Scientists: We've Got Ulysses' Palace

The legendary Greek king Odysseus—known as Ulysses to the Romans—really existed, according to archeologists who say they've found his palace on the island of Ithaca in the Ionian Sea. The three-story, 8th-century BC structure the team has unearthed comes from the right era and "fits like a glove" with Homer's description of the palace in the Odyssey, the archeologists say.

The archaeologists claim that despite the Cyclops and the Sirens, Homer's epic is rooted in truth. Other scholars are skeptical, maintaining that Odysseus, Achilles, and the other characters in the Odyssey are purely fictional, as was the Trojan War itself. "Whether this find has a connection with Ulysses or not is interesting up to a certain point, but more important is the discovery of the royal palace," an Italian archaeologist tells the Telegraph. (More Homer stories.)