Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer's Ithaca [Hardcover]

Robert Bittlestone (Author), James Diggle (Contributor), John Underhill (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 19, 2005

Where is the Ithaca described in such detail in Homer's Odyssey? The mystery has baffled scholars for over two millennia, particularly because Homer's descriptions bear little resemblance to the modern island called Ithaki. This highly illustrated book tells the extraordinary story of the exciting recent discovery of the true location of Homer's Ithaca by following a detective trail of literary, geological and archaeological clues. We can now identify all the places on the island that are mentioned in the epic--even the site of Odysseus' palace itself. The pages of the Odyssey come alive as we follow its events through a landscape that opens up before our eyes via glorious color photographs and 3-D satellite images. Over a century after Schliemann's discovery of Troy, the information in this groundbreaking volume will revolutionize our understanding of Homer's text and of our cultural ancestors in Bronze Age Greece. Robert Bittlestone was educated in classics and science before reading economics at the University of Cambridge. He is the founder of Metapraxis Ltd., a company specializing in the detection of early warnings for multinational companies. Bittlestone is the author of many articles about the importance of visualization and has applied these principles to the enigma described in this book. James Diggle is Professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Queens' College. John Underhill is Chair of Stratigraphy at the University of Edinburgh and Associate Professor in the Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The discovery of historical Troy in the 1870s instigated the hunt for historical Ithaca, but the island today named Ithaca is not likely where Penelope loyally awaited the return of Odysseus. Seizing the mystery with gusto, Bittlestone concentrates on the neighboring island of Cephalonia. With Homer in one hand and a digital camera in the other, Bittlestone walked about the island, convincing himself that Cephalonia is the real Ithaca. Convincing the learned world of his theory becomes Bittlestone's story and the source of its charm. Returning to his native Britain, he approached a classics don and a geology expert. They not only did not dismiss Bittlestone, they participated in his quest. Bolstered by their advice about philology and the active tectonics of Cephalonia, Bittlestone provisionally identified places in the action of the Odyssey. Resplendent with hundreds of landscape and satellite images, Bittlestone's freelance investigation is enthralling, accessibly presented, and possibly true--and, like its subject, finds its soul more in the journey than the destination. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"A fascinating and compelling book; recommended for both public and academic libraries."
-- Library Journal

"This curious, spellbinding book is a masterpiece of writing for the general public. The geological argument in particular is first-class and leaves me in no doubt about the possibility of the theory being proposed."
-- Professor Tjeerd van Andel, Honorary Professor in Earth History, Quaternary Science and Geo-archaeology, University of Cambridge

"This book is a gem. Its reconstruction of prehistoric Ithaca has a convincingly Homeric "look and feel" to it. Reading the Odyssey is unlikely ever to be the same again."
-- Professor Gregory Nagy, Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature, Harvard University, and Director of the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington DC

"Resplendent with hundreds of landscape and satellite images, Bittlestone's freelance investigation is enthralling, accessibly presented, and possibly true--and, like its subject, finds its soul more in the journey than the destination."
-- Booklist

“The rest of this beautifully produced book, illustrated throughout in color, chronicles Bittlestone's full-scale, ultimately convincing attempt to prove this thesis, with the aid of everything from outer-space photography to linguistic, geological, and seismological analysis.”
-- Choice

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 618 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (September 19, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521853575
• ISBN-13: 978-0521853576
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,062,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A detailed presentation of a plausible theory, October 12, 2005

By 

Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer's Ithaca (Hardcover)

Robert Bittlestone's "Odysseus Unbound" is a massive book, nearly 600 pages filled with excellent illustrations (maps, photographs, aerial photographs, satellite images) and a highly detailed narrative explaining the development of and evidence for the author's theory: that Homeric Age Ithaca, the kingdom of Odysseus, was not located on the modern island of Ithaki, but instead on the western peninsula of the nearby island of Cephalonia. The evidence presented is complex, involving literary sources, geology, and archaeology, but a critical portion of the author's argument is whether in Homeric times this western peninsula was separated from Cephalonia by a sea channel since closed up by earthquake-induced rockfalls.

Although Bittlestone is "only" an enthusiastic amateur, his research has been reviewed and backed by his professional co-authors, one a professor of Greek and Latin and the other a geologist specializing in the Ionian island area.

I find Bittlesone's analysis to be persuasive, but as yet -- and he recognizes this -- the evidence is not wholly conclusive. This may come in the next several years with additional geological work to confirm the existence of the sea channel and with archaeological surveys to study various associated sites.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really great read, it really made me think about and formulate my own ideas, October 27, 2005

By 

Jacob Fishebin "Jacob" (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer's Ithaca (Hardcover)

Odysseus Unbound was a wonderful book to read. Being that i love Greece and the Odyssey I truly loved it. The way it was written was great, the way it was explained with pictures and diagrams was also wonderful. The excerpts and clues were amazing to read and I really felt as if i was traveling in Ancient Ithaca.
Just a few days before i bought the book I was reading the Odyssey and it said the Ithaca lies low and away, the farthest out to sea, and I thought how could modern Ithaca be that? Then this book comes out and answers me. I truly loved it and i don't know how else to explain how much it means to me now. I can feel that Odysseus was a real person, and that some sort of journey took place. It was just soooooo amazing and i highly reccomend it for anyone who loved Greece, "Homer", or the Odyssey.

--Jacob Fishbein
9th grader

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Convincing!, December 22, 2005

By 

Silas Sparkhammer "opinionated ain't I?" (San Diego CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer's Ithaca (Hardcover)

Who wouldn't be fascinated by the presumption, if nothing else, of the premise: Odysseus' Ithaka found after two and a half millennia! But Bittlestone's book, instead of a grueling epic, is a quiet, beautiful story of information-age discovery. It shows how incredibly far an intelligent amateur can go when backed up by the power of our technology. Bittlestone attacks the mystery with the might of GPS location finding, LandSat photos, internet advice from true experts...and a little true Sherlock Holmesian deduction. (He even quotes from Holmes a few times!) The photos are beautiful, the logic is elegant, the science is very educational, and the conclusion is convincing!