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Archeologists make historic discovery

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  Quote Phallanx Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Archeologists make historic discovery
    Posted: 29-Sep-2005 at 07:27
Archeologists make historic discovery

Saturday, August 27, 2005
By Thomas Elias - Columnist - The Madera Tribune

POROS, Island of Kefalonia, Greece - The tomb of Odysseus has been found, and the location of his legendary capital city of Ithaca discovered here on this large island across a one-mile channel from the bone-dry islet that modern maps call Ithaca.

This could be the most important archeological discovery of the last 40 years, a find that may eventually equal the German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann’s 19th Century dig at Troy. But the quirky people and politics involved in this achievement have delayed by several years the process of reporting the find to the world.

Yet visitors to Kefalonia, an octopus-shaped island off the west coast of Greece, can see the evidence for themselves at virtually no cost.

The discovery of what is almost certainly his tomb reveals that crafty Odysseus, known as Ulysses in many English renditions of Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” was no mere myth, but a real person. Plus, passages in the “Odyssey” itself suggest that modern Ithaca and its main town of Vathi probably were not the city and island of which Homer wrote.

Rather, this small village of Poros on the southeast coast of Kefalonia now occupies part of a site that most likely was the much larger city which served as capital of the multi-island kingdom ruled by Odysseus and his father Laertes.

Archeologists have long and often times looked for evidence of Odysseus on modern Ithaca, but never found anything significant from the Bronze Age. This led many scholars to dismiss Homer’s version of Ionian island geography as strictly a literary creation.

But two pieces of fairly recent evidence suggest archeologists were looking in the wrong place. In 1991, a tomb of the type used to bury ancient Greek royalty was found near the hamlet of Tzannata in the hills outside Poros. It is the largest such tomb in northeastern Greece, with remains of at least 72 persons found in its stone niches.

One find there is particularly telling. In Book XIX of the “Odyssey,” the just-returned and still disguised Odysseus tells his wife (who may or may not realize who she’s talking to; Homer is deliberately ambivalent) that he encountered Odysseus many years earlier on the island of Crete. He describes in detail a gold brooch the king wore on that occasion.

A gold brooch meeting that precise description lies now in the archeological museum at Argostoli, the main city on Kefalonia, 30 miles across the island from Poros. Other gold jewelry and seals carved in precious stones excavated from the tomb offer further proof the grave outside Poros was used to bury kings.

Greek archeologists also found sections of ancient city walls extending for miles through the hills around and well beyond Poros. These surround both the village and a steep adjacent hill which bears evidence it once served as an acropolis, what the Greeks called hilltop forts in most of their major cities. The stones of the walls date to about 1300 B.C., the approximate time of events described in the “Iliad” and “Odyssey.”

Most likely, the royal capital at Ithaca was a much larger city than Poros or any other town on either modern Ithaca or Kefalonia. It would have needed a major source of water. There is none on modern Ithaca, but streams abound near Poros, where there is also a small man-made lake. This area had the necessary water. The island now called Ithaca likely did not.

Several other ancient settlements found elsewhere on Kefalonia also suggest the island was a major population center at the time of Odysseus.

And Homer described two major landmarks near ancient Ithaca: He says it sat beneath an impressive mountain, the “tree-clad Mt. Neriton,” which dominated views from the “wine-dark sea” for many miles around. That description fits Mt. Aenos, just above Poros, the highest peak in the Ionian islands. Homer also describes the legendary Cave of the Nymphs as within a day or two walk from the city of Ithaca. A spacious, dark cave with large stalactites and deep blue water matching Homer’s description is currently a tourist attraction about 15 miles northwest of Poros.

Why hasn’t all this been reported before? Because of local politics and economics. The most active promoter of the Poros area as Homeric Ithaca is the current mayor, who at one time was governor of the prefecture (county or small state) including both Ithaca and Kefalonia.

Gerasimos Metaxas, an author and amateur archeologist who gladly shows visitors remains of the ancient city call and innards of the tomb, was defeated for reelection as governor when he began promoting the Poros-as-Ithaca idea in Greek publications. Why? If Poros is Ithaca, who would ever go to the barren island now using the name? And if tiny Poros ever gets a huge tourist and cruise ship influx, what happens to Argostoli, now the center for those trades on Kefalonia?

As a result, the entire find has never been reported in the non-Greek press. And so far, major world media show little or no interest in the tale. But for lovers of Homer’s sagas, there’s now no place more appealing than Kefalonia.

The Madera Tribune
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  Quote morticia Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Sep-2005 at 09:54
WOW...very interesting... that Odysseus/Ulysses may not be a myth after all. I enjoyed reading this article. Thank you.


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  Quote Maju Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Sep-2005 at 12:17
Yeap, it's interesting. I never thought that Ulysses was just any obscure mythic figure but it's good to know that something like that has been found. 

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  Quote akritas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Sep-2005 at 17:27

If this confirm will be the Story of the decade. I agree with the rest members. Homer work was not only a myth....had , is  and will be a big tank  of source.

And this go and for the confirmation of the Strabo work.

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  Quote Phallanx Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29-Sep-2005 at 19:35
Seems like this decade will have a couple of stories that will suprise us...
One of them being the research of Ippokratis Dakoglou, that published his book 2yrs before NASA announced the find of 2 new 'planets'. His work is based on the texts of Hesiod and Pythagoras...
When I find the book, I'll provide more info..
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  Quote morticia Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30-Sep-2005 at 11:22
Phallanx wrote: "When I find the book, I'll provide more info.."

Please do...I would be very interested!!

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  Quote Perseas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09-Oct-2005 at 16:40

Some helpful maps and photos about the places mentioned before...

Mount Aenos

 

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  Quote Phallanx Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21-Oct-2005 at 10:48
The whole issue gets even better...

The late Ioannis Passas, in his book " " (The Real Prehistory) published 30 !!! whole years ago, came to this exact conclusion back then.. (couldn't believe it while reading the book)
The unfortunately mocked scholar that was for years ridiculed by the so called 'scientific community', finally has his name cleared and hopefully will be recognized for what he really was..

Better late than never..


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  Quote morticia Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21-Oct-2005 at 11:36
Phallanx wrote:
"The unfortunately mocked scholar that was for years ridiculed by the so called 'scientific community', finally has his name cleared and hopefully will be recognized for what he really was"

as so often occurs to "brilliant minds"! I am elated that he was vindicated!

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  Quote El Cid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21-Oct-2005 at 12:52
With this discovery, we must remake our conception about Troy and its legendary siege. Could it be possible that a greek coalition daced the Hector's army in the Troy walls?
The spanish are coming!


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  Quote Phallanx Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21-Oct-2005 at 13:51
El Cid

I think I've misunderstood your post. 
What is the conception you are talking about and what do you mean by 'daced' ??
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  Quote Ellinas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09-Dec-2005 at 07:43

Originally posted by Phallanx

The whole issue gets even better...

The late Ioannis Passas, in his book " " (The Real Prehistory) published 30 !!! whole years ago, came to this exact conclusion back then.. (couldn't believe it while reading the book)
The unfortunately mocked scholar that was for years ridiculed by the so called 'scientific community', finally has his name cleared and hopefully will be recognized for what he really was..

Better late than never..


This must be a very interesting book. Ioannis Passas is a great researcher and I know this because of the 'Helios' encyclopedia. I had in mind to buy this book, do you think I have a chance finding it in a bookstore in Athens?

Originally posted by Maju

Yeap, it's interesting. I never thought that Ulysses was just any obscure mythic figure but it's good to know that something like that has been found. 
 

Greek mythology is not a fairy tail. Everything there is based on real events or symbolic meanings. Most of the heroes of Greek mythology existed as humans.

 

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  Quote YusakuJon3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01-Jan-2006 at 10:29
Looking at those maps, I'm beginning to wonder if historians and geographers had gotten their Agean islands mixed up over the intervening centuries.  It's not hard to do with the lack of surviving records from the period.  Unless something was literally written in stone or had been faithfully copied down over the generations before the original material (parchment, linen or papyrus) decayed beyond usefulness,  it was lost to us.  That being said, it'll be interesting if further evidence of the Homeric heroes and their activities is uncovered this way.

My dream scenario, of course, is for someone to discover a significant cache of well-preserved documents which sheds even more light on the events of ancient history and makes the picture much clearer than is currently known to us...
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  Quote Kuu-ukko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02-Jan-2006 at 07:51
I never doubted the tale...... 

Seriously, why was the name Ithaca changed to its modern location?
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Jan-2006 at 03:30
Originally posted by Kuu-ukko

Seriously, why was the name Ithaca changed to its modern location?


Maybe,by those times Ithaca and Kefalinia were one island.If you look at the map shown above you'll see what i mean.
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  Quote YusakuJon3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-Jan-2006 at 21:17
The region is an earthquake zone.   In fact, a moderate tremor was felt soon after New Year's Day this year.  It wouldn't surprise me that the continued activities along the fault lines have changed the shape of the shoreline and islands over the past few milleniums since Odysseus's day.

This gives a little more weight to why the ancient Hellas got so nervous about a certain sea-god associated with earthquakes...
 
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  Quote Alparslan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16-Jan-2006 at 13:19

Originally posted by Phallanx

Seems like this decade will have a couple of stories that will suprise us...
One of them being the research of Ippokratis Dakoglou, that published his book 2yrs before NASA announced the find of 2 new 'planets'. His work is based on the texts of Hesiod and Pythagoras...
When I find the book, I'll provide more info..

   

I really doubt about the source of the Madera Magazine....

Would you please say what kind of magazine is this? Is it related with famous H Team of Greek nationalists?   

Or may be it is related with Kefalonia tourism industry....



Edited by Alparslan
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