Krouni and Chalkis
The first names Homer mentions are Krouni (pronounced Krouney) and Chalkis, with their beautiful streams. A place called Crounoi (pronounced Krouney) still exists 3 millennia later and the river Alpheios is most probably the stream where Chalki must have been. The lagoon between the two places has silted up, been drained and converted into farmland. The river near Crounoi is now canalized as a result of the conversion. The cause of the silting up in ancient Olympia has been found by, again, research of Andreas Vött. His findings make clear that Olympia was struck by tsunamis several times. You can click on the button 'Olympia' to find out more.
Pheai and Elis can easily be spotted on the map on this page, so thus far it's smooth sailing. The sharp islands, though, are a bit of a mystery. Let's see if we can find out where they might be and why Homer calls them the sharp islands.
Pheai and Elis can easily be spotted on the map on this page, so thus far it's smooth sailing. The sharp islands, though, are a bit of a mystery. Let's see if we can find out where they might be and why Homer calls them the sharp islands.
They ran past Krouni and Chalkis, with there beautiful streams. They came near Pheai, driven on the wind of Zeus, and on past shining Elis, where the Epeians are strong. From there he steered for the sharp islands, wondering whether he would escape death or be captured.
Chalki
Crounoi
Waypoints from Pylos
Odussey Book 15 line 292-297 Barry B Powell
In Scroll 8 you will find an elaborated story about Nestors' Pylos and Menelaos' Sparta.