ATHENIAN ODYSSEY: A UNIQUE GUIDE TO EXPERIENCING ANCIENT ATHENS

What was built, why it mattered, and how it still speaks to us today.

Athenian Odyssey, written by William M. Taylor and first published in 1977, is a profound and accessible guide to 5th-century BCE Athens — a time and place many consider the pinnacle of human achievement. More than a tour, this is an odyssey into the soul of a civilization: its politics, art, myth, and philosophy.
Unlike conventional guidebooks that list dates and monuments, Athenian Odyssey explores how ancient sites were used, what they meant to the Athenians who built them, and how those meanings still echo in us today. Drawing on ancient texts, dramatic speeches, and thoughtful commentary, it invites you to walk the same roads as Pericles and Socrates, not just to see where they stood — but to consider why they still matter.
Whether you’re standing on the Acropolis or reading from home, this journey into Athens' Golden Age reveals the symbolic and psychological power of its temples, theaters, and ceremonies — and the tension between reason and myth that still shapes Western consciousness.

“It helps to breathe life into those cold stones… Athenian Odyssey will be stimulating and challenging to the thoughtful reader.”
— Stephen G. Miller, Ph.D., emeritus director of excavations at Nemea, Greece, UC Berkeley

HOW THE APP WORKS

* Follow curated Journeys anchored in geography and history

* Dive into narrative Passages with ancient context and modern insight

* Unlock Supporting Passages for deeper site-specific reflection

* Explore interactively with rich imagery and map-based navigation

WHAT YOU'LL EXPLORE

Main Journey: Athenian Odyssey

* A Geographical Overview of 5th-Century BCE Athens

* The Agora – Marketplace of Ideas and Democracy

* The Areopagus – The Road to Reason and the Unconscious

* The Acropolis – Sanctuary to Athena

* The Pnyx – The Right to Speak

* The Theater of Dionysos – The Theater of Catharsis

* The Kerameikos – The Speech from the Graves

Second Journey: The Rise and Fall of Athens

* A 26-step timeline tracing key events from the Battle of Marathon to the trial and death of Socrates.

POWERED BY JOURNEY MAPS

Built on the Journey Maps platform — a patent-pending system for immersive geographic storytelling — Athenian Odyssey blends narrative, location, and reflection into a living, guided experience of the past.

WHY ITS DIFFERENT

This is not a logistics-focused travel guide. It’s a philosophical and symbolic pilgrimage. Through it, you’ll explore Athens not only as it was — but as it lives within us now.

“All of us, to some extent, are what we are because of the Greeks.”
— William M. Taylor, 1977

ONE-TIME PURCHASE

* No subscriptions

* No ads

* Own the full experience — forever