Do Homeric and Mycenaean Ithaca coincide or not ? Is modern Ithaca the island of Odysseus ?

Homer's Odyssey, Rhapsodies 9.19-28

One of the most discussed passages in the Odyssey that describes in great detail the geographical location of Ithaca in the time of Odysseus. Which "Ithaca" is it really referring to?

Text: Hettie Putman Cramer & Makis Metaxas.                                                                                  Dedicated to the memory of the late Aikaterini (Kitty) Vergoti–Ieronymaki

INTRODUCTION

The present post that you are about to read, like the previous one https://homericithaca.blogspot.com/2025/09/is-monumental-mycenaeantholos-tomb-of.html, continues a series of posts that will be published through this blog in order to provide a number of answers to the perennial and reasonable questions that have been asked over time regarding one of the greatest unsolved problems of world archaeology: the identification of the so-called “Homeric Ithaca.”

THE QUESTION OF HOMERIC ITHACA

In the Homeric texts there are several references and descriptions related to the location and geomorphology of Ithaca in the time of Odysseus[1]. However, two are the most well-known to the general public.

The first is the description of Odysseus’ realm in the ‘Catalogue of Ships’ in the Iliad (2.631-637) [2]. The second passage comes from the Odyssey (9.19-28) [3], where Odysseus is giving an account of himself to Alkinoos, king of the Phaiakes. (For the geographical location of the so-called Homeric Ithaca, see:      https://homericithaca.blogspot.com/2018/09/serching-for-exact-location-of-clearly.html)

But when we search for answers about the so-called “Homeric Ithaca,” which Ithaca are we talking about? The Ithaca of historical times, already known from the 5th century BC? The Ithaca of the so-called “age of Homer” (9th–7th centuries BC)? Or the Mycenaean Ithaca of the time of Odysseus and the Trojan War, which is dated roughly to 1250 BC? To what extent can all these “Ithacas” coincide in one place, and if not, where might they differ?

Is the Monumental MycenaeanTholos Tomb of Tzannata in Southeastern Kefalonia the Tomb of Odysseus?

The Mycenaean Tholos Tomb of Tzannata (Poros, Kefalonia) and the Question of Odysseus’ Historicity

Abstract

This post presents a philological and archaeological examination of the monumental Mycenaean tholos tomb at Tzannata (Bourtzi–Rogos), Poros, in southeastern Kefalonia (Cephalonia), and considers its possible identification as the grave of the Homeric Odysseus. Drawing on targeted field research, excavation reports, material finds, and topographic comparisons with Homeric descriptions, the study assesses two interlinked questions: first, whether Homeric Ithaca corresponds to a real geographical-political entity; and second, whether the administrative centre (asty) associated with Odysseus might be localized in Kefalonia rather than on the modern island called Ithaca (Ithaki). The post argues that the archaeological evidence from the Herakleian plain - Pronnoi (S.E Kefalonia) and, in particular, the monumental tholos tomb at Tzannata, offers a compelling candidate for the funerary centre of the Mycenaean ruling elite of the Cephallenians and thus merits serious consideration in the debate on Odysseus’ historicity.

Aerial photograph of the monumental tholos tomb at Tzanata, excavated by the archaeologist Dr. Lazaros Kolonas during the campaigns of 1992–1994 (Photo: Kostas Koklanos)

Text: Hettie Putman Cramer & Makis Metaxas

Since the discovery (3 September 1991) of the monumental tholos tomb of the Mycenaean period at the site of Bourtzi–Rogos in Tzanata, near Poros in southeastern Kefalonia, within the framework of our targeted research [1] concerning the location of the asty of Homeric Ithaca, and in conjunction with the content of the first scientific reports issued after the excavation of the monument (1992–1994) by the archaeologist Dr. Lazaros Kolonas, as well as the subsequent scholarly discussion that has followed to the present day, a decisive and critical question has continued to hover:

Could the monumental royal tholos tomb of Tzanata in southeastern Kefalonia in fact be the tomb of Odysseus?

«Ποιος σκότωσε τον Όμηρο;»

«Ποιος σκότωσε τον Όμηρο;»

Text : Hettie Putman Cramer & Makis Metaxas. Αφιερωμένο στο εγγονάκι μας τον Αλέξανδρο Ηarvey.

Το έτος 1998 κυκλοφόρησε σε πρώτη έκδοση η μελέτη δύο κορυφαίων πανεπιστημιακών των Η.Π.Α του Victor Davis Hanson[1] & John Heath[2] με τίτλο Who Killed Homer? η οποία το 1999 εκδόθηκε και στην Ελλάδα σε μετάφραση στα ελληνικά από τις εκδόσεις ΚΑΚΤΟΣ με τον ομώνυμο τίτλο «ποιος σκότωσε τον Όμηρο;»

Με το βιβλίο αυτό οι δύο προαναφερόμενοι συγγραφείς προσπάθησαν να αφυπνίσουν τους αναγνώστες για την κατάρρευση των κλασικών σπουδών παγκοσμίως επιχειρώντας να δώσουν την δική τους απάντηση στο σχετικό ερώτημα.

Ο τίτλος προκλητικός.

Η ομηρική και η μυκηναϊκή Ιθάκη ταυτίζονται ή όχι; Είναι η σημερινή Ιθάκη το νησί του Οδυσσέα;

 

                                  Γιάννης Γαΐτης (1923 - 1984) Σειρήνες - Οδυσσέας, 1980                                Εθνική Πινακοθήκη - Μουσείο Αλεξάνδρου Σούτσου / National Gallery

Text : Hettie Putman Cramer & Makis Metaxas

Αφιερωμένο στην μνήμη της αείμνηστης Αικατερίνης (Κίττυς) Βεργωτή - Ιερωνυμάκη 

 Η συγκεκριμένη ανάρτηση που θα διαβάσετε, όπως ήταν και η προηγούμενη, https://homericithaca.blogspot.com/2024/08/blog-post.html, αποτελούν την συνέχεια ενός κύκλου αναρτήσεων που θα δημοσιευθούν μέσα από αυτό το blog προκειμένου να δοθούν μια σειρά από απαντήσεις στις κατά καιρούς εύλογες ερωτήσεις που έχουν τεθεί διαχρονικά και έχουν σχέση με ένα από μεγαλύτερα άλυτα προβλήματα της παγκόσμιας αρχαιολογίας, τον εντοπισμό της λεγόμενης "Ομηρικής Ιθάκης".