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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The part that worries me most is what we DON’T know. Earlier archaeological surveys often covered much narrower strips than today’s construction corridor. Some sites may be damaged before archaeologists ever get a chance to find them. /6

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Now the bulldozers are back. Crews are clearing land near Quitobaquito Springs, a sacred O’odham place in Organ Pipe. And the Tohono O’odham Nation is fighting a separate wall project along its own reservation boundary. /5

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

During Trump’s first term, contractors used explosives at Monument Hill in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The Tohono O’odham Nation said the blasting damaged a sacred ancestral place. A later GAO investigation documented those concerns. /4

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

And Las Playas isn’t isolated. The border cuts through an extraordinary archaeological landscape: ancient trails, rock art, farming settlements, sacred springs, burial places, and sites nobody has found yet. This landscape has been lived in for millennia. /3

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

This is Las Playas. It’s an enormous intaglio scraped into the desert. You can see its outline from above. But from ground level, it looks like… basically nothing. That’s the problem. Some archaeological sites are almost invisible unless you know exactly what to look for /2

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

They knew this 1,000-year-old archaeological site was here. It had been mapped, published, and reported to the agencies responsible for the land. Trump's border-wall contractors bulldozed right through it /1 Link: youtu.be/A4U6q76eqUM

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

3 yrs ago, we posted our 1st scripted/edited YouTube video, "The Top 6 Penis Bones in Archaeology" youtu.be/h3I9ny2O8XI Today we reached 100,000 subscribers In that time, we've amassrd over 6 million views & 1.3 million watch hours. Onwards and upwards! Thanks for watching and sharing our videos

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Climate change is causing a weird one for archaeology. Amazing lost sites and ancient artifacts are appearing around the world, while countless sites are at risk of destruction Cropmarks, melting glaciers, submerged cities, wildfires, coastlines, and more Link to full video: youtu.be/j7zKtiEwFM8

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Look ma! I'm famous for *checks notes* sharing evidence for why the pyramids are tombs. Huge win for those dead Pharaohs

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

NEW VIDEO! Milo Rossi joins me for an epic double debunk. Filippo Biondi's claims about a second Sphinx and pyramids megastructures are BS. But when Miniminuteman tried to debunk them, he missed a LOT So I debunked the debunker to his face and exposed Biondi's fraud Link: youtu.be/7RvVbpZJerM

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Controversial opinion: the most historically inaccurate part of the Odyssey is when the sailors just ignored the lions on Circe's island instead of doing this:

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

It's a real shame Nolan couldn't work this scene into his film. It would've been a banger

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

The next blockbuster: The Sea People Heroes: Rameses the Great & Ammurapi of Ugarit Villain: Odysseus Plot twist: climate change caused mass migration Final scene: Phoenician makes it out of Ugarit with an iron sword Film-making twist: archaeologists consulted Chris Nolan: call me Visuals:

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Do you hear that? That's the sound of a million scholars around the world rejoicing as people turn away from their phones towards books written thousands of years ago

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Nope. You are making assumptions about Classicists and citing non-Classicists There are multiple scholarly publications taking it seriously as an adaptation Here's two more. If you want to make a point about classics scholarship to a classicist who has taught this then cite classics scholarship

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I'll end with one of my favorite representations of Odysseus: as a fat, naked man sailing on a raft made of wine amphoras. It's a comic piece from Thebes We think of these myths as serious, epic stories. And they were. But not always. Sometimes they were just funny /end

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

It is fun to read ancient art & myth They're far more than still images. They tell a story in a complex way, using clever devices to depict the passing of time and space while also showing pathos or emotion Art is as valuable as Homer's text for understanding these myths /12

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

In this example, Achilles and Ajax are both named & calling out their scores, with words coming out of their mouths. In every example like this, Achilles is winning In this sense, ancient Greek art is like a modern comic book. With labels and the characters even speaking words /11

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

These scenes worked because everyone knew the story. They recognized features & could 'read it' But we also have art of lost myths This one's famous: Ajax & Achilles playing dice on the beach at Troy. This fun scene shows up hundreds of times. It was popular! But it's not in surviving texts. /10

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

3) Odysseus and his sailors with Circe 4) Odysseus in Hades meeting the dead shades These individual scenes are synoptic or panoramic, but together they are a progressive narrative, telling a sequential story It's so much quicker than a 3 hour film, but you could ponder for hours over wine /9

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

And we can see a full combo of these methods in these four Roman wall paintings from the Via Graziosa showing the Odyssey 1) Odysseus meets the Laestrygonian princess, leading to violence 2) the Laestrygonians destroy the ships, with Odysseus alone escaping to Circe's island

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Another fun way to tell a myth in art is a panorama of an event We can see this here with the Fall of Troy. Multiple events taking place in different parts of the city are all represented together around the pot in a single panoramic narrative. Same time-frame but different spaces /8

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Another way of conveying a story is to have the main character repeat in different scenes Here we see Odysseus sharpening the stake in the fire right next to an image of Odysseus blinding the Cyclops This style of artistic storytelling is called a continuous narrative /7

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Circe's story is frequently depicted in such a synoptic manner with a fun combo of half-humans and half-pigs. Look at the multiple narratives you can pick out in this one image! Given the visceral nature of Nolan's Circe scene, I really wonder if ancient art inspired him here /6

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

This image of Circe is one of my favorites as it combines all the above: compressing multiple moments of her vignette into one image, while inaccurately representing a sailor as half-human/half-pig for easy identifiability /5

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Another trick was to compress multiple moments of a narrative into a single image The earliest image of the Cyclops in Greek art compresses: 1) the wine the cyclops drank to pass out, and 2) the later blinding This is called a synoptic narrative, and the Greeks loved it for mythical scenes /4

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Oftentimes, the ancient Greek images of myth were inaccurate. For good reason too! The earliest depiction of the Trojan Horse is not photorealistic. There were no windows in it, but this inaccuracy conveys the hidden details that reveal the story of the Greeks inside /3

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

In our world of moving pictures, it's difficult to comprehend how a still picture can tell a story The simplest way is an image is a stand-in for a story Odysseus under the ram reveals prompts the entire Cyclops story This is a monoscenic narrative. Don't worry, it gets more complicated! /2

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Everyone's comparing Nolan's Odyssey to Homer, but I think there's much more richness The ancient Greeks adapted the Odyssey into ART While these images might appear static to us, I want to walk through how an ancient Greek saw art: AS DYNAMIC STORYTELLING like our films 1/13

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

It isn't until the Medieval period that the image of sirens shifts into fishy women or the mermaids that we think of today The first example of this is the Bern Physiologus Siren (left), ca. 850 AD, and then the mermaid-sirens become popular in Medieval art up till today /4

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Some portrayals lean more into portraying them as winged women, not too dissimilar from a modern portrayal of an angel However, this art is earlier (the one on the left is 350 BC), so don't think Christianity influenced it /3

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Homer doesn't describe the physical appearance of the sirens, but ancient art consistently portrays them as bird-women Most ancient paintings, statues, coins, etc lean into their bird-body. The ancients saw the sirens differently from us Do you like them as birds? /2

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

One detail Nolan got wrong in The Odyssey is a key detail that EVERY SINGLE ADAPTATION of the Odyssey has gotten wrong for centuries In ancient Greece, the sirens were NOT voluptuous mermaids. They were birds with human heads A short thread of sirens in art 1/5

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

I guess my point is that Emily is free to dislike the film But I wonder if such a viral review (which given its strength and who she is meant it would go viral) I wonder if it isn't shooting ourselves in the feet, and diminishing the good vibes this film brings to Classics and archaeology /end

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Emily also takes inaccurate shots at Nolan about the diverse cast. None of these characters functioned in the role of "a Black friend" Himesh Patel's Eurylochus comes closest, but he was a foil for Odysseus, not a helper. Despite Zendaya playing Athena, she didn't help The rest. Not even close /7

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

And Emily gets a lot wrong in her review Odysseus's last shot at the Cyclops was not seen as good, but as bad. It incurred Poseidon's wrath The killing of the suitors is repeatedly referred to as violating Zeus's law. Odysseus forbids Telemachus to take part. Odysseus goes into exile afterwards /5

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

But this isn't why I disagree with Wilson's review In fact I even agree with many of her major critiques The dialog was terse, expository, and heavy handed (cheesy at times) Odysseus was not well rounded with too much focus on his guilt The women didn't have a chance to shine Etc etc etc /3

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

I liked the film. I found it to be VERY FUN in an action movie sort of way with a mythological/fairy tale type vibe The Circe scene was to me the high point The music was tremendous, drawing on Balkans folk music played with ancient Greek replica instruments It looked & sounded great /2

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

My dad's birthday is today. He would've been 75 Confit de canard, pommes de terre sarladaise, a good bottle of red, and Airplane on TV in his honor

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

If I could change one small narrative detail from the Odyssey to make it more faithful to Homer, I would've had the beef of the cattle of the sun mooing while being roasted. I think it would've fit the mood well, and it's straight out of Homer What detail would you change?

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

As an archaeologist of ancient Greece, I finally saw the Odyssey yesterday All I can say is "Fucking WOW" I could nitpick for hours about the armor and architecture. I could praise with detailed comparanda the jewelry and pottery and a range of interior decoration 1/4

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Four archaeologists walk into the Odyssey

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

[NEW VIDEO] Meet the translator behind Christopher Nolan's Odyssey Emily Wilson has been vilified on social media for the last two months We chat about all things Odyssey: heroes, gods, feminism, vegetarianism, and translation Watch it now! Link: youtu.be/9p5VeyX1PJE

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Little known fact, I was an extra in Christopher Nolan's the Odyssey The helmet fit perfectly

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Had a lot of fun with this one. Don't miss out if you want a different take on the Odyssey that has nothing to do with casting or mythological authenticity Just some pharmaka, lotus eaters, witch craft, and drunken mayhem The Odyssey on DRUGS youtu.be/akBLFtE7DD0

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

My public letter to him, challenging debate, is posted below

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Stop doomscrolling and start scroll-maxxing Scholars have virtually unrolled a 2000 year old philosophy scroll from Herculaneum near Pompeii I break down what's next with such tech in my latest video. 🧪 LINK: youtu.be/i7rF_5_eyIk

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Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

BREAKING NEWS. Everyone's scroll-maxxing these days about AI decoding a Herculaneum scroll But the story's much bigger than that. In my latest video, I dive into how scholars are virtually unrolling texts all over the world LINK: youtu.be/i7rF_5_eyIk

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