Replicating the “Impossible” Odysseus Arrow Shot | MythBusters Jr.

Allie, Elijah, and Rachel use a compact bow to try and replicate the impossible arrow shot from the Odyssey.

Stream Full Episodes of MythBusters Jr.:

Subscribe to Science Channel:

Like us on Facebook:

Follow us on Twitter:

Follow us on Instagram:

[henrywilson]

Whoever can string the old king's bow,
And shoot through twelve axes cleany,
Will become the new king, sit down at the throne
Penelope as his queen...

[nickgagnon]

I swear, Adam’s reactions have always been 100% candid and pure. He really stays on the show for the love of science.

[MultiGoldone]

The book is talking about the eye of the axe, which is hole the handle goes through. Not a round loop off the top.

[MechaHeretic]

Adam's "WHAT?!" and reaction at 3:27 is one of the best from him i've ever seen. Like, legitimately confused, excited, terrified, and happy at the same time. Love it.

[Panthror]

Things from the myth/legend you forgot to mention: Odysseus had a 'special' longbow only he could string, and he was stronger than any other man in his kingdom. His wife obviously knew this, and therefore knew only her husband would be able to pull off this feat.

[Dr.everything]

Mythbusters crew: wants to test a ancient myth and prove if it is possible
Also mythbusters crew: Uses a modern bow and avoids the archer’s paradox like a boss 😎

[darrennathaniel]

The Corrider Crew actually did this without a machine

[alcast]

Love how these kids have an opportunity to peruse science. I remember loving science in middle school because of one teacher, but with no resources, guidance, or support to follow through with that love killed my chances of ever pursuing science any further. So when I see these kids I’m happy that they will get a chance to make science cool for the next generation.

[-subscriberswithahammerad]

Expectations rise every second, and chances of disappointment increase exponentially

[EddieMaine]

No record? Corridor Digital did it on camera a long while ago. And they didn't use machines.

[korniliosjs]

they took mythbusters and replaced one of the co-hosts with kids... I don't get it, the point was that jamie and adam's personalities clashed and that they had different perspectives and ways to tackle the myth.

[torysaccount]

So many people comment that Corridor Digital did this last year. However, there are a few things to note:
1. Corridor had larger holes which were not metal. If they were, even a slight touch of the arrow (yes, the arrow touched the sides) would've resulted in a failure.
2. Odysseus' bow was the strongest bow ever made (according to the myth) and only he could draw it. A weak bow has naturally a greater projectile drop.
3. „Shooting though axe heads“ is a vague term. Some people cut holes into the axe heads, some add rings. But it is very likely that the holes the shafts are attached to are meant here, and shooting through multiple of those is nearly impossible.

[dwatts]

Odysseus would have had to compete with the archers paradox, which their compound bow heavily negates.

[josephmoody]

Something to keep in mind is that a "Bow-Master" would have likely had thousands of hours of practice and peer review under their belt, or to look at it in another way, today many of us drive cars, we drive them in the rain, snow, wind, we drive them in the day and at night and on roads who's condition sometimes begs the question if they deserve to be called roads and on occasions at speeds that are far far over the rated limits of the roads we drive on, and this is a skill today that we are all adept at and some we can truly say are masters of. In say 4 thousand years when all cars have been AI driven for at least a thousand years the thought that a human of thousands of years ago could drive could very well be the topic of some distant spin-off of this show where they discuss how plausible it could be that primitive humans could do such a task while they themselves are dismissive of the tools of today that we have learned to master.

[foxyowlgaming]

It was actually done already by a group of YouTubers called Corridor Crew xP

[rosedruid]

Don’t move the bow.... move the target and then the tunnel to where the bow wants to be.

[Tounushi]

In the epic, the bow was nigh-impossible to string. Therefore it's a very stiff bow. Thus a very POWERFUL bow for a powerful man. That would make the arc of the arrow launched from it flatter in that range. Then the question on the arrows: how much can they flex before hitting the rings?

[josephnai]

You should have had Olympic gold medalists Mark Nut shoot the arrow

[TheUndeadslayer]

Someone recently made a "repeating longbow" that would consistently knock the arrow in the same way every time and was technically possible to make with the technology of the time, so yes, plausible is a reasonable conclusion.

[RBT_JNES]

With a quick YouTube search I've found a video of people not only attempting this but successfully doing it.