USC Football’s Greek Mythology Problem: A Second Costly Blunder in Two Years

The University of Southern California’s athletic department has once again stumbled into an embarrassing oversight involving ancient Greek literature, this time capitalizing on Christopher Nolan’s recently released film “The Odyssey.” The football program unveiled a promotional poster mimicking the movie’s design, declaring “Our Odyssey begins August 29” alongside the iconic Trojan helmet. While visually striking and timely, the messaging carries a fundamental problem that should have been caught during the approval process.

Homer’s “The Odyssey” follows the Greek hero Odysseus as he spends 10 years returning home after the Trojan War. The narrative begins only after the Greeks have annihilated the city of Troy, killed its greatest warriors, and devastated its population. By the time the epic story starts, the Trojans have already lost spectacularly, making them the defeated antagonists rather than heroes worthy of emulation.

This represents the second consecutive marketing misstep for a program whose mascot directly references Troy’s mythological inhabitants. Before the 2024 season, USC released a high-production hype video depicting players emerging from the Trojan Horse to charge into battle. The historical irony escaped the creators: the Greeks, not the Trojans, hid inside the wooden structure. The Trojans foolishly brought it into their city, then were slaughtered when Greek soldiers emerged and opened the gates.

The situation grows more absurd when examining the team’s 2026 schedule. USC opens its season on August 29 against San Jose State, a program nicknamed the Spartans. In promoting a campaign built around a story of Troy’s destruction, the Trojans have inadvertently framed their upcoming opponent as representatives of the ancient Greek forces that conquered them.