NEW YORK – by Markos Papadatos
Emmy-nominated Greek-Australian actor Thaao Penghlis (“Days of Our Lives”) chatted with Markos Papadatos about his new podcast “The Lost Treasures.”
It is a detective story-style exploration of Greece’s biggest contribution to the world’s literature, the poet Homer.
He is known for being on “Days of Our Lives” for four decades, where he has played such villains as Count Tony DiMera and his impersonator Andre DiMera.
“The Lost Treasures” will be released on Tuesday, September 5, and it will wrap with the (fourth) conclusion episode on Tuesday October 17. The show will be available on all major podcast platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, ands iHeartRadio, among others. “There are four episodes in total, which will be coming out every two weeks,” he said. “Then, I will be looking forward to my next one.”
Penghlis has also authored the memoir “Places: The Journey of My Days, My Lives,” and the cookbook “Seducing Celebrities One Meal at a Time.”
In a Mediterranean-hopping adventure, “The Lost Treasurers” explores the Iliad and the Odyssey through the life of German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, who changed history when he discovered the real-life locations and treasures in the epic poems.
On the origin for this podcast, Penghlis said, “In 1975, I gave a book called ‘The Greek Treasure’ to Milton Katselas and I told him to do a movie on that, and then, he didn’t do anything about it.”
“I read the book three times and then I went to Troy,” he admitted. “That got me interested in going to the library in Athens, where there are 60,000 pages in there, and I went through those for a few weeks. From there, I went to the Palace of Ilion, and we went in and it was amazing, because now it is the Numismatic Museum of Athens.”
“Once I came back from Australia, I decided to develop it into a podcast, and that’s how I began it,” he said. “I read the Iliad and the Odyssey, even though I recommended them to some people and they can’t get through them because they are too complicated, especially in this day and age.”
“The Lost Treasures” was written and narrated by Penghlis. The podcast draws on his exclusive access to 60,000 pages of long-hidden documents and diaries.
“The podcast deals with Schliemann finding Troy in 1873,” he said. “What is great about the first podcast is that at the age of eight, his father gave him a book, and in the book, the kids saw the Walls of Troy, and they said that the walls are still there. So, if there was a fire that destroyed the city, that means that there is a treasure underneath all that. Schliemann had this dream as a child, and in 1873, he found it Not many kids can say that they had a dream and they found their treasure.”
“Against all odds, Heinrich Schliemann proved that the myths of Troy and the myths of Mycenae really happened,” Penghlis said. “For over two decades, my interest in this subject never waned. Two visits to Troy, five to Greece, I completed the journey, and I’m still wanting more.”
Penghlis revealed that his third podcast deals with his visit to the island of Kefalonia. “People are discovering that Argostoli, and that whole area, is the real island of Ulysses,” he said.
“In the fourth episode, I share the reason why I decided to do the podcast,” Penghlis said. “I talk about where they were trying to kidnap me by the pyramids when I was 26, when Hezbollah pulled me out of my car in Lebanon when they thought I was an Israeli spy, so they surrounded me, and they thought I was terrorist. Thank God, there was a fan who recognized me.”
“I want people to get adventure out of ‘The Lost Treasures’ podcast,” Penghlis said. “What I got out of it in a sense is that I love storytellers. It’s a great adventure, and we put special effects in this podcast.”
Penghlis also recalled being a part of Maurice Benard’s “State of Mind” podcast on mental health. “I love Maurice Benard, he is a wonderful man and a great interviewer,” he said. In that episode, they discussed Penghlis’ many travels, “Days of Our Lives,” old Hollywood and mental health.
For more information on “The Lost Treasures,” follow the podcast on Instagram and on Facebook.