Homer's Odyssey? I Missed That Episode

A poll conducted by AOL and Mark Burnett Productions ahead of its online reality show "Gold Rush" finds that more people know Homer from the Simpsons than Homer's work on "The Odyssey" or "The Iliad."

first and foremost in the hearts and minds of Ionian media consumers, so it may be understandable that the typical iPodding web surfer knows Homer Simpson better. The national poll conducted by AOL and Burnett found that Americans are more familiar with the Seven Dwarfs, The Three Stooges, Harry Potter, Homer Simpson and Superman than the news of the day, world leaders or classic literature. Yes, even now, Europeans are lifting their pinkies in disdain in our general direction. Some 77 percent of Americans polled knew at least two of the dwarfs from the classic story, "Snow White." Only 24 percent could name two out of the nine sitting So rejoice and enjoy the next episode of "American Idol." You aren't dumb, you're just retaining pop culture more effectively. Take that, Europe! Tag: Add to Del.icio.us | Digg | Yahoo! My Web | Furl Bookmark Murdok: David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.