Walking in the Footsteps of Odysseus
A Practical Guide to the Homeric Paths of Ithaca
This book leads the visitor on a self-guided tour of Homer’s Ithaca. It follows ancient footpaths to landmarks traditionally identified by Homerists, philologists and archaeologists with the descriptions made by Homer in his epic poem The Odyssey. Visitors can see for themselves the landscape and topography of Ithaca and make their own comparisons with the ancient words of Homer.
The guide follows the footsteps of the island’s ancient hero Odysseus on his return to his beloved home island. The paths lead to the site, at Agios Athanasios / School of Homer, most widely believed by scholars to be that of his palace. There the finds made between 1994 and 2010 by the archaeologists Litsa and Thanasis Papadopoulos from the University of Ioannina in Central Greece are described.
Homer’s epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey are among the oldest extant works of Western literature, on which they have had a profound influence. The Iliad tells the story of the ninth year of the Trojan War; The Odyssey tells how King Odysseus, a hero of that war, makes his eventful journey back to his home island of Ithaca.
By the time Odysseus arrived back on Ithacan soil, twenty years had passed since he set out to fight in the Trojan War. He left behind his young wife, Penelope, and their baby son, Telemachus. Back in Ithaca, as the years went by, Penelope was besieged by suitors who assumed that Odysseus was dead and wanted to claim his kingdom. The poet Homer describes Odysseus’ reunion, first with his son, Telemachus, a baby when he left and now a fine young man, and then with his loyal wife, Penelope. He tells, in gruesome detail, how he and a small group of colleagues kill all 108 of Penelope’s suitors.
Twelve out of 24 books of The Odyssey take place after Odysseus’ arrival back in Ithaca. This famous story was passed down through the generations for over 3,000 years. Yet, even after all these years, and its many different translations, it is hard not to conclude that, to make such precise descriptions, Homer must have visited Ithaca to see its landscape with his own eyes.
There are a few objects, coins and tripods, on public display on Ithaca, and some that can be seen elsewhere, that firmly link the hero Odysseus with this island and no other. These are also described in this guide along with a brief background history of their discovery.
Many and varied theories have been put forward that the location of Homeric Ithaca may be in a different place to the modern Greek island of Ithaca. These are summarised, along with the main textual argument used in their support. After taking the walks described in this book the intelligent visitor may be convinced that the kingdom of Odysseus was centred on this island, and that Homeric and modern Ithaca are one and the same.
Archaeological evidence of the historic Palace of Odysseus on Ithaca has been difficult to find. Not only the previous name of this paper but the current name of the site, Agios Athanasios / School of Homer, do nothing to help us in our search. In addition the finds at the site were deeply buried. Habitation there continued from before, during and after the time of Odysseus, through the Dark Ages, the time of Homer, the Classical period and into the Roman rule of Ithaca around the time of Christ. During some 1,200 years following Odysseus’ time buildings were demolished and stones re-used. This later digging also disturbed the stratification of the ground, making it difficult for archaeologists to identify the Mycenaean remains hidden below and, as this site has been known for generations, a large amount of looting had taken place. Excavation needed patient and careful work, dedicated to the particular task of uncovering the older ruins that lay below. And this happened.
Principally over the last hundred years, claims have grown up that Odysseus centred his kingdom elsewhere. Recently, along with vested interests, these claims have multiplied. The financial crisis of 2008 struck Greece hard and, in 2010, funding for further work on Ithaca was withdrawn. The excavation at Agios Athanasios was left incomplete, and in 2015 the main archaeologist Litsa Kontorli-Papadopoulou died suddenly of a stroke. At the time of her death she had not yet written up her work but fortunately, the following year, her husband Thanasis was able to do this.
The correlation between the archaeological site now called Agios Athanasios / School of Homer, and the descriptions given by Homer in The Odyssey, are an extraordinarily good fit. If Professor Papadopoulos is correct the poet Homer used this very megaron (or main hall) as the setting for Odysseus’ battle with 108 suitors on his return, after 20 years, from the Trojan War and for his reunion with his faithful wife Penelope.
Some may disagree with Papadopoulos’ conclusion that this site is that of the Palace of Odysseus described by Homer in The Odyssey. This disagreement has led to the current situation where this known Bronze Age site on Ithaca, with its obvious cultural and literary significance, has been left half-excavated, with no on-site explanation and open pits that are both dangerous and vulnerable. I hope the re-publication of this paper will serve to spread word of this situation and that it can swiftly be rectified.
The Excavation at Agios Athanasios / School of Homer
The archaeological paper presented here gives the evidence for the location of the historic Palace of Odysseus on the Greek island of Ithaca.
The excavation at Agios Athanasios / School of Homer took place between 1994 and 2011. It was carried out by an archaeological team from the University of Ioannina in Central Greece under Professors Litsa Kontorli-Papadopoulou and Thanasis Papadopoulos. In various ways, and for various reasons, the results of this excavation have been concealed. In May 2016 Professor Thanasis Papadopoulos presented a paper at the 16th International Aegean Conference at the University of Ioannina with the title ‘Mycenaean citadels of Western Greece: architecture, purpose and their intricate role in the local communities and their relations with the West’ of which this smaller paper forms one section. His full paper was published in 2017 by Peeters of Leuven in a compendium titled ‘ΕΣΠΕΡΟΣ/ HESPEROS, the Aegean seen from the West’ and they have kindly given me permission to re-publish. The previous titles, both of the paper and of the publication, gave no indication of what lies within, or of its importance. Yet it is gold dust.
Odysseus' Island
The story of The Odyssey has captured the human imagination for centuries. Odysseus' homeland of Ithaca, a breathtakingly beautiful island in the Ionian Sea, still attracts visitors who are intrigued by Homer's epic adventure. But can we connect today's Ithaca to the romantic island in Homer’s Odyssey? Was Odysseus a real, or a mythological figure? With a sleuth's eye for detail, Jane Cochrane reveals the fascinating answers to these questions, combining thorough academic research with her own personal perspective of this extraordinary island.
Odysseus' Island relates the discovery in 2010 of the Palace of Odysseus by archaeologists from mainland Greece. These findings were subsequently challenged by the neighbouring island of Kefalonia who wished to claim Odysseus as their own. Ithaca's ancient history, according to some academics, was suddenly in doubt. In response to this, Jane Cochrane has brought together the various strands of archaeological and literary research to reveal the stunning proof of a thriving, ancient city on Ithaca where Odysseus reigned as king. Inspired by her husband Alec and with the help of the eminent Classics Professor George L Huxley, Jane takes us on a journey of Classical proportions to uncover the ancient truth behind the island of Odysseus.
Interwoven with these discoveries is a touching and entertaining personal story of Jane's relationship with the island - one that started well over 30 years ago. Ithaca is brought into the present day with the exploits of Jane and Alec's gradual restoration of an ancient ruin as a summer retreat and the accounts of deep friendships made over the years with the island's tight-knit community. For romantics and academics alike, Odysseus' Island is a must-read for those who would like to walk the ancient Homeric paths in the footsteps of Odysseus.
Jock
The Father I Never Knew
On 4 February 1942, Major James Owen ‘Jock’ Cochrane wrote to his wife from North Africa: I cannot tell you how I am longing to see you and the offspring. She wrote to him: Darling, I love you almost more than I can bear, and I am longing and longing for the day you come home. A few days later, when his little daughter Jane was scarcely six weeks old, Jock was killed in action with the 51st Highland Division, and hastily buried in the desert.
Throughout a busy life, as daughter, stepdaughter, wife, mother and grandmother, and as an architect and accomplished artist, Jane carried the loss of her father like an unhealed wound. No one talked about him. During her childhood, only her grandparents mentioned their son, her father, but they too vanished from her life when she was only twelve.
In her late 40s Jane told her mother that she was going to Tunisia, having been told that was where Jock had died, and asked if there was any more detailed information. Her mother sent four letters written by fellow officers following his death; one included a rough drawing, done on the spot, of a small earth grave under a camelthorn bush in western Libya. Although brought up to keep a stiff upper lip, Jane cried for four days and four nights. How, she wondered, could a man she had never known affect her in this way?
In her search and on her many journeys, sometimes with her husband Alec and sometimes with her mother and children, Jane discovered more than she dreamed existed. She learned about war, a subject she had always avoided, from many different angles and viewpoints. She met people who had known Jock, and eventually discovered the father she never knew.
By turns entertaining, reflective, fascinating and painful, Jane’s narrative braids together the stories of her grandparents, her parents and their too-brief marriage, her own life, her research and – as tensely as any thriller – the events leading, three weeks before his death, to the Battle of the Hills where her father was awarded the Military Cross. Not only an account of a deeply personal quest, it is also a group portrait of several generations, and a story of determination, perseverance and, ultimately, healing.