In the Footsteps of Giants by Richard Waters

Trying to trace the modern day locations of Odysseus’ epic journey (beginning in Turkey and concluding in Ithaki, the gem of the Ionian islands), is a feat even Heracles might blanch at, for many of these places existed only in the monster-laced imagination of that blind old bard, Homer. And there are many who would challenge whether or not such a man ever existed! But for every Circean island whose geography remains a mystery, there are plenty of places we can still visit and send our imagination on a flight of Icarus.

Homer allegedly created The Odyssey and The Iliad (the story of the Trojan war) toward the end of the eighth century BC. His central hero’s character was to embody, in many ways, the Greek ideal: an individual blessed with not only physical prowess and beauty, but brains and eloquence to boot.

The term ‘renaissance man’, a person capable of many great things, was a later incarnation of this idea. As a warrior in the 10-year war against the Trojans, Odysseus certainly distinguished himself, yet it was his mental dexterity with the creation of the Trojan horse that ultimately sealed victory for the Greeks as they breached the fabled city walls. As to eloquence: Odysseus holds his audience spellbound with his wine-rich voice and storyteller’s grasp.

Despite the hatred of Poseidon, one of the pantheon’s most powerful gods, Odysseus, through physical stoicism, cunning and disguise, ultimately finds his way home to Ithaca. What makes him every bit as appealing as uberman Heracles is that, like us mortals, Odysseus is constantly blown from his life’s course and has to use his metis – his intelligence – to get back on track. He’s an ancient traveller par excellence, respectful of new places (generally), curious and intrepid; perhaps the daddy of all wayfarers.

So where did his journey start, and how would we emulate his marathon circuit? We first meet Odysseus on Ogyia, as a prisoner of the nymph Calypso; Ogyia most likely being the Maltese island of Gozo. After being forced to remain in her company for seven years – let’s face it there are worse things than being constantly being fawned upon by a beautiful temptress – Athena, his patron goddess, intervenes, setting him on a homemade raft. Shipwrecked on the island of Scherie, modern day Corfu, he’s taken in by the Phaecian court of King Alcinous to tell his story so far.

After Troy (Hisarlik, northern Turkey), our hero commits an act of piracy against the Ciconians in Ismara, which is located at the foot of Mount Ismara in Thrace (northern Greece). Blown across the Med to North Africa, they meet the Lotus-eaters, all but forgetting their intended destination.

He sets forth again this time via Sicily, encountering the one-eyed Cyclops. And having blinded the oldest, Polyphemus (who inconveniently happens to be the son of Poseidon, god of the sea), the hapless sailors are swept toward the Aeolian islands (volcanic islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, north of Sicily).

The whereabouts of his next visit to Circe’s island and subsequent descent to the underworld are for you to fathom. Underworld? Think of the London tube at rush hour in high summer – a three-headed dog lurking outside Piccadilly Circus!

Head on to the Bay of Naples, and you may find yourself near the sirens, the deadly women who sang to Odysseus as he was tied to the ship’s mast. Shortly after this, his boat is caught between a rock and a hard place (and this is the origination of the phrase), with Scylla; a man-eating monster who sits upon a rock, and Charybdis; the whirlpool.

To stray too far from one brings the sailor into the arms of the other. The myth has them sitting on opposite sides of a narrow stretch of water. Tantalisingly, you can still see this whirlpool almost 3,000 years later in the Strait of Messina between Sicily and the Italian mainland. Scylla however, is no longer around.

Our final chapter lands our weary traveller back his homeland of Ithaca, where his beloved wife Penelope is being predated by a pack of lusty suitors. Today, Ithaki is a quiet and welcoming sanctuary of fishing villages and olive groves. Locals are fiercely proud of their association with one of Greece’s greatest heroes and should you visit, will be happy to point you in the direction of his now ruined palace on Peilkata Hill near Stavros.

But perhaps to delve too deeply into the literal survivors of The Odyssey is to misread it. The secret is to let these fabled stories lead your subconscious on its own odyssey; enlivening every dish of calamari as a gift from Poseidon and the breeze through the islands as a blessing of Aeolus, god of the wind. To forget the myths that shaped this wild and passionate country is tantamount to insulting the gods of Olympus.