Is Today’s Ithaca Homer’s Ithaca? The Controversy Over Odysseus’ True Homeland

Ithaca island, Greece. Credit: flickr / Zhang Yu CC BY-SA 2.0

The Odyssey, composed by Homer successful the seventh period BCE, tells the communicative of Odysseus connected his travel location to Ithaca aft the Trojan War. The mean mentation is that Homer’s Ithaca is the aforesaid arsenic modern Ithaca, besides called Ithaki. However, determination is simply a batch of contention surrounding this identification. Is Homer’s Ithaca truly the aforesaid arsenic modern Ithaca, oregon was it a antithetic land entirely?

The modular recognition of Homer’s Ithaca

Since antiquity, Homer’s Ithaca has been identified arsenic the land known by that sanction successful modern times. This island, besides called Ithaki, is the land instantly to the northeast of Cephalonia disconnected the occidental seashore of Greece.

Ancient inscriptions beryllium that the inhabitants of that portion believed that this land was Homer’s Ithaca astatine slightest arsenic aboriginal arsenic the past fewer centuries BCE. For this reason, modern archaeologists person extensively explored the land for grounds of Odysseus’ presence. They person attempted to lucifer assorted geographical features to descriptions recovered successful the Odyssey.

However, contempt wide statement that modern Ithaca is an fantabulous lucifer for Homer’s descriptions, determination is simply a definite transition successful the Odyssey that has caused galore researchers to look elsewhere for the existent Ithaca.

Why the determination of Homer’s Ithaca is successful doubt

The transition successful question is simply a statement of Ithaca and its narration to 3 different islands implicit which Odysseus ruled. It reads:

“Around it galore islands prevarication precise adjacent to 1 another, Doulichion, Same, and wooded Zacynthus. It lies debased connected the sea, farthest disconnected toward the gloom, with the others disconnected toward prima and dawn.”

According to this, Ithaca was portion of a radical of 4 notable islands. The cardinal portion of this statement that has caught the attraction of galore commentators is that Ithaca is described arsenic being the “farthest disconnected toward the gloom” retired of these four.

For galore commentators, this means that Homer’s Ithaca, the location of Odysseus, was further retired towards the oversea than the 3 different islands. In different words, it was the westernmost island. This would explicate however it was “farthest disconnected towards the gloom.” The gloom, successful this case, would beryllium the unfastened oversea betwixt Greece and Italy.

Other identifications of Odysseus’ island

For this reason, 1 fashionable alternate thought is that Odysseus’ location was really Cephalonia, not modern Ithaca. A saltation of this mentation is that the peninsula connected the occidental broadside of Cephalonia utilized to beryllium a abstracted island. That would truthful beryllium the westernmost land successful the area, making it a logical lucifer for Homer’s Ithaca.

Another proposition is that Homer was really referring to Lefkada. This is further northbound than Cephalonia and modern Ithaca. While it is not further westbound than Cephalonia, 1 mentation of Homer’s enactment is that “farthest disconnected towards the gloom” refers to the north.

Since determination is nary land instantly northbound of Lefkada, determination conscionable being unfastened oversea beyond it for rather immoderate distance, this is simply a plausible interpretation.

Identifying Homer’s different islands

However, erstwhile we analyse Homer’s arguable transition successful much detail, we tin spot that determination is truly nary contented with the modular recognition of Ithaca. Odysseus’ location land is described successful narration to 3 others: Doulichion, Same and Zacynthus.

There is wide statement that the past of these, Zacynthus, is identical to the modern land Zakynthos. This is to the southbound of Cephalonia. The land of Same is plausibly identified arsenic Cephalonia itself. This has been the modular recognition since antiquity, since Same was the sanction of 1 of the astir salient city-states connected the island.

According to Homer, determination was a tiny rocky islet betwixt Same and Ithaca. This matches the tiny islet, Asteris, betwixt Cephalonia and modern Ithaca.

Regarding Doulichion, astir scholars place it with 1 of the Echinades. This is simply a radical of islands conscionable disconnected the seashore of occidental Greece, eastbound of modern Ithaca. Makri and Petalas look to beryllium the 2 astir fashionable identifications.

How modern Ithaca fits Homer’s description

What bearing bash these identifications person connected Homer’s transition astir Ithaca? It is existent that modern Ithaca is not further westbound than Cephalonia. However, it is so further north than Cephalonia, Zakynthos, and the Echinades.

As mentioned earlier, immoderate commentators construe Homer’s notation to “towards the gloom” to mean to the north, not retired into the sea. Indeed, this is simply a precise plausible interpretation. He contrasts this with the different islands, which are “off toward prima and dawn”.

The “dawn” is evidently a notation to the east. Therefore, “toward sun” indispensable beryllium a notation either to the west, wherever it sets, oregon much apt to the south, since successful Greece the prima travels crossed the confederate sky.

Therefore “the gloom” is plausibly understood arsenic a notation to the north, since successful Greece it is the cardinal absorption which is furthest distant from the sun. Since modern Ithaca is further northbound than the different 3 islands, this means that it fits Homer’s description.

While it is existent that Lefkada is adjacent further north, this would lone beryllium applicable if determination was immoderate grounds actively supporting its recognition arsenic 1 of the 4 islands successful Odysseus’ realm. Furthermore, the way described successful the Odyssey rules retired specified an identification, arsenic shown by historiographer Tim Severin.