Odysseus' fictitious experiences have a remarkable analogue in a very real and very specific group of sea raiders, the Šrdn, who set upon Egypt in their ships around the same time Odysseus claims to have carried out his ill–fated raid. This people is of uncertain origin, but their story is extraordinarily similar to the tales that make up Odysseus' Cretan Lie: years of successful maritime raiding culminating in an ill–fated attempt on the Nile Delta, followed by a sojourn in Egypt during which they were valued as a part of society and made prosperous for their efforts. The two stories diverge as Odysseus' seven year stay in Egypt draws to a close: while the nostos that makes up the Odyssey’s macronarrative dictated that its hero move on, those Šrdn who settled in Egypt were able to create a new home for themselves in the land of the pharaohs, complete with wives, children, and land they could pass down through generations.
Cretan Lie and Historical Truth: Examining Odysseus’ Raid on Egypt in its Late Bronze Age Context, Jeffrey P. Emanuel (2012).
Sea Peoples ship from the naval battle depicted at Medinet Habu, crewed by possible Šrdn fighters (1175 BC; after Epigraphic Survey 1930, Plate 39).