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James Diggle, emeritus professor of Greek and Latin at Cambridge University, and John Underhill, professor of geoscience and energy transition at the University of Aberdeen, join School of War to discuss their decades-long search for the real Ithaca of Homer’s Odyssey. Based on their recent Antigone journal article, “In Search of Ithaca,” they explain why the island we’ve called Ithaca for centuries may actually be the wrong one. Can modern geology solve a 3,000-year-old mystery? Have we finally found the true home of Odysseus? And what would that mean for one of the greatest stories ever told?
02:44 – The mystery of Homer's Ithaca
04:45 – Can Homer be treated as history?
06:19 – The Bronze Age world of Odysseus
09:25 – Why modern Ithaca doesn't fit Homer's description
12:02 – Robert Bittlestone's hypothesis
17:15 – The geology expedition begins
23:17 – The million-euro search for Ithaca
28:37 – Disproving the original theory
31:19 – The geological breakthrough
35:09 – The discovery that changes everything
37:22 – Homer never actually calls Ithaca an island
41:24 – Solving a 3,000-year-old mystery
46:22 – Telemachus' journey finally makes sense
50:54 – Would Robert Bittlestone have agreed?
57:43 – The hidden cave
Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast
Find more at The Free Press.
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