Is King Odysseus, the Trojan-horse-building genius in Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, merely a figure of ancient fiction? Or was he flesh-and-blood man? In 1991, Makis Metaxas, a local politician on the Greek island of Kefalonia, discovers a 3000-year-old Mycenaean tomb. Soon, Greece’s leading archeologist, Lazaros Kolonas, begins two years of excavation. The dig culminates with the unearthing of an object that bears an uncanny resemblance to one described by Homer as a prized possession of King Odysseus. But these incredible findings only trigger a storm of controversy. The people of Kefalonia’s neighboring island, Ithaki, passionately believe they live in Odysseus’s homeland. They become angry at the prospect of losing their ancient claim … and their major draw for tourism. Political rivalries between Ithaki and Kefalonia lead to the discovery being swept aside, languishing unpublished in a dusty museum storeroom.

Now, after three decades of suppression, the story can at last be shared with the world, and the evidence found in the tomb is ready to be scientifically analyzed. Makis and his wife, Hettie Metaxas-Putman Cramer, reveal how they uncovered ancient clues in Homer’s text that lead them to search the area where they later found the tomb. And archeologist Lazaros Kolonas finally returns to the site to go on the record about whether this tomb really belonged to the legendary king, Odysseus.