Homer’s legendary Odyssey will be brought to life by reconstructing an ancient ship using age-old techniques and setting sail across the Aegean, blending mythology, history and sustainability.
The 360 Degree History Research Association has rebuilt a traditional “Hippoi” vessel without nails, using the kavela-zıvana method, and adorned it with a horse-head figure at its bow – a design rooted in Phoenician maritime culture. The project, titled "In the Footsteps of Homer with Hippoi," will launch its voyage in the Aegean Sea, retracing the routes of myth and memory.
“This journey is not only a historical reenactment, but also a call to merge the heritage of the past with the vision of the future,” said Mualla Erkurt, the association’s president. “It represents a passage from the darkness of war to the light of peace and knowledge.”
The project draws inspiration from the aftermath of the Trojan War, when Mediterranean civilizations slipped into a dark age. Erkurt noted that the horse figure in Homer’s Iliad may have reflected seafaring traditions rather than legend alone, pointing to the Hippoi ships that once symbolized strength and protection across the Mediterranean.
An ancient tablet engraved with 13 verses of the Odyssey was unearthed in southern Greece in 2018, in what is possibly the earliest-recorded trace of the epic poem.
First composed orally around the 8th century BC, the epic – which is attributed to ancient Greek author Homer -– was later transcribed during the Christian era onto parchment of which only a few fragments have been discovered in Egypt.
