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.
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 (1992–1993) 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?
