Overview
Where is the Ithaca described in such detail in Homer's Odyssey? The mystery has baffled scholars for over two millennia, particularly because Homer's descriptions bear little resemblance to the modern island called Ithaki. This highly illustrated book tells the extraordinary story of the exciting recent discovery of the true location of Homer's Ithaca by following a detective trail of literary, geological and archaeological clues. We can now identify all the places on the island that are mentioned in the epic--even the site of Odysseus' palace itself. The pages of the Odyssey come alive as we follow its events through a landscape that opens up before our eyes via glorious color photographs and 3-D satellite images. Over a century after Schliemann's discovery of Troy, the information in this groundbreaking volume will revolutionize our understanding of Homer's text and of our cultural ancestors in Bronze Age Greece. Robert Bittlestone was educated in classics and science before reading economics at the University of Cambridge. He is the founder of Metapraxis Ltd., a company specializing in the detection of early warnings for multinational companies. Bittlestone is the author of many articles about the importance of visualization and has applied these principles to the enigma described in this book. James Diggle is Professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Queens' College. John Underhill is Chair of Stratigraphy at the University of Edinburgh and Associate Professor in the Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University.Synopsis
Extraordinary story of the exciting discovery of the true location of Odysseus' homeland of Ithaca.
Library Journal
While the Homeric texts are a prominent feature of Western culture, the actuality of the world described in the Iliad and Odyssey is more problematic. Professional economist and amateur archaeologist Bittlestone takes up the challenge by drawing on the resources of satellite imagery, seismic research, geological evidence, and textual materials to propose an alternate location for Odysseus's Ithaca, one that more accurately fits the archaeological and textual evidence. Richly illustrated with photographs and maps, the book chronicles the explorations and investigations undertaken by Bittlestone and others to discover the lost "Strabo's Channel" (Strabo was a Greek geographer, historian, and philosopher and author of the ancient text Geographia), which would point to a different route for Odysseus. Appended to this book is an essay by James Diggle (Greek & Latin, Cambridge) that assesses the textual sources and one by James Underhill (stratigraphy, Univ. of Edinburgh) that assesses the geological evidence. A fascinating and compelling book; recommended for both public and academic libraries.-T.L. Cooksey, Armstrong Atlantic State Univ., Savannah, GA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.