title: Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer's Ithaca
author:  Robert Bittlestone 
description: 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 <i>Odyssey</i>. 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. <i>Gilbert Taylor</i><br /><i>Copyright  American Library Association. All rights reserved</i>
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  The Odyssey of Homer
  
  
  INTRODUCTION
  
  
  THE ODYSSEY OF HOMER
  
  
    
    
  BOOK I. MINERVA'S DESCENT TO ITHACA.  
    
  BOOK II. THE COUNCIL OF ITHACA.  
    
  [BOOK III. THE INTERVIEW OF TELEMACHUS AND
  NESTOR.](The%20Odyssey%20of%20Homer_split_001.html#filepos127774)
  
  
    
    
  [BOOK IV. THE CONFERENCE WITH
  MENELAUS.](The%20Odyssey%20of%20Homer_split_001.html#filepos160539)  
    
  [BOOK V. THE DEPARTURE OF ULYSSES FROM
  CALYPSO](The%20Odyssey%20of%20Homer_split_001.html#filepos217318)  
    
  [BOOK VI.](The%20Odyssey%20of%20Homer_split_001.html#filepos250575)  
    
  [BOOK VII. THE COURT OF
  ALCINOUS.](The%20Odyssey%20of%20Homer_split_002.html#filepos271533)  
    
  [BOOK VIII.](The%20Odyssey%20of%20Homer_split_002.html#filepos294663)  
    
  [BOOK IX. THE ADVENTURES OF THE CICONS, LOTOPHAGI
  
  
  AND CYCLOPS  
    
  [BOOK X. ADVENTURES WITH AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONS,
  
  
  AND CIRCE.  
    
  [BOOK XI. THE DESCENT INTO
  HELL.](The%20Odyssey%20of%20Homer_split_003.html#filepos399