Was Homer's Ithaca, described as Odysseus' home in the Odyssey, really the same as the modern island by that name?

The Odyssey, composed by Homer in the seventh century BCE, tells the story of Odysseus on his journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. The normal interpretation is that Homer’s Ithaca is the same as modern Ithaca, also called Ithaki. However, there is a lot of controversy surrounding this identification. Is Homer’s Ithaca really the same as modern Ithaca, or was it a different island entirely?

The standard identification of Homer’s Ithaca

Since antiquity, Homer’s Ithaca has been identified as the island known by that name in modern times. This island, also called Ithaki, is the island immediately to the northeast of Cephalonia off the western coast of Greece.

Ancient inscriptions prove that the inhabitants of that region believed that this island was Homer’s Ithaca at least as early as the last few centuries BCE. For this reason, modern archaeologists have extensively explored the island for evidence of Odysseus’ presence. They have attempted to match various geographical features to descriptions found in the Odyssey.

However, despite general agreement that modern Ithaca is an excellent match for Homer’s descriptions, there is a certain passage in the Odyssey that has caused many researchers to look elsewhere for the real Ithaca.

Why the location of Homer’s Ithaca is in doubt

The passage in question is a description of Ithaca and its relationship to three other islands over which Odysseus ruled. It reads:

“Around it many islands lie very close to one another, Doulichion, Same, and wooded Zacynthus. It lies low on the sea, farthest off toward the gloom, with the others off toward sun and dawn.”

According to this, Ithaca was part of a group of four notable islands. The key part of this description that has caught the attention of many commentators is that Ithaca is described as being the “farthest off toward the gloom” out of these four.

For many commentators, this means that Homer’s Ithaca, the home of Odysseus, was further out towards the sea than the three other islands. In other words, it was the westernmost island. This would explain how it was “farthest off towards the gloom.” The gloom, in this case, would be the open sea between Greece and Italy.

Other identifications of Odysseus’ island

For this reason, one popular alternative idea is that Odysseus’ home was actually Cephalonia, not modern Ithaca. A variation of this theory is that the peninsula on the western side of Cephalonia used to be a separate island. That would therefore be the westernmost island in the area, making it a logical match for Homer’s Ithaca.

Another suggestion is that Homer was actually referring to Lefkada. This is further north than Cephalonia and modern Ithaca. While it is not further west than Cephalonia, one interpretation of Homer’s line is that “farthest off towards the gloom” refers to the north.

Since there is no island immediately north of Lefkada, there just being open sea beyond it for quite some distance, this is a plausible interpretation.

Identifying Homer’s other islands

However, when we examine Homer’s controversial passage in more detail, we can see that there is really no issue with the standard identification of Ithaca. Odysseus’ home island is described in relation to three others: Doulichion, Same and Zacynthus.

There is wide agreement that the last of these, Zacynthus, is identical to the modern island Zakynthos. This is to the south of Cephalonia. The island of Same is plausibly identified as Cephalonia itself. This has been the standard identification since antiquity, since Same was the name of one of the most prominent city-states on the island.

According to Homer, there was a small rocky islet between Same and Ithaca. This matches the small islet, Asteris, between Cephalonia and modern Ithaca.

Regarding Doulichion, most scholars identify it with one of the Echinades. This is a group of islands just off the coast of western Greece, east of modern Ithaca. Makri and Petalas appear to be the two most popular identifications.

How modern Ithaca fits Homer’s description

What bearing do these identifications have on Homer’s passage about Ithaca? It is true that modern Ithaca is not further west than Cephalonia. However, it is indeed further north than Cephalonia, Zakynthos, and the Echinades.

As mentioned earlier, some commentators interpret Homer’s reference to “towards the gloom” to mean to the north, not out into the sea. Indeed, this is a very plausible interpretation. He contrasts this with the other islands, which are “off toward sun and dawn”.

The “dawn” is obviously a reference to the east. Therefore, “toward sun” must be a reference either to the west, where it sets, or more likely to the south, since in Greece the sun travels across the southern sky.

Therefore “the gloom” is plausibly understood as a reference to the north, since in Greece it is the cardinal direction which is furthest away from the sun. Since modern Ithaca is further north than the other three islands, this means that it fits Homer’s description.

While it is true that Lefkada is even further north, this would only be relevant if there was any evidence actively supporting its identification as one of the four islands in Odysseus’ realm