The Ithaca of Odysseus discovered

A fascinating story that complements Heinrich Schliemann’s discovery of Troy in 1871 has appeared in the press today. To quote from Nasa’s pre-press announcement:-

The location of Greek hero Odysseus’ homeland - the island of Ithaca described in the poet Homer’s Odyssey - is a mystery that has baffled scholars for nearly 3,000 years. Now this ancient enigma has been solved with the help of World Wind, NASA’s 3D planetary visualisation tool.

The site of Homer’s Ithaca has been identified by Robert Bittlestone, Chairman of the UK management consultancy Metapraxis, whose quest was motivated by combining his company’s experience in the visualisation of complex data with a lifelong interest in Greece and the classics. He has solved the problem with the help of James Diggle, Professor of Greek and Latin at Cambridge University, and John Underhill , Professor of Geology at Edinburgh University.

The story as released to the press in greater detail is reported by The Times thus:-

Many thought that the island existed only in the imagination of the Greek poet Homer and in his epic, the Odyssey. Certainly his description of it did not match the Ionian island now called Ithaca, but, after following a detective trail of literary, geological and archaeological clues, scholars led by Robert Bittlestone, a management consultant, have identified Paliki, an area of Cephalonia, as the site.

Classicists have been overwhelmed by the compelling evidence.

James Diggle, Professor of Greek and Latin at Cambridge University and co-author of a book on the discovery, said that almost all of the 26 locations that Homer described in detail can be identified today in northern Paliki and its neighbourhood.

The topography of Homer’s island fits the area “like a glove”, he said.

Paliki was once a separate island. Since Homer’s day, earthquakes triggering massive landslides had filled in a narrow sea channel that separated it from the island of Same — modern Cephalonia, the setting for Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.

Professor Diggle said: “Some 3,200 years after the events that are described in the Odyssey, ancient Ithaca has at last been discovered — a discovery which will revolutionise our understanding of the ancient world and is of profound importance to our understanding of the origins of western civilisation.”

I don’t think it is necessary for me to add anything to that, except that Homeric Myth emerges from historical fact with a beauty and force that is awe-inspiring.

Shortly I am going to download the 45mb World Wind programme and find out how awe-inspiring that is. The full story of Robert Bittlestone and Prof Diggle’s discovery can be read in their book, Odysseus Unbound (also available from Amazon, I believe).

Here for your delectation are some images of modern-day Paliki:-