Ithaca Friends of Homer Association "EYXHN ODYCCEI" presents
a documentary by Yiannis Arsenis
"I'm from Ithaca" - Odyssey
When one first sets eyes on the island of Ithaca
he cannot fail to be enchanted by the natural beauty...
small, rocky, green,
surrounded by sea shimmering in the sunlight
with paths embroidered with colorful flowers
crystal waters, traditional villages
... endless light and color.
What makes her unique is that is more than an island,
it's an idea, a symbol
Is identified with the notion of returning home and nostalgia.
symbolizes, man's struggle, overcoming difficulties, his return journey to his roots
No other island in the world has been identified with nostalgia as much as Ithaca
and that thanks to Homer
the greatest poet of antiquity, who with his epic Odyssey
praised the struggle of the king of Ithaca, Odysseus (Ulysses)
to return to his home
and highlighted universal values through his poetry
What secrets are hidden in Ithaca of today?
Is Ithaca of today the one which Homer speaks of?
and if so where are the remains of the kingdom of Odysseus?
The Search for Homer's Ithaca began centuries ago
Several opponents of Ithaca, Homer's Ithaca, argue that around the Middle Ages
Ithaca lost its name, and for that reason.. It is not Homer's Ithaca!
There are "Skylakas'" maps, the ones of a Roman cartographer,
there is also a map of the Catalan conquerors of Greece in 1300..
and on this map this island is called Ithaca.
around 1700-1600-1580 some maps call Ithaca with a different name,
Picola Cephalonia, Val di Compare,
Tiaki or Thiaki that we use today as a nickname.
This is not proof that Ithaca lost its name and for that reason it isn't Homer's Ithaca.
You realize that Ithaca carries a great glory!
a glory which was envied by many.
It was envied by the Lefkadians and the Cefalonians,
Certainly it wasn't the locals but some archaeologists who undertook the task of defending
a Lefkadian Homeric Ithaca such as Dorpfeld
and a Cefalonian Homeric Ithaca such as some other archaeologists,
who assume that the Homeric Ithaca is in Cefalonia but where in Cefalonia?
There are 10 controversial areas in Cefalonia
In my opinion the equation of 10 areas referring to the palace of Odysseus or the city of Ithaca
seems as if there is none.
The past 10 years there have been 5 Cefalonian theories referring to Homer's Ithaca
the latest the overseal, the capping stone that of Bittlestone
the big hoax as I call it.
Anyway that theory as we all know, although it received great publicity,
since then, has lapsed into obscurity, at the moment no longer exists.
Whilst the Lefkadias stayed in one theory that of Dorpfeld
which actually sank immediately after it was born
Dorpfeld imposed it because he was a strong archaeological personality
he imposed it only on his own will and his own dynamic.
But that theory immediately crashed.
Cefalonia and Lefkada but mainly Cefalonia
is 7 or 8 times bigger than Ithaca.
Is it possible for this large population, this naval, military and political power
to lose its name and a rock, one seventh of its expanse, to get it instead?
There is no historical precedent.
The existence of so many theories about Homer's Ithaca
proves that there are no compelling archaeological findings
allowing us to scientifically justify one or another.
Or maybe there are some finally available?
Ladies and gentlemen let's go to a sensational archaeological discovery
which will be discussed not only in Greece but throughout the world.
in Ithaca a team of archaeologists is announcing that, after significant recent findings
from the excavations on the island, it is convinced at last
to have found the Homeric Palace of Odysseus.
A new impetus for the identification of today's Ithaca with the Homeric one
was given with University of Ioannina announcement on August 20th 2010
according to which, during excavations in the area of St. Athanasius in Northern Ithaca
they found a Mansion of the Mycenaean era which seems to be the Palace of Odysseus.
I am really glad that as Mayor of Ithaca in 1993, I took the initiative
and invited Ioannina University to come and explore the area of Northern Ithaca
it was proven how right I was.
15 to 16 years later, the University with Mr. Papadopoulos and Mrs. Kontorli
they announce, in an archaeological conference..
that they have found the palace of Odysseus and Penelope, in this location of St. Athanasius.
I imagine that, to proceed in such a significant announcement, you have equally important findings in your hands.
Can you tell us what these are?
Yes, the area "Homer's School - St. Athanasius"
is surrounded by a cyclopean wall and inside this wall there is a building complex...
in two terraces, on two levels
also there are movable findings from the prehistoric, Mycenaean era and earlier
but the most important element that makes us believe
always with reservation because we need additional evidence
is a tripartite building which was found on the lower level
which has the dimensions of mansions of palaces
of the palaces that have been found in Mycenae, in Tiryns, in Pylos
It is obvious that such an important archaeological discovery would shoot down
all the theories which question whether current Ithaca is Homer's Ithaca
This significant announcement
this shocking announcement that changes the facts
the archaeological facts at least to date
and that the archaeological establishment will fight it
have no doubt, it will fight it because it has learned to do so
in every announcement related to new findings
Ithaca has been targeted at large
Being a small island it has been fought against
its glory has been fought against
and is still and will continue to be fought against
but I would like to believe that the opponents weapons have already been exhausted
Many excavated the site, including Schliemann
apparently sensing that there was something important there
We can say at the outset that this area "shouted, talked archaeologically"
and I really wonder why such great archaeologists who passed through here
did not detect its particularity
The area of St. Athanasius had almost been abandoned, for obviously too many reasons
they wanted to discredit it, the depreciation was in the background of those who..
were processing theories and plans or else for this particular area to be discredited
Before the archaeologists' interest turned to the area of St. Athanasius on the mountain of "Exogi",
there had been other areas in Ithaca with significant archaeological discoveries
The theory of Aetos (an area in southern Ithaca) lasted for many years
and it affected many, among which the great Schliemann
Schliemann was a partisan of Gell
They believed the first theory released in 1806, the theory of William Gell
which placed the palace of Ithaca in Aetos
The Englishman who predicted alongside Gell that Homer's Ithaca is not in Vathi
but it is in "Poli" in the region of Stavros - St. Athanasius
was another Englishman, a resourceful man, William Martin Luc
who came to Ithaca in '06, made small excavations and didn't find many things
But he found coins and at the time coins of Ithaca were considered..
to be the very conclusive evidence of Ithaca's Homeric past
One of the most important archaeological sites of Ithaca
is located in the region of "Polis" near the village of Stavros
This site is called "Poli" because inshore the village of Stavros..
there is an ancient submerged city
In the famous "Loizos" cave in Poli
have been found many significant archaeological discoveries
In this cave, have been discovered twelve bronze tripods
whose pieces are now exhibited at the archaeological museum of Stavros in Ithaca
a Corinthian dish has also been found, dedicated to the god Apollo
and so it can be deduced that it was a worshiping cavern in the name of Apollo
In this cave has also been discovered
the triangular shell made of clay that has two words written on it..
'EYXHN ODYCCEI' (With the wish of Odysseus)
It seems that the locals, as was customary in other regions of our country as well..
worshiped their hero as a demigod along with the god Apollo
It was proved to be the ark attesting Ithaca's history of the past 3000 years!
In 2006, during excavations by the Ioannina University, another important finding came to light
A plaque, eloquently narrating one of the episodes of the Odyssey
We also found plaques in linear writing, one of which may be Linear B
and this has been published in the prestigious journal "Cadmus" in Germany
If I'm not mistaken, Linear B is found only in palaces?
Certainly, in the archives of the palaces
we are not sure if that is Linear B, but hopefully we shall uncover other findings..
The plaque depicts a ship with Odysseus tied to the mast
and on either side monstrous drawings, a trident and signs of possibly Linear B writing
Considering the data that we currently have in Ithaca
we believe this position fits the Homeric description of the palace of Odysseus
I forgot to tell you that the two levels
the buildings, on the two levels are connected with stairways carved into the rock
Something also mentioned in the Odyssey namely that..
the occupants of the palace communicated going up and down stone stairways
It is mentioned several times in Homer that Penelope goes up and down
the same way that Eurycleia goes up and down
So a building construction is presented where for a staircase which goes up to exist
it means there is a lower terrace and an upper terrace as described in Homer
There is also a description, given by Telemachus to Eurycleia before his departure for Pylos
He tells her: "Eldress, go to the rock.. to the depot which is under the rock
and bring me wine and oil, to take with me
The announcement by the University of Ioannina archaeologists, brings us closer than ever
to the truth as to where Homer's Ithaca is located
The archaeologists, Papadopoulos couple
had accomplish something very important
the expropriation of the 25-acre-area of St. Athanasius
that was a really great accomplishment and it existed
as a demand by the residents of Ithaca since 1904
There is already a decision by the Central Archaeological Council
for these 25 acres of expropriated area
to demolish not only the church, this ruined residue that still exists
but also the houses of "Vrettos", the lord of the area
who played a very cunning role in this History of archeology in Ithaca
It is a known story, on top of the palace there is the temple
and on top of the temple there is the Orthodox Church
The area of St. Athanasius appears to meet all of those features described by Homer
And there are so many answers that they cannot all be coincidences
The position of St. Athanasius is a geostrategic one that happens to have what it has on it
It strategically covers the passage towards the west
If the palace is here, there are three ports around the palace
A port in the town of Stavros, which is further away from here
which must have been the public port from which Telemachus left for Pylos
The port of Afales which is in the north and is their own port, the royal port
And the third port is the port of Frikes, which is the port of the furrow (rithro)
The village above the harbor of the furrow (rithro) is called Platythreias
Platy rithro (wide furrow) They all tie together
Some researchers have claimed that in Ithaca
a palace could not have flourished due to its lack of water
Besides the fact that around "St Athanasius" and within the site there are plenty of wells
ancient wells, Mycenaean wells
there are two water sources
"Melanydros source" and "Tykti krini" mentioned in Homer
Firstly, neither a palace nor a town could have been built away from water
there had to be plenty of water for the palace and the town, the "asti"
Well a little further away from here there is a great water source
"Kalamos" as we call it today that could supply water throughout the region at the time.
"Melampso" was one of Penelope handmaidens
at some point tells to Odysseus "Go away, go to sleep at the coppersmith's"
The archaeologists dig out a coppersmith's workshop at St Athanasius
In Mycenaean era a coppersmith's workshop was a Palace's annex
That was the case in Pylos, in Mycenae and in Crete
It is a very strong indication, characteristic archaeological proof
These archaeological findings already constitute considerable indications
that Odysseus once walked in today's Ithaca
A reinforcing element other than this tripartite building-palace
is an artificial, "tykti" as it's called, a Mycenaean fountain
which we did not date ourselves, but was dated by the best specialist globally
professor Jost Knaus from the Technical University of Munich
who dated it to the 13th century BC, namely in the time of Homer's Odysseus
These two elements, "tykti krini" and the mansion
this tripartite building which resembles similar ones found in Pylos, in Mycenae and in Tiryns
make us believe, I repeat with reservation
that this position is the one that fits the description of Homer
and we think that until someone else proves otherwise
that there has to be the palace of Odysseus
for which many laudable efforts have been made before
The area of St. Athanasius deserves everyone's undivided attention
but mainly that of the State and the scientific community
Therefore, this announcement is the best news..
the international community and the world has heard originating from Greece
the most pleasant news from Greece
All other news is about wretchedness, misery, bankruptcy, etc
This piece of news coming from a Greek university and from Greek archaeologists
has not been sufficiently exploited by the Greek state
Only through a systematic continuation of the excavations
will this place be able to pull from within its well kept secrets and reveal Homer's Ithaca
.. Until then, we shall continue our journey to Ithaca
and we shall feel rich for what it has offered to us so far
When you set out on your journey to Ithaca
pray that the road is long
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them
You will never find such as these on your path
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter
if you do not carry them within your soul
if your soul does not set them up before you
Pray that the road is long
That the summer mornings are many, when
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time