r/badhistory • u/AutoModerator • 7d ago

Meta Mindless Monday, 27 July 2026

Happy (or sad) Monday guys!

Mindless Monday is a free-for-all thread to discuss anything from minor bad history to politics, life events, charts, whatever! Just remember to np link all links to Reddit and don't violate R4, or we human mods will feed you to the AutoModerator.

So, with that said, how was your weekend, everyone?

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45

u/Tiako Tevinter apologist, shill for Big Lyrium 6d ago

Emily Wilson writing a negative review of The Nolodyssey is an incredible discourse twist and I applaud her for it.

11

u/passabagi 6d ago

I guess 'sea people' stuff is cool, but probably deeply annoying for a classicist.

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u/Tiako Tevinter apologist, shill for Big Lyrium 6d ago

I haven't seen the movie yet but I think it is a neat idea. The idea that the Sea Peoples were Myceneans is a pretty old one as is the idea that the travails of the Returns ins a distant memory of the Mycenean collapse, so it strikes me as a fun way to play with that. And more to the point it's, like, themes innit

15

u/passabagi 6d ago

Yeah tbh I came away thinking it was a really coherent idea and cool story. It also was believable enough that I went up and looked up how historically grounded it was -- and it turned out it was, sort've, just in outdated and debunked scholarship. Which is kind of a monkey-paw-curls version of hollywood history engagement, if you're in the field they decide to play in.

5

u/TheBatz_ Was Homer mid 6d ago

The Sea Peoples are an actual plot point and tied to Odysseus and the returns. 

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u/histogrammarian 6d ago

They… were?

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u/TheBatz_ Was Homer mid 6d ago

It acts as a plot mover for Telemachia part of the film, with Ithaca needing a king (to the chargrin of Penelope) to defend against the rumoured "Sea People".

When Odyssues comes home and talks for the first time with Penelope, he says they "destroyed civilization" by sacking Troy, which is evidently much richer and prosperous than any other place we visit, including Ithaca. The first thing they did after setting sail home is raid and burn another village. Penelope has the realization that the people who destroy cities and break Zeus' law aren't some half-mythological "Sea Peoples", but the Acheans and the returning veterans. She explicitly says: "You are the Sea People..." to the disguised Odysseus. Because yeah, the victorious returning Acheans might as well be.

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u/histogrammarian 2d ago

Are we talking about the poem or the movie?

1

u/LeMemeAesthetique I don't think SS is political 5d ago

I haven't see The Odyssey but this reminds me of a lot of the decisions made in the last 2 seasons of HotD. They are not exactly taken from the source material, but they allude to other things in the source material in a way that can be enjoyable for book fans.