Global Explorers Recreate the Odyssey in Record-Breaking Circumnavigation
SYDNEY, Australia – An international team of 12 explorers has completed a 17-month voyage, successfully recreating "the odyssey" described in Homer's ancient epic by circumnavigating the globe using only replica Bronze Age vessels, officials confirmed Wednesday.
WHO: The expedition, dubbed Project Nostos (Greek for "homecoming") and led by Australian maritime archaeologist Dr. Helena Thorne, involved nine crew members from seven countries, including Greek navigator Dimitris Pappas and New Zealander navigator, as well as three support personnel.
WHAT: The crew sailed a fleet of three, 40-foot wooden ships, modeled on approximately 12th-century BCE Greek and Phoenician designs, without any modern navigational aids such as GPS, compasses, or motorized propulsion. They covered roughly 26,000 nautical miles, relying solely on celestial navigation, currents, and wind patterns to trace the legendary route from Troy to Ithaca and beyond.
WHEN: The expedition launched from the coast of modern-day Turkey on March 15, 2023, and made landfall at Sydney Harbor at 10:47 a.m. local time on today's date, August 20, 2024, setting a new world record for the longest unassisted human-powered sea journey. The final leg from New Guinea was completed in 22 days.
WHERE: The journey took the crew across the Mediterranean Sea, through the Strait of Gibraltar, across the Atlantic Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, past the southern Indian Ocean, and finally into the Pacific, concluding in Australia. The team faced historically recorded challenges, including a six-week calm in the Sargasso Sea and a near-devastating storm near Tasmania.
WHY: Project Nostos aimed to empirically test the logistical viability of ancient transoceanic trade routes and to counter academic theories that such voyages were