The Odyssey of Gamma 58

The Odyssey of Gamma 58

From Ancient Lives with Mary Beard by BBC Radio 4

July 14, 2026 · 28 min

About this episode

Mary Beard explores the archaeological findings related to a Mycenaean woman known as Gamma 58 and their implications for understanding history and myth.

When the German archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, pulled a shining mask from the bone-dry earth of Mycenae he is said to have telegraphed the King of Greece with the words, ‘I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon’. The unearther of Troy was convinced that he had found more proof that the stories of Homer were based on historical fact. Here was the grave of one of the legendary commanders of the Greek forces in the Trojan War. Later analysis rubbished Schliemann’s romantic notions, but the graves on this hillside high above the Aegean hold many more fascinating secrets and, in this episode, Mary asks what we can learn from the bones and elaborate grave goods of a Mycenaean woman that archaeologists have labelled, Gamma 58. Homer’s stories of war, adventure, family and homecoming never lose their appeal. Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey is released in cinemas this month and Ralph Fiennes played Odysseus in last year’s highly acclaimed The Return. That film's director, Uberto Pasolini joins Mary and the novelist and historian Emily Hauser in a search for the real people that lie between myth and history. Gamma 58 isn’t Helen of Troy or Odysseus’s Penelope but she has her own story to…

People in this episode

Host: Mary Beard

Guests: Uberto Pasolini, Emily Hauser

Topics covered

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Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Exeter University, Francis Crick Institute, British School at Athens

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