The Odyssey stands as one of the foundational pillars of Western literature, recently thrust back into the spotlight following Christopher Nolan's record-breaking cinematic adaptation. Yet, the classical epic appears shockingly unfamiliar to the very people who studied it in school. Today, more than seven in ten Italians fail to accurately recall the plot, characters, and settings of Homer’s masterpiece, falling prey to hilarious blunders and pop-culture myths.

These findings come from a national survey conducted by Libreriamo, which analyzed around 1,500 online conversations. The data highlights profound gaps in basic literary knowledge: 76% of respondents incorrectly place the story of the Trojan Horse inside the Iliad or the Odyssey—ignoring that its detailed narrative actually belongs to Virgil’s Aeneid. Meanwhile, 52% attribute the Odyssey directly to Virgil himself.

The timeline of Odysseus' journey is equally distorted. For 72% of Italians, the hero spent twenty straight years battling sea monsters, overlooking the ten-year Trojan War and the eight years he spent largely stranded on the islands of Calypso and Circe. Furthermore, 79% believe Odysseus was driven purely by intellectual curiosity - a famous myth popularized by Dante Alighieri - rather than his desperate, overriding desire to return home to his wife.

The misconceptions extend to iconic figures: 91% confuse Homeric Sirens (monstrous half-woman, half-bird creatures) with mermaid-style figures from fairy tales and Disney. Another 64% picture Penelope knitting with needles - a technique nonexistent in Ancient Greece - rather than weaving on a loom. Even Telemachus is frequently reduced to a helpless child, ignoring his brave solo voyage and key role in reclaiming Ithaca. As sociologist Saro Trovato notes, pop culture has effectively cannibalized classical heritage. To protect this legacy, readers need to return to the original texts and rediscover them for real.