo
I think all fables and stories hide a truth in them that people often do not attempt to look for or consider. As language, slang and poetic meaning changes throughout the centuries, many of the old stories we have heard and thought of as entirely made up possibly hide very important truths and knowledge within them.
I agree. Also, I love your username.
SnowLeopard84 fangirl lol yeah
Vbgbcvtthfhtf
They used to be considered truth, but modern times translate things differently thus turning them into seemingly fiction
qht you just said sounded very deep and meaningful and barely understood any of it lol
Is it possible that the telling of the Odyssey was a way for people to remember how to take care of themselves, when not every home had manuscripts or every town a healer? If you tell this tale to children, as they go through life they remember how Odysseus overcame his obstacles and therefore can overcome their own.
RustyRC83 Rc some stories could have had that purpose, even if it wasn't intentional. But it is generally thought that the Odyssey came about just as many other Greek stories did - as a way to entertain the crowds. During early Greek history, especially the Greek Dark Age (so somewhat before the Odyssey was written down), travelling poets (rhapsodes, something similar to bards) were really popular in Greece. Many (or all) of the stories they were telling basicall had the same structure and same fillers, which served as an easier way to remember the story, so you can retell it a bunch of times. These fillers and structure are visible in both the Illiad and the Odyssey and some other myths that were written down (but with the latter, mostly fillers are visible because they weren't always written in verse). Anyway, some other details of the stories often changed because the stories were long, and it was hard to remember everything without writing it down (which they didn't do), plus the same basic story was retold by more than one bard. That's why you have more than one version for basically every Greek myth, including the Odyssey (because 'Homer's Odyssey' is only one version, but the most well known one). And among the things that changed sometimes were the descriptions of plants, so I doubt the main purpose of the stories was what you said, but I definitely agree that it had a part. After all, many myths and stories in various folklores were more or less cautionary tales.
It's more than that. The Iliad and the Odyssey are like an enciclopedia: they contained all the knowledge of the ancient Greek civilization of circa 700/600BC, from plants (such as in this case), to society (like in the Odyssey, where almost every class of the society is described) to other more practical tasks as to how to build a raft (again in the Odyssey).
I had the same thought!
Eh, doubt it's that sophisticated really. But fun fact: Homer probably was only the first guy to write the story down, because these tales were usually memorised and told by bards and passed on verbally only. Which is evidenced by known traditions, and the fact that the tale is a lot more captivating told than read. There is a little bit of science behind it, but the gist is: It's nicer to listen to it, than to read it.
Odysseus did Molly guys...
I didn't know your mother was named Molly. :p
ThisisNOTCONNECTED TOMYUA-cam Oh man. Anyone got some ice?
Does this mean I'm bad, because my name is Molly...
Moly*
It should mean that you were a gift from a gods, and have the power to stop poisonous witches.
So, Odysseus and his pals went on a drug vacation, and The Odyssey turns out to be an encrypted map with all the addresses of recommended dealers? Wow. Never thought of that. Pretty cool stuff.
A year long vacation! They sure enjoyed themselves for the time, and without even realizing the time they spent. Yeah, totally.
yes
"To good to be true". That pretty much sums up most of the Greek mythos
When the lesson writer narrates, it always makes me feel better... a change, once in a while, is good
Please do The Illiad!
Tim Severin attempted to recreate the journey in an authentic boat from the era, and he identified numerous real features along the way which could have led to the legendary features in the story
They was popping Molly back in Odyssey's time ?!?
Fig Newton AYYYE THEY KNEW HOW TO GET TUUUUUUUUUUURNT THOOOOO
they were feeling like rockstars
That's why it took them so much to get back home, the Bros were chasin the dragon
Doc Fig shook
Moly
I want more of this. Explain the whole book!
Love it! I study archeology, so at University this is considered to be basic knowledge, it's great to see, that so many people watch and like these videos. Hopefully this will make people like me getting less bullied in school, because greek mythology is definitely not boring or useless.
I just love the way you guys make everything so simple to understand.
Odysseus aka Man of Many Devices. Or should I say "Nobody"...
+Dayz 3O6 thats not what πολυμηχανος means...but a man of many tricks.
***** I've read the Iliad and that is one of his title. The other being "King of Ithaka" and "Odysseus the cunning".
no you misunderstood me. i mean "Man of Many Devices" in greek is πολυμηχανος,which really means a man of many tricks and not of many devices.
***** I think the book mistranslated it.
Dayz 3O6 could be
Oh My God I've been binge watching all of these and now its the end I NEED MORE GUYS
Very interesting. This shows how myth, legend, stories and reality are conected at a certsin degree. I immediately remembered about the "snowdrop" from Stardust having similar "counter effect" to an ailment as stated here.
This is amazingly eye-opening. Thank you.
An excellent connection of the ancient masterpiece with contemporary science.
The animation & art here is amazing!
I read a book about early medicine in which the herb moly was translated as garlic. Garlic has a black root when subjected to a carmelization process (Google black garlic), it has a white or purple compound flower head (color depends on variety) and it was thought to be proof against magic and evil supernatural creatures. I wish I could remember which book it was. I will cite it if I remember or come across the book again.
Did you remember
Waiting for you to remember
This makes perfect sense, and today reconstructing myths is all the rage. In India, there is such a diverse mythological background to everything we do, and it's origins are now coming to focus. Look up Devdutt Pattanaik and his books, on the Ramayan and Mahabharat, they are absolutely fascinating.
this should be a series for other fictional stories it would be awesome
Awesome!!!
I really appreciate your this humble effort!!
This story gives an entirely new meaning to "popping molly".
Need more episodes and examples on the science behind myths, please!
Please do more scientific interpretations of myths.
awesome! never even thought of it this way
in the book of "Adventures in Human Being" Gavin Francis mentions about how Homeros describes battles at Iliad in a very specific way. So the book is about body parts and when Gavin is talking about collarbone he quotes from Iliad and mentions how Homeros knew nerves and stuff to be wrote in that specific way.
an absolutely fantastic video
Please ! Please ! Please make more videos like this, on other epic poems or myths.
This was great...
Looking forward to see Ondine's curse art
Very nice lesson...I learn more from here than in school I was attending..
What a wonderful animation 😍
Ahhh! Reminded me of my teacher back when I was 13.
MrMac5150 Lol... I'm way passed 15.
I sent a message to my English teacher after watching this video.
Great video
Great Explanation
Amazing illustrated animaltion
Fascinating! A great example of how important knowledge was recorded and preserved in mythology by our remote - and remarkably smart - ancestors.
More ancient science at Homer the Astronomer-1 and Homer-the-Astronomer-2
Very Cool. And great Artwork.
It helped us very much dude
Good timing
Thank you so much
Can you guys upload more riddles? I love trying to figure them out and telling them to my friends
Fascinating!
This is amazing
I love your vids because I'm leaning so much and its fun to learn because of the little cartoon
More myths! Please
With time, stories become myths, myths become legends.
Most myths have a base in reality, but the older the story, the more "mythical" the telling becomes and the original events are harder to identify.
We can still easily see that today in a nutshell with the "broken phone" exercise.
If you want to know more about the herbs given by Hermes and similar truths behind myths, I highly suggest you read “Science of the Magical” by Matt Kaplan. It’s very good and quite witty. It feels not like a textbook or a scientific report, but rather a series of stories, told by someone with a joyous fascination.
Too quiet audio, you should make it a bit louder generally
I know this is 3 years in the future but you are so right !
@@malaanandakumar2906 I know this is 2 months in the future but you are also right.
@@jacobwiessner7650 I know this is 4 days in the future, but I don't agree 😂
jacob wiessner I know this is 4 months in the future but you are also right!
@@curiousbench I know this is one day in the future but you are right too!
Awesome videos man👍🏻
+Marcos Zarate Awesome epics, Homer.
Locals knew of these herbs and was simply common knowledge, that a gifted writer would absolutely use it in a good story, such as this one.
Highly glorious!
when I woke up today I didn't expect to become absolutely shooketh
Fascinating.
Wow it makes those ancient myths 10x more magical.
Very informative
Very interesting.
This blew my mind
You know its good content when they pronounce everything right ✅
Beautiful
I'm relating this part of the Odyssey to the scene in the movie "O, brother where art thou?" (Which was actually based off of the Odyssey.) When one of the sirens at the river are feeding Everett poison.
I looked up the plant and we have it in Holland as well. It's called a sneeuwklokje (litteral translation: snowclock). Pretty neat :)
Do one for Illiad!
excellent
Wow awesome tidbit 👌
It is a good story to help my son with his project.
Great lesson woven into this story. Ironic that ecstasy is tag named " molly" as well. LOL
Science is so fascinating ❤️❤️❤️❤️
More. Of this specifically. Thx.
So interesting
0:23 I absolutely *LOVE* the fact that you say the word considered
It's one of those books I probably need to read like "The Divine Comedy" and "Finnegan's Wake".
I am learning about this
it's fascinating how people can dislike Ted videos specially this kind....
So funny, walking by the beach I found this beautiful plant and decided to bring it home. It was Jimson Wed.
anyone watching in 2019 7th of apr ? and i find these fun to watch.
I saw a documentary a while ago about how Scylla and Charybdis probably referred to a dangerous navigation area which Odysseus would have had to take between Troy and Ithaca.
fascinating
Wow I've heard of the odessey but got interested in it when I saw it on a mission impossible movie
interesting episode:)
Odysseus wasn’t looking for Molly, but I’ll bet he’s glad he found her.
The voice volume is much lower than other videos so I tune up mine then the outro music became too loud.
This is why i like stories
1:00 Some corrections. First, the spell is in the food, and second, it was HOGS and PIGS, not just animals.
Odysseus also had a run in with some pygmies on a small island that sounds a lot like the pygmies of North Sentinel Island.
Is there anyone besides me who enter in a single video and cant just stop it !
"Holy Moly!" Yes, that's where the saying comes from!
Much better voiceover to the video
I really like the idea of ancient cultures using myths to convey information. It would certainly make sense from an evolutionary perspective; our brains are built to recall stories, much more so than facts, and the major advantage humans had that allowed them to build complex societies was our ability to build upon previous knowledge by inter-generational transmission of information. Storytelling could have evolved as a way to easily convey pertinent information, such as which plants could cure which illnesses. Obviously this theory isn't really falsifiable, but it's still a nice thought.
That is true. Ancient cultures knew many things that got lost to us due to the dark middle ages, and we are just researching them now.
As a Pharmacist i really appreciate the history of Pharmacognosy
Module bought me here😂😂❤
Yes those herbs were known to Greeks but Oddyseas voyage to Ithaca is a deeper meaning of our deeper self/soul back home... I have yet to find such analysis in English but in Greek the symbolisms taught in some schools and from some teachers who have a deeper.understaning of what was Odyssey about .
Cool! :D
interesting!!!
I'm confused by the mention of Jimson Weed (i.e. Datura species) as a potential connection here as it's native to the new world and probably wouldn't have been in the Mediterranean during the time of the Odyssey. Am I missing something here?
Moly is snowdrop! I had white capsicum flowers growing in my pot which I thought how Moly would have 'looked'. Pretty close. :)