USC Missteps in Leveraging “The Odyssey” for Football Promotion

It appears that USC lacks dedicated literature courses, particularly those covering ancient Greece.

Christopher Nolan’s film “The Odyssey” premiered on Friday, and the USC football team attempted to join the conversation by posting “Our Odyssey begins August 29” on X, referencing their season opener.

The problem is that Homer’s 8‑century epic follows Odysseus’s ten‑year return home after the Trojan War — the same historic city that inspired USC’s nickname.

The literary Trojans never experienced an odyssey.

Indeed, Troy was sacked and destroyed in Homer’s earlier “Iliad,” leaving only a handful of survivors.

College football fans reacted as one might expect.

“Wow, this is absolutely fantastic work,” one fan said sarcastically. “Did you hire a Notre Dame or UCLA grad to run the Twitter account or something?”

USC has historic rivalries with both institutions.

The nickname “Trojans” was adopted in 1912 after a sports editor noted the fighting spirit of the school’s athletes when competing against larger programs.

Prior to that, USC sports teams were known as the Methodists or Wesleyans.

A recent parallel to USC’s fluctuating fortunes can be drawn with Odysseus’s ten‑year wandering, saying “almost there” after a long absence.

Regardless of whether this proves to be an odyssey, USC will launch its 2026 campaign on Aug. 29 against Mountain West opponent San Jose State.

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