The 1st century BCE geographer Strabo used Homer's clues about Ithaca being low-lying and farthest out to sea to identify it as the modern Greek island. He theorized Homer's 'Samos' was modern Kefalonia. Coins from 4th-2nd centuries BCE found on Ithaca often depict Odysseus himself! 📜
Strabo identified Homer's Ithaca (Ionian Islands) as modern island using geographic clues
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Key facts
- Strabo wrote in the 1st century CE, approximately 700 years after the Odyssey was composed
- Strabo interpreted the description of Ithaca (Ionian Islands) as low-lying and furthest out to sea towards dusk as meaning it was close to the mainland and farthest to the north
- Strabo theorized Samos was modern Kefalonia and Doulichion was one of the Echinades islands
- Coins from the 4th to 2nd centuries BCE found in Ithaca (Ionian Islands) frequently portray Odysseus
- A 3rd century BCE inscription at Magnesia in modern Turkey refers to an Ithaca (Ionian Islands)n hero shrine of Odysseus and games called the Odiseia
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