Exclusive: searching for Odysseus's Ithaca in the Greek islands
Updated on 06 September 2008
Mysterious Ithaca, home of Odysseus the hero of Homer's Odyssey, is a step closer to being found.
A controversial theory supported by a British businessman, that Ithaca was part of the Greek island of Kefallonia, has been given a major boost.
Odysseus was the legendary King of Ithaca in the Greek Ionian islands, whose 10-year return home from the Trojan War, 800 years before Christ, was described in Homer's epic poem the Odyssey.
Many think the most likely location of Odysseus's island is its modern day namesake, Ithaki.
Now a British team is trying to test whether it is in fact Paliki, that is the western peninsular of Kefallonia.
But to find out they need to establish whether or not Paliki was once an island, separated from the rest of Kefallonia by a channel that has since been filled in by rock falls from earthquakes.
