Where on Earth Is Ithaca?
A Quest for the Homeland of Odysseus
Distributed for Eburon Publishers, Delft
Since antiquity classicists have debated the true location of Ithaca, the island home of Homer’s mythological hero Odysseus. With Where on Earth Is Ithaca? Cees H. Goekoop expertly guides readers through the existing scholarship on the whereabouts of the island and details the evidence that still has the power to unite and divide scholars. Goekoop mines Homer’s original text to unearth a wealth of geographical clues and then offer his own theories. Where on Earth Is Ithaca? intrigues as it informs and will appeal to all who are interested in classical history.
“There are many good reasons why this book should reach a wider audience. Mr. Goekoop demonstrates the importance of analyzing the local geography from the large number of clues provided in the Odyssey. His methodology and research are outstanding.”
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Homer and Ithaca
The Trojan War
The situation in Ithaca
The Odyssey
2 The dispute among Homeric experts
The researchers of antiquity
The research from the nineteenth century to the First World War
The research between the World Wars
The research and theories after the Second World War
3 Homeric passages analysed
Conclusions
4 Where on Earth is Homer's Ithaca?
Is Ithaca itself an island?
Choosing the correct part of an island
Homer's Ithaca, fatherland of Odysseus
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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