To the East
Where key players locate Doulichion
...the rest, apart, face dawn and sun.
Odyssey Book 9 line 26 James Diggle
Now that you've been introduced to the key players in the quest for Ithaca, you can immediately forget about them again. Though I will mention them where relevant, all these theories have their problems. The main one being that none of them have actually led us to identifying Ithaca with any kind of certainty. To be perfectly honest, this Found!Doulichion theory isn't without its problems either.
Wilhelm Dörpfeld opened up the possibility that Lefkada could be ancient Ithaca and we have to determine whether he was right or wrong. As Lefkada lies very close to the mainland, immediately that raises the issue of Homer mentioning islands to the east of Ithaca. Evidently, that's a bit of a headscratcher that needs a plausible explanation.
Bittlestone added the idea of changing landscapes to the equation. Might that be the way to account for the islands to the east? Could the landscape have changed so drastically since the days of Odysseus? According to Bittlestone, islands could have been created and have merged due to tectonic events. If so, perhaps the eastern islands could have vanished as a result of dramatic shifts in the landscape. If Bittlestone was right about his Paliki theory, might this not have occurred in other places in the same area?
So, having roughly sketched the outlines of the situation, the location and the theories, I'll tell you a bit about how I personally became interested in the quest for Ithaca next. Straight after which you can dive into the rest of Scroll 1, which focuses on the search for the islands to the east of Ithaca. Though the journey doesn't end there.
Bittlestone added the idea of changing landscapes to the equation. Might that be the way to account for the islands to the east? Could the landscape have changed so drastically since the days of Odysseus? According to Bittlestone, islands could have been created and have merged due to tectonic events. If so, perhaps the eastern islands could have vanished as a result of dramatic shifts in the landscape. If Bittlestone was right about his Paliki theory, might this not have occurred in other places in the same area?
So, having roughly sketched the outlines of the situation, the location and the theories, I'll tell you a bit about how I personally became interested in the quest for Ithaca next. Straight after which you can dive into the rest of Scroll 1, which focuses on the search for the islands to the east of Ithaca. Though the journey doesn't end there.
Strabo
Dörpfeld
Goekoop
Welcome to Found!Doulichion.