The 1st-century CE geographer Strabo used Homer’s clues about Ithaca being low-lying and farthest out to sea to identify Homeric Ithaca with today’s Ionian island of Ithaca. He theorized that Homer’s “Samos” was modern Kefalonia. Coins from the 4th–2nd centuries BCE found on Ithaca often depict Odysseus. 📜
Strabo identified Homeric Ithaca with today's Ithaca in the Ionian Islands
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Key facts
- Strabo wrote in the 1st century CE, approximately 700 years after the Odyssey was composed.
- Strabo interpreted Ithaca as low-lying, close to the mainland and farthest north toward dusk.
- Strabo argued that Homer's Samos was modern Kefalonia and that Doulichion was one of the Echinades.
- Coins from the 4th to 2nd centuries BCE found on Ithaca frequently portray Odysseus.
- A 3rd-century BCE inscription from Magnesia in modern Turkey mentions a hero shrine on Ithaca and games called the Odiseia.
Sources
abdn.ac.uk
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antigonejournal.com
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