Ithaca or Ithaka (in Greek, Ιθάκη, Ithaki) is an island in
the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of 118 km² (45 sq.
miles) and three thousand inhabitants. It is an independent municipality of the prefecture of Kefalonia and Ithaka, and lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia. The municipality of
Ithaca includes some smaller islands as well. The capital, Itháki (Vathý), has one of the world's
largest natural harbours.
Origin of Name
There are various interpretations as to the origin the name Ithaca, it is believed that it comes from:
- Ithacos, the hero from mythology;
- the Greek word "ithy" which means "cheerful;"
- the Greek adjective "ithys" which means "straight" (or, metaphorically, just or true)[1]
- the Phoenician word "utica" which means "colony."
The name Ithaca has remained unchanged since ancient times, but it has been noticed that in written documents of different
periods, it referred to other names such as:
- Nerikii (7th century BC);
- Val di Compare (Valley of the Bestman), Piccola (Small) Cephallonia, Anticephallonia (Middle Ages till the beginning of the
Venetian period);
- Ithaki nisos (island), Thrakoniso, Thakou, Thiakou (Byzantine period);
- Fiaki (Turkish period);
- Teaki (Venetian period); and
- Thiaki (before the Venetian period, also called so by the sailors and has remained the name used by the inhabitants).
History
The origin of the first people to inhabit the island, which was during the last years of the Neolithic Period (4000-3000
BC), is unknown. The traces of buildings, walls and a road from this time period prove that life existed and continued to
do so during the Early Hellenic era (3000-2000 BC). In the pre-Mycenaean years (2000-1500 BC), some of the population migrated to
the southern part of the island. The buildings and walls that were excavated showed the lifestyle of this period had remained
primitive.
Mycenaean Era
- Further information: Mycenaean Greece
During the Mycenaean period (1500-1100 BC), Ithaca rose to the highest level of its
ancient history. The island became the capital of the Cephalonian states, which included the
surrounding lands, and was referred to as one of the most powerful states of that time. The Ithacans were characterized as great
navigators and explorers with daring expeditions reaching further than the Mediterranean
Sea.
The epic poems of Homer, the Iliad and the
Odyssey, may shed some light on Bronze-Age Ithaca.
Those poems are generally thought to have been composed sometime within the 8th to 6th centuries BC, but are based on older
mythological and poetic traditions; their depiction of the hero Odysseus, and his rule over
Ithaca and the surrounding islands and mainland, may preserve some memories of the political geography of the time.
After the end of the Mycenaean period, Ithaca's influence diminished, and it came under the jurisdiction of the nearest large
island.
Hellenistic Era
- Further information: Hellenistic Greece
During the ancient Hellenic prime (800-180 BC) the Corinthians neglected the small and barren island. Independent
organized life continued in the northern and southern part of the island. In the southern part, in the area of Aetos, the town
Alalcomenae was founded. From this period, many objects were found during excavations, which were of important historical value.
Among these objects were the coins imprinted with the name Ithaca and the image of Odysseus and
that it was self-governed.
According to the different periods, the conquerors and the circumstances, the population of the island kept changing. Although
there is not definite numerical information until the Venetian period, it is believed
that from the Mycenaean to the Byzantine period the number of inhabitants was several
thousand, who lived mainly at the northern part of the island. During the Middle Ages, the
population decreased due to the continuous invasions of the pirates, which forced the people to live on the mountains
establishing settlements.
Ottoman Era
- Further information: Ottoman Greece
In 1479, Turkish forces landed on the islands setting
villages on fire, plundering, killing people and taking captives. Many of the people fled from the island out of fear of the
Turkish occupiers. Those that remained were hiding up in the mountains to avoid the pirates who controlled the channel between
Cephallonia and Ithaca and the bays of the island. In the following five years, the Turks,
Toques and Venetians placed claims on the islands diplomatically. The possession of the islands
were finally given the Turkish Empire (1484-1499 AD).During this time, the Venetians had strengthened into major power with an
organized fleet. The Ionian Islands were part of their pursuits, and in 1499, a war
between the Venetians and the Turks started. The allied fleets of the Venetians and the
Spanish besieged Ithaca, and the other islands. The fleets prevailed, and from 1500 AD, the
Venetians controlled the islands. According to a treaty of 1503, Ithaca, Cephallonia and Zante
belonged to the Venetians, and Lefkada to the Turks.
French Era
A few years after the French Revolution, the Ionian area came under the rule of the
First French Republic (1797-1798), and the island became the honorary capital of
Cephallonia, Lefkada, and part of the Greek mainland, which formed the Ithacan country.
The population welcomed the French, who took care in the control of the administrative and judicial systems, but later the
heavy taxation they demanded, caused a feeling of indignation among the people. During this short historical period, the new
ideas of system and social structure greatly influenced the inhabitants of the island. At the end of 1798, the French were
succeeded by Russia and Turkey (1798-1807), which were allies at that time. Corfu became the capital of the Ionian States, and the form of government was democratic with a fourteen-member
senate in which Ithaca had one representative.
The Ithacan fleet flourished when it was allowed to carry cargo up to the ports of the Black
Sea. In 1807, according to an agreement with Turkey the Ionian Islands once again came under the French rule (1807-1809
AD). The French quickly began preparing to face the English fleet, which had become very powerful, by building a fort in
Vathy.
It is worth pointing out of the role, which it played during the struggle of the Greeks against the Turks. Prominent citizens
of Ithaki participated in the secret "Filiki Etairia" which was instrumental in organizing the Greek Revolution of
1821, and Greek fighters found refuge there. In addition, the participation of Ithacans during the
siege of Messologi and the naval battles with Turkish ships at the Black Sea and Danube were
significant.
The island has been inhabited since the 2nd millennium BC. It was the capital of Cephalonia
during the Mycenaean period. The Romans occupied the
island in the 2nd century BC, and later it became part of the Byzantine Empire. The Normans ruled Ithaca in the 12th and 13th century, and after a short Turkish rule it fell into Venetian hands.
Ithaca was then occupied by France under the 1797
Treaty of Campo Formio. It was liberated by a joint Russo-Turkish force in 1798, before becoming part of the Septinsular Republic. It became a French possession again in 1807,
until it was liberated by the United Kingdom in
1809. Under the 1815 Treaty
of Paris, Ithaca became a state of the United States of the Ionian Islands, an amical
protectorate of the United Kingdom. Under the 1864 Treaty of London, Ithaca, along with the islands, were ceded to Greece as a mark of cordiality
with Greece's new king, the Anglophile George
I.[2]
Modern Ithaca
Much of the island's architecture was destroyed in an earthquake in 1953. In the
1970s, Kalamos split from the province and became part of
the prefecture of Lefkada, and the province of Ithaca became a non-provincial municipality.
Home of Odysseus?
-
The big
island in the center is
Kefalonia. Ithaca is the
island on its right. (
NASA World Wind
satellite picture)
Since antiquity, Ithaca has been identified as the home of the mythological hero Odysseus.
In the Odyssey of Homer, Ithaca is described thus
(13.21-27):
- "I dwell in shining Ithaca. There is a mountain there,
- high Neriton, covered in forests. Many islands
- lie around it, very close to each other,
- Doulichion, Same, and wooded Zacynthos--
- but low-lying Ithaca is farthest out to sea,
- towards the sunset, and the others are apart, towards the dawn and sun.
- It is rough, but it raises good men."
It has sometimes been argued that this description does not match the topography of modern Ithaca. Three features of the
description have been seen as especially problematic. First, Ithaca is described as "low-lying" (χθαμαλὴ), but Ithaca is mountainous. Second, the words "farthest out to sea, towards the sunset" (πανυπερτάτη εἰν ἁλὶ ... πρὸς ζόφον) are usually interpreted to mean that Ithaca must be the island furthest to the
west, but Kefalonia lies to the west of Ithaca. Lastly, it is unclear which modern islands correspond to Homer's Doulichion and Same.
The Greek geographer Strabo, writing in the 1st century AD, identified Homer's Ithaca with
modern Ithaca. Following earlier commentators, he interpreted the word translated above as "low-lying" to mean "close to the
mainland", and the phrase translated as "farthest out to sea, towards the sunset" as meaning "farthest of all towards the north."
Strabo identified Same as modern Kefalonia, and believed that Homer's Doulichion was one of the islands now known as the
Echinades. Ithaca lies farther north than Kefalonia, Zacynthos, and the island that Strabo
identified as Doulichion, consistent with the interpretation of Ithaca as being "farthest of all towards the north."
Strabo's explanation has not won universal acceptance. In the last few centuries, some scholars have argued that Homer's
Ithaca was not modern Ithaca, but a different island. Perhaps the best known proposal is that of Wilhelm Dörpfeld, who believed that the nearby island of Leukas was
Homer's Ithaca.[3]
It has also been suggested that Paliki, the western peninsula of Kefalonia, is Homer's Ithaca.
This identification has been proposed several times; in a recent book, Odysseus
Unbound, Robert Bittlestone argues that at the time the Odyssey was composed, Paliki was an island, separated
from Kefalonia by a narrow channel. One of the main points of the book attempts to suggest that Ithaki has no sunset views.
However, the northern part of Ithaki has a much higher elevation than Kefalonia; and it is flatter than the other Ionian
Islands.
Despite any difficulties with Homer's description of the island, in classical and Roman times the island now called "Ithaca"
was universally held to be the home of Odysseus; the Hellenistic identifications of Homeric sites, such as the identifications of
Lipari as the island of Aeolus, are usually taken with a grain of
salt, and attributed to the ancient tourist trade.
The island has been known as Ithaca from an early date, as coins and inscriptions show. Coins from Ithaca frequently portray
Odysseus, and an inscription from the 3rd century BC refers to a local hero-shrine of Odysseus and games called the
Odysseia.[4] The Archaeological site of "School of
Homer" on modern Ithaca is the only place between Lefkas-Kefalonia-Ithaca Triangle where Linear B has been found, commonly near
royal facilities. Modern scholars generally accept the identification of modern Ithaca with Homeric Ithaca, and explain
discrepancies between the Odyssey's description and the actual topography as the product of lack of first-hand knowledge
of the island, or as poetic license.[citation needed]
Geography
There is also a strait situated in the western part of the island called the Strait of
Ithaca. The capes in the island include Exogi, the westernmost but not in land, Melissa to the north, Mavronos and Agios
Ilias to the east, Schinous, Sarakiniko and Agios Ioannis, the easternmost to the east and Agiou Andreou, the southernmost in the
south. Bays include Afales Bay to the northwest, Frikes and
Kioni Bays to the northeast and Ormos Gulf and Sarakiniko Bay to the southeast. The tallest mountain is Nirito (806 m), the
second tallest is Merovigli (669 m).
Persons
Municipality
The municipality includes islands other than Ithaca including two near Cape Melissa, Arkoudi
and Atokos to the northeast and the numerous islands in the Echinades Islands group (the larger ones being Drakonera, Makri, Oxeia, Petalas, and Vromonas) to the east near the mainland of Aitoloakarnania. Its
largest towns are Itháki (pop. 1,816), Perachóri (354), Stavrós (325), Platreithiá (210), and Kióni (171).
Communities and villages
- Agios Saranta
- Aetos
- Agios Ioannis
- Anogi
- Exogi
- Frikes
- Kalivia
- Kioni
- Kolieri
- Lachos
- Lefki
- Perachori
- Platrithia
- Stavros
Further reading
Bittlestone, Robert; with James Diggle and John
Underhill (2005). Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer’s Ithaca. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN
0-521-85357-5.
Odysseus Unbound website
CHRISTOS I. TZAKOS "ITHACA and HOMER, The Truth" The Advocacy of the Case. Translation: GEOFREY COX, The renowned island as
described in the Odyssey. A short exposition on: The reasons for identifying it with present-day Ithaki & The necessary
extrapolations in the logic of Homer's verse. [1]
See also
List of traditional Greek place names
References
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
