Mathematicians have presented their own interpretation of Homer's "Odyssey."

The arts and sciences, despite their apparent differences and the conventional division into "lyricists" and "physicists," are related in one fundamental way — they are both methods of understanding the world. Science often takes an interest in creative life, sometimes literally trying to explain it or see reflections of formulas and laws within it. For instance, over a decade ago, a group of researchers identified a "killer wave" reaching heights of 20-30 meters in the famous Japanese engraving "The Great Wave off Kanagawa." Similarly, in the "drip" paintings of American expressionist Jackson Pollock, physicists discovered fractals that scaled throughout the artist's creative life.

This time, mathematicians have turned their attention to the meaning of the ancient Greek poem by Homer, "The Odyssey." Its significance for world literature is hard to overstate — the title has become synonymous with a long journey, not to mention the multitude of reinterpretations and adaptations inspired by this narrative. In short, the plot of the book revolves around the return of King Odysseus of Ithaca from the Trojan War to his homeland. Over the course of 10 years of wandering, he encounters various adventures: he finds himself in the cave of the man-eating Cyclops Polyphemus, descends into the underworld to learn his fate, and languishes on the island of the nymph Calypso, yearning for his wife and home.

However, we won’t dwell on recounting the story or veering into interpretations and literary analyses. Instead, let’s focus on the idea proposed by the scholars — their article, by the way, is published in the journal Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists. The authors of the study analyzed Odysseus's journey and particularly examined the reasons that compelled him to move in the direction he did.

In particular, they noted the winds that guided the ship carrying the heroes from Troy. Some of these currents, importantly, were controlled by the gods — at times angering Odysseus and his crew, and at other times favoring them and allowing them to sail peacefully. The specialists studied four reconstructions of the travelers' route based on different translations. Initially, they attempted to do this themselves, but were hindered by the vagueness of the information (for example, the land of the man-eating giants, the Laestrygonians, wanders from Sicily to Cuba depending on the reading).

Then the researchers created a map of the Mediterranean and marked 14 key plot points that Odysseus visited. The four reconstructions only agreed on three points: the city of Ismarus, home of the Cicones — Thrace, Greece; the location of the Lotus-eaters, who consume lotus flowers — the island of Djerba, Tunisia; and the coordinates of Scylla and Charybdis — the Strait of Messina between Sicily and Calabria, Italy. For the remaining points, interpretations sometimes diverge by thousands of kilometers, occasionally contradicting the "data" provided by Homer. At this stage, the mathematicians concluded that it was impossible to reconstruct Odysseus's path — and focused on Homer's ideas instead.

The question "What did the author want to convey?" is far from trivial, as is often assumed. The researchers, also relying on the text of the "Iliad," which is dedicated to the Trojan War (with "The Odyssey" serving as a sequel to this story), attempted to determine what Homer was trying to communicate to his readers. They combined two concepts.

The first explains the reason why the Greek warrior Ajax steps forward to fight the Trojan Hector — fate. It points to the randomness that dictates the course of history. Weather as a chaotic system or the uncontrolled actions of the ship's crew are also explained by chance — it drives the plot of "The Odyssey." At the same time, there are winds controlled by the gods or a route marked by the stars. According to the researchers, this embodies the idea of determinism (the second concept), the interconnectedness of all existence, and the cause-and-effect relationships between processes and phenomena.

"From our perspective, Homer is trying to convey to us that chance and determinism are interconnected," the authors of the study explain their conclusion. "This synergy between rules and randomness makes them both equally important in the universe. One cannot exist without the other. They intertwine with each other, just like facts and fiction in a novel. It’s remarkable how great writers and artists, lacking any formal training in mathematics and physics, exhibit their intuition regarding some unknown mathematical or physical concept."