The mysterious places of Homer are explored in this most extensively illustrated account of the landscape around Troy. Over 170 photographs, 38 old paintings and drawings, 31 historical maps, 27 annotated excerpts from satellite imagery, and two new maps guide the reader in search of the sites celebrated in the Iliad and the Odyssey – the rivers, springs, mountains, the Hellespont, the ships’ camps, and the heroic tombs. The book analyses the Homeric and literary sources, traces the historical and contemporary search for the sites, and summarizes the results of archaeological excavations. The findings are surprising. This edition adds two sections to the printed book. The penultimate section is a “List of videos of the sites” taken by the author and to be found on YouTube. The final section “How to get there” has detailed on-the-ground information on how to get to the sites. Beautifully illustrated, the book is an indispensable sourcebook and companion to Homer. It is also essential background for anyone planning a visit to Troy and its surrounds.

In this text, an authority on Homeric texts takes us on a tour of the main localities that Homer paints in his Iliad and Odyssey. Providing numerous photographs of the terrain and quoting liberally from the two epics, J.V. Luce argues that Homer's descriptions of the ancient landscape, far from being poetic fantasies, are accurate in every detail. Luce surveys what Homer tells us about the environs of Troy and Ithaca, applying the developing science of narratology to Homeric depiction of landscape. He also incorporates information about Troy that has been obtained in the past two decades, in particular geophysical information about the alluviation of the Trojan plain and archaeological data about Troy that reveals that the fortified area of the city was ten times as large as previously supposed. Tracing the ebb and flow of the battle as described in the Iliad, Luce shows how Homer's account is consistent with this picture of the plain.

Extraordinary story of the exciting discovery of the true location of Odysseus' homeland of Ithaca.

No city has captured the imagination like Troy does. Since the famous poet Homer wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey in the eighth century BC, many peoples have sung, edited, studied and appropriated the stories of the city, the war between Greeks and Trojans and the famous Trojan horse. Roman emperors and many European monarchs have traced their roots to Trojan or Greek heroes. Troy was a legendary city, a city of poetry, paintings, operas and films. But the city really existed: in 1871 the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann found the remains of Troy during excavations in Turkey. Since the end of the nineteenth century, teams of archaeologists exposed the history of the city. In this handbook, with contributions from numerous experts from the Netherlands and Turkey, the latest insights and discoveries about both the historical and legendary Troy are presented.0Exhibition: Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (7.12.2012-5.5.2013).

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Odysseus was notoriously vague about where he lived. Ithaca was the place, he said, but his description of its whereabouts was a mixture of geography and poetry. Tradition says that it was the modern island of Ithaki in the Ionian Sea. Other theories, however, have placed it elsewhere. This book takes a close look at the traditional view, and at some of the other theories. The author examines the Odyssey in detail, draws on ancient and modern scholarly texts (some translated into English for the first time), reproduces antique and contemporary maps, and satellite imagery, quotes from the accounts of earlier travellers and topographers, sails the Ionian Sea, and above all, walks the landscape of Ithaki exploring the extent to which the island matches the Ithaca of the poem. The result is a treasure trove of documentation and discovery. The author proposes new explanations for some age-old problems: where was Dulichium? Where did Telemachus land in Ithaca? Where was the city? Where was the palace of Odysseus? He suggests localities for them all. His analytical approach is informed by wide research into historical, literary and archaeological sources, and is abundantly illustrated. For the first time, several Ithacan landmarks that conform closely to the words and action of the Odyssey are identified. The author then travels to Cephalonia, Lefkada, Corfu, Sicily, Spain, Denmark, and the Azores to explore other proposed localities for Ithaca. He returns to Ithaki, and reflects on how Homer could have known the island that so closely matches the island of his poem. An ideal companion for lovers of Homer and travellers alike. Beautifully illustrated with more than 270 photographs (landscape, sea, archaeological objects, flora, fauna), 30 historical maps, 10 views of annotated satellite imagery, 5 new maps. List of ancient writers. Bibliography. Select websites. Index. 435 pages.

An overview of all excavations that have been conducted at Troy, from the nineteenth century through the latest discoveries between 1988 and the present.