18 Homer’s Odyssey

Homer’s adjectives ‘narrow’, ‘rocky’, ‘unfit for riding horses’ describe Ithaca perfectly, but was this Ionian island the kingdom of Odysseus? Some scholars say no, but the locals disagree.

Stay in Hotel Familia in the capital Vathy (from £75, B&B) and seek out the sites where they believe the Odyssey took place. South of Vathy, there’s the field where Odysseus met his father Laertes, the Cave of the Nymphs where he hid his treasure, and the plateau of Marathias, where he stayed with Eumaeus. North of Vathy, Stavros has Mycenaean-era walls identified as Odysseus’s palace and an archaeological collection that includes a 2nd-century BC mask inscribed ‘Pray to Odysseus’. islandwalks.com/walksholidays hotel-familia.com