Sailing Vacations In the Wake of Odysseus

Odysseus’ journey is surely one of the most fabulous in literature, and you can plan a fun trip with a yacht rental visiting some of the places in the Mediterranean which are thought to have inspired Homer in his account of Odysseus’ travels.

Along the way he encounters the horrible one-eyed Cyclops, has a seven-year affair with the enchanting Calypso, meets his dead mother in the underworld, and rescues his men from the heady and addictive lotus flowers, among other adventures.

Meanwhile, his wife Penelope is peeling off leech-like suitors and managing her role as single mother as best she can. It’s not surprising that feisty feminist author Margaret Atwell decided to write her own account of Penelope’s travails, The Penelopiad.

Had Homer known that his work would survive three thousand years, you can be sure that he would have suffered from a bad case of writer’s block. As it happens, he wrote the first known piece of travel writing, which still provokes heated arguments over the whereabouts of the places mentioned in the narrative. Greek Homerist Ioannis Kakridis argues that the story is intended to be construed as a fantasy, and that to believe that the places are real is to believe in Greek gods and monsters – maybe his world is a bit lacklustre.

Instead, one might approach working out the links between Odyssey islands and the real thing like the Riemann Hypothesis: fundamentally impossible, but good fun to have a go. The places below have all been suggested by scholars of the poet, and while none are definite answers, they are all in the crystalline and beguiling Mediterranean. Maybe if academics got out there they would stop arguing and just enjoy the sun on a bareboat charter.

1. Troy (Cannakale – Turkey): this is where Odysseus sets out after sneaking into Troy in a fake present – a stroke of genius.

2. The Land of the Cicones (South Coast of mainland Greece): here, our hero loses 72 of his men.

3. The Island of the Lotus Eaters (Djerba – Tunisia): Odysseus’ men try the tasty lotus flowers and get so high they forget about home.    Odysseus has to make them fast to get them back on his side.

4. The Island of the Cyclops (Etna – Sicily): again, Odysseus’ men are tempted by the good things in life and wander into a Cyclops’ cave, lured by the smell of cheese and wine. Odysseus blinds the Cyclops’ mono-eye and they all sneak out tied to the underside of some sheep.

5. The Island of Aeolus (Lipari – North of Sicily): Aeolus, the sympathetic god of winds, gives Odysseus a bag of all the naughty winds which would stop him getting home. Odysseus’ men let him down by opening the bag.

6. The Land of Laestrygonians (Southern Corsica – France): the cannibalistic Laestrygonians eat everyone who comes their way. Only Odysseus and his men survive.

7. Circe’s Island (Malta): Circe turns Odysseus’ men to pigs, but our hero is protected from her magic by Hermes, his best god friend. Odysseus ends up staying a few years before Circe tells him to go to the Underworld.

8. The Underworld (this one is probably best avoided): Odysseus meets his mother, who was so depressed about his being away that she committed suicide.

9. The Island of the Sirens (Naples – Italy): clever Odysseus knows his men and their scoundrel ways, so he fills their ears with softened candle wax before they can be seduced by the sirens’ songs.

10. Scylla and Charibdis (Strait of Messina – between Italy and Sicily): Odysseus has two choices. He can either sail towards Charibdis, a giant whirlpool which will sink the whole ship, or he can sacrifice six men by sailing towards Scylla, the six-headed serpent. He goes with the latter – a bravely utilitarian decision.

11. The Island of Helios (Thrinacia – Sicily): one may wonder why Odysseus bothers with his men. They go against his orders yet again when he’s asleep and eat Helios’ cattle. The furious god throws a bolt of lightning at the ship which is smashed. Only our hero survives.

12. Ogygia (Gozo – Malta): thankfully, Odysseus shows that he too has human flaws, and spends seven years on this island of women, having an affair with Calypso. Hermes convinces her to let him build a ship to go home.

13.The Land of the Phaeacians (Corfu – Greece): the Phaeacians take pity on Odysseus when he tells them his story and he hitches a ride home with them on one of their magical boats.

14. Ithaca (Ionian Sea – Greece): home finally, Odysseus and his son Telemachus kill the pesky suitors and Odysseus takes his place as king.

Filed under: Europe & UK • Greece

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!