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Missed John Underhill's Geology Society lecture?

Click here to watch it online

Where was Odysseus' homeland? Professor John Underhill (University of Edinburgh) has been leading the geological, geophysical and geomorphological tests of the theory that the Paliki peninsula in western Kefalonia might have been a free-standing island as recently as 3,000 years ago. Confirmation of that hypothesis would have dramatic ramifications for our understanding of Homeric Greece.

 

 

Geophysical surveys support quest for Homer’s Ithaca

• Latest geoscientific technologies are used to investigate Europe’s earliest enigma
• Land, sea and airborne methods penetrate deep below surface of the key valley
• Helicopter-based scan reveals no limestone bedrock for 90 metres underground
• Marine tests pinpoint outflow of ancient channel identified by geographer Strabo
• Public lecture to be held at the Geological Society, London on October 2 2008
• UK Channel 4 TV News bulletin broadcast on Saturday September 6 at 18:55

London and The Hague, September 1 2008. Detailed results and photographs from the first year of sponsorship by Fugro of the Odysseus Unbound project are released today and published in Geoscientist, the monthly journal of the Geological Society of London. A carefully designed combination of land, sea and airborne techniques has provided a wealth of new data about the Thinia isthmus on the Greek island of Kefalonia that separates its western peninsula from the rest of the island.

The new research shows that this 6 kilometre long and up to 2 kilometre wide isthmus contains no solid limestone bedrock down to at least 90 metres below today’s surface. The fill is loose material, some of which has originated through catastrophic rockfall from the earthquake-prone mountain range to the east, with the rest consisting of softer marl rock.

2,000 years ago the Greek geographer Strabo wrote of Kefalonia “Where the island is narrowest it forms an isthmus so low-lying that it is often submerged from sea to sea”. This new evidence strengthens the case that Strabo’s description was correct at the time and that the western peninsula of Kefalonia, today called Paliki, was often separated from the rest of Kefalonia by the sea at the Thinia isthmus.

The latest results also lend support to the proposal put forward by Robert Bittlestone in 2003 and described in the Cambridge University Press book Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer’s Ithaca, that Homer’s description of Ithaca in the Odyssey as the furthest out to sea and most western of the Ionian Islands referred to today’s peninsula of Paliki, at that time a separate island cut off by ‘Strabo’s Channel’.

In March 2007 the global geotechnical, survey and geoscientific service company FUGRO announced its sponsorship of the Odysseus Unbound project. This provides the project team with industry-scale geoscientific resources and includes the sponsorship of a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh as part of the Natural Environment Research Council CASE scheme.

Geoscience leader Professor John Underhill of the University of Edinburgh comments on the latest results from this cooperation: “Fugro’s specialist air, sea and land-based divisions from around the world have worked together to collect an unprecedented amount of new data in a quest to image the sub-surface beneath the Thinia isthmus. The data collection was very successful and the interpretation of the results has now provided us with some remarkable new evidence and significant new geoscientific insights for the theory being tested."

Professor James Diggle of Cambridge University, who leads the classical research side of the Odysseus Unbound project, comments on the implications of these new findings for our understanding of Strabo’s Geography and Homer's Odyssey: “If we can demonstrate the historical existence of ‘Strabo’s Channel’ it will be impossible to resist the conclusion that Paliki was Homer’s Ithaca - for Paliki, as a separate island, is the only candidate that satisfies every one of Homer's geographical criteria. So we are on the way to demonstrating that Homer’s geography was no less reliable than Strabo’s, and that the landscape of Paliki was the true location of Homer’s Odyssey.”

The UK Channel 4 TV News programme broadcast a 5 minute bulletin about the research in Kefalonia on Saturday 6 September at 18:55. Click below for a link to the broadcast.

 

Full text of this Research Update

Full text of "Testing Classical Enigmas" [ low-resolution PDF] [high-resolution PDF]

London lectures: October 2 (John Underhill), October 6 (Robert Bittlestone)

Watch the Channel 4 TV news broadcast

 

 

Is an eclipse described in the Odyssey?

Scientific American

“Researchers say that references to planets and constellations in the Odyssey describe a solar eclipse that occurred in 1178 B.C., nearly three centuries before Homer is believed to have written the story. If correct, the finding would suggest that the ancient poet had a surprisingly detailed knowledge of astronomy. ”

 

Rest of this article

Research Paper and Supporting Information

 

 

Successful first year’s Fugro sponsorship of the “Odysseus Unbound” project

• Latest technology is used to investigate Europe’s earliest enigma
• Land, sea and airborne methods accurately image sub-surface beneath key valley
• Geological update to appear in September 2008 issue of Geoscientist magazine
• Public lecture to be held at the Geological Society, London on October 2 2008

London and The Hague, June 18 2008. The results of the first year of sponsorship by Fugro of the Odysseus Unbound project are to be released in September 2008 and will be described in the September issue of Geoscientist, the monthly journal of the Geological Society of London. A carefully designed combination of land, sea and airborne techniques has provided a wealth of new data about ‘Strabo’s Channel’, the isthmus described 2,000 years ago by the great geographer as being “so low-lying that it is often submerged from sea to sea”.

Click here for the full text of this Research Update (PDF)

Details of the London lecture on October 2

Fugro's announcement

Kefalonia and Athens visit triggers major interest in Greek edition of Odysseus Unbound

 

From March 11-15 James Diggle and Robert Bittlestone presented the Greek translation of Odysseus Unbound to audiences in Kefalonia and Athens, alongside film footage of the current geological research. The events were arranged and coordinated by the publisher Petros Stathatos, Chief Executive of Ekdoseis Polytropon. Newspapers and TV and radio stations in Athens and on the island provided Press coverage and interviews with the authors. Lively audiences at each event debated this historic proposal prior to a reception and book-signing.

 

Click here for photographs of the events

Click here for Press coverage

 

 

Publication of the Greek edition of Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer's Ithaca

• Homer described Ithaca as ‘furthest west’ but where is Odysseus’ island now?
• Latest scientific techniques are used to investigate Europe’s earliest enigma
• New Preface and Sequel update the book with key developments since 2005
• Website research findings now provided in Greek as well as English
• Authors to visit Athens and Kefalonia to present the latest findings in person

Athens, January 4 2008. The award-winning best-seller Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer's Ithaca is now available in Greek. First published by Cambridge University Press in October 2005, the book has been updated with the latest developments from the island of Kefalonia and is published in Athens by Ekdoseis Polytropon.

Since September 2007 expert teams from FUGRO have been conducting land, sea and air-based surveys of the area with the objective of probing deep into the ground to search for a buried marine seaway. An unprecedented array of gravity, seismic, marine and helicopter-based electromagnetic techniques are being used to test the theory by performing a “whole body scan” of this 6 kilometre long, 2 kilometre wide isthmus.

The Odysseus Unbound website has been released in Greek, reporting the latest news and events from the project. A new Preface and Sequel have been added to the book, presenting the key geological and classical developments since 2005.

The full text of this Press Release is available here: English or Greek

Read this week's VIMagazino interview: English or Greek

Click here for information about the Research programme and the scientific Results to date, or for TV News coverage.

Greek edition: Rony Ganiari, tel: +30 210 3616 343, e-mail: rony@ekdoseispolytropon.gr

Author interviews: Anne Stephenson, anne.stephenson@metapraxis.com

International geoscientific teams converge on Kefalonia

A team of UK geological engineers from Fugro is now working on Kefalonia in conjunction with an Edinburgh PhD programme under the supervision of Professor John Underhill. They are performing land-based seismic, gravity and resistivity tests of terrain mainly in the Thinia district that separates the Paliki peninsula from the rest of Kefalonia.

An Italian marine geoscientific team from Fugro has commenced a detailed submarine mapping of the bays to the north and south of the Thinia valley, using the latest high resolution sonar equipment.

Subject to the grant of aviation permits, it is anticipated that a Canadian Fugro team will subsequently perform a helicopter-based survey of the northern Paliki region, using the 'RESOLVE' advanced electromagnetic system shown in the photograph below.

The data from these surveys will be analysed in the months ahead with the aim of building a 3D visualisation of the geology of this area. It is anticipated that the results of this research will be published during 2008.

On Thursday October 18 at 19:00 a public briefing about the geological research programme will be delivered by Professor John Underhill and Robert Bittlestone in the Lixouri Theatre, at the invitation of the Mayor of Paliki.

Right-click to download Research Description (English and Greek). Right-click to download Briefing Poster.

To listen to Hellenic Public Radio's interview about the research (broadcast on October 11), click here.

For details of the next London lecture (October 29), click here.

FUGRO teams up with Odysseus Unbound project in the search for Homer’s Ithaca

• Global geoscientific leader brings industry-scale resources to the quest
• Airborne, land and marine techniques to diagnose suspected hidden channel
• Latest geophysical and survey techniques to tackle earliest classical conundrum
• Greece’s national geological institute IGME to facilitate the research
• Ionian Islands to benefit from research into groundwater and earthquakes
• Edinburgh PhD candidate to be sponsored jointly with Britain’s NERC
• Unique collaboration between industry, academia and government

London, The Hague and Athens, March 21 2007. A major research partnership was announced today between FUGRO (provider of geotechnical, survey and geoscience services) and the authors of Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer’s Ithaca (Robert Bittlestone, Professor James Diggle and Professor John Underhill), facilitated by IGME (Greece’s geological institute).

The location of the island of Ithaca that is described in Homer’s Odyssey has been an enigma for nearly 3,000 years, but the radical new solution proposed by the authors in late 2005 is looking increasingly plausible as preliminary scientific findings appear to support the hypothesis. FUGRO’s sponsorship will now bring industry-scale geophysical techniques to the project, enabling the team to conduct a ‘full body scan’ of the 6-kilometre long isthmus on the Greek island of Kefallinia that is believed to contain a buried ancient marine connection.

FUGRO is a world leader in the offshore, onshore and airborne collection and interpretation of data about the earth’s surface and the soil and rocks beneath. The company employs about 10,000 staff in over 50 countries. FUGRO Chief Executive Klaas Wester comments:

“The technical challenge presented by the project calls for a broad range of investigative solutions. This is an opportunity for FUGRO to showcase many of the specialised geophysical, geotechnical and survey services that we offer, while at the same time benefiting the local community and supporting research into our areas of expertise. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to contribute our capabilities to this extraordinary project.”

Click here for the full press release (PDF)

Click here for FUGRO's announcement

Ithaca theory gains support - Geoscientist

Results of an offshore seismic survey and the first borehole to test the hypothesis that the Paliki peninsula of the Greek island of Kefallinia was once Homer’s Ithaca lend weight to the theory. Ted Nield reports.

The theory that the home of Odysseus, which has never been satisfactorily identified, was in fact a part of the modern island of Kefallinia that was once an island in its own right (Geoscientist 16, 9 p4 et seq.) has received support from the first test borehole. The theory, advanced by British businessman Robert Bittlestone (author of Odysseus Unbound - The Search for Homer’s Ithaca - Cambridge University Press), with Cambridge University classicist, Professor James Diggle and Edinburgh University geologist, Professor John Underhill, predicts that the peninsula of Paliki was once separated from the rest of Kefallinia by a narrow, probably tidal channel that subsequently became blocked by landslips. This theory solves a number of disagreements between modern geography and Homer’s text - inconsistencies not satisfied by the assumption that Bronze Age Ithaca and the modern island of Ithaki (to the east of Kefallinia) were one and the same island.

Right-click here to download the full article: Medium resolution (15 Mb); Low resolution (3.9 Mb)

Compelling new evidence announced today about the location of Homer's Ithaca

• New scientific evidence closes in on western Kefallinia as Homer’s Ithaca
• Catastrophic rockfalls and landslides triggered by earthquakes believed to have filled in ancient sea channel and created a landlocked isthmus
• 122 metre (400 foot) borehole at isthmus meets no solid limestone bedrock
• Greek Geological Institute survey pinpoints submerged marine valley
• Bulgarian scientists locate microscopic marine fossils caught up in the rockfall
• American ground-penetrating radar confirms channel contours
• Ancient roads interrupted by landslides still visible on the surface
• Detailed scientific findings and supporting photographs provided
• Channel 4 News film update broadcast at 19:43 GMT on January 9

London, January 9 2007. Results were announced today of new geological work which supports the dramatic theory about the location of Homer’s Ithaca put forward by British businessman Robert Bittlestone, Cambridge classicist Professor James Diggle and Edinburgh geologist Professor John Underhill. In 2005 they proposed that the Ithaca described in Homer’s Odyssey is to be found on western Kefallinia, not the Greek island that is today called Ithaki. Within 24 hours the news had been relayed by over 100 newspapers, TV and radio stations world-wide.

 

The new geological work involved the drilling of a 122 metre (400 foot) borehole at the southern end of the isthmus between Kefallinia and Paliki, to see whether the drill-bit would encounter solid limestone bedrock or loose rockfall and landslide material. The borehole penetrated to well below sea level and as the theory predicted, no solid limestone bedrock was encountered. Professor John Underhill comments:

 

"We drilled down to a depth of 122 metres, which is almost 15 metres below today’s sea level, and we didn’t meet any solid limestone strata at all. Although this is only a first step in testing whether or not this whole isthmus was once under the sea, it is a very encouraging confirmation of our geological diagnosis.”

 

Click here for the full Press Release (PDF)

 

Click here for the Detailed Results (PDF)

 

Channel 4 News science correspondent Julian Rush filmed the drilling operation and the resulting 8-minute news film was broadcast on UK Channel 4 at 19:43 GMT. Other TV channels wishing to license this film footage for transmission on their own national networks are invited to contact Fiona Railton. A small-screen version of the film is now available on the Channel 4 website.

 

Click here to watch today's Channel 4 News film (8 minutes: alternative direct link here or watch it on YouTube)

 

Click here to watch Channel 4's previous news film (4 minutes - September 2005)

 

Click here for subsequent Press coverage

 

Compelling new evidence and film about Homer's Ithaca to be released on Tuesday January 9

 

On Tuesday January 9 2007 at 20:00 GMT there will be a significant announcement about the results of new geological tests in Kefallinia aimed at identifying the island of Ithaca, the homeland of Odysseus that is described in Homer's Odyssey. These tests have been conducted under Professor John Underhill's supervision in conjunction with Greece's geological institute IGME. The announcement will be preceded by a short film about the tests on UK Channel 4 TV News.

 

A dramatic new theory about the location of Homer’s Ithaca was put forward by British businessman Robert Bittlestone, Cambridge classicist Professor James Diggle and Edinburgh geologist Professor John Underhill in 2005. They proposed that the Ithaca described in Homer’s Odyssey is to be found on the western peninsula of Kefallinia, not the Greek island that is today called Ithaki.

 

If it can be proved that this peninsula was a separate island at the time of the Trojan War c. 1200 BC then they will have found the answer to a historical enigma that has defied numerous attempts at solution for over 2,500 years. This will also pave the way for a refocussed search for the lost city and palace of Odysseus.

 

In October 2006 they drilled a 122 metre (400 foot) borehole at the neck of the peninsula in Kefallinia to test the theory. The material from the borehole has now been analysed and its results, together with the outcome of a battery of other onshore and offshore tests, will be published at 20:00 GMT on Tuesday January 9 at www.odysseus-unbound.org.

 

Channel 4 News science correspondent Julian Rush filmed the drilling operation and the resulting 10-minute news film will be broadcast on UK Channel 4 between 19:00 and 20:00 GMT on Tuesday January 9. Other TV channels wishing to license this film footage for transmission on their own national networks are invited to contact Fiona Railton. A small-screen version of the film will be made available on the Channel 4 website shortly afterwards. For background to the project, click here to watch Channel 4's previous news film.

 

An embargoed Press Release and Detailed Results briefing are now available to accredited news journalists at the Press Resources section.

 

 

Leading US classical scholars support Odysseus Unbound

James Holoka, Professor of Classics and Ancient History, Eastern Michigan University: "It is not possible in a short review to convey how methodically both textual and topographic evidence are harmonized in Bittlestone’s riveting argument. His case for equating Paliki with Ithaca is breathtakingly cogent. Site after site is shown to jibe with the details of Homer’s narrative."

Peter Green, Dougherty Centennial Professor Emeritus of Classics at the University of Texas at Austin and Adjunct Professor at the University of Iowa: "Bittlestone's theory is fundamentally simple, and starts, as did those of Schliemann, from the firm assumption that Homer was telling the truth... This, in a nutshell, is his solution to the "Ithaca Question," and it is almost certainly correct...This confirmation of literary inference by the heavy weapons of modern science and technology is a major triumph."

For these full reviews, click on the logos above. For other reviews, click here.

100m test borehole being drilled on Cephalonia

 

Permission has been received from the Greek authorities to drill a test borehole on Cephalonia near the southern exit of the possible route of Strabo's Channel. The altitude of the borehole site is over 100 metres above the sea and it will be drilled down to sea level and beyond. The terrain at the surface of the test site consists of loose rockfall material that has been derived from the mountains to the east. The objective of this test is to determine whether this material continues down to sea level, or whether it is replaced by solid limestone bedrock or an intermediate sediment such as marl. The data from the borehole will be analysed in conjunction with other recent tests including gravity, seismic, resistivity and ground penetrating radar studies and it is expected that the results will be announced early in 2007. Further details and location maps are provided in John Underhill's Geoscientist article below. Click here for BBC press coverage.

 

Geoscientist magazine publishes new geological findings on Strabo's Channel

 

Geoscientist, the monthly colour news magazine of The Geological Society of London, has today published a major new scientific article by John Underhill entitled "Quest for Ithaca". The article documents the results of detailed investigations into the isthmus between the eastern land mass of Kefalonia and the western peninsula of Paliki. It describes the geological setting of the island and it includes an up-to-date account of the field-based geoscientific techniques used to test the proposal, both before and after the publication of Odysseus Unbound, up to July 2006. With the kind agreement of Geoscientist magazine, a copy of the published article is now provided on this website.

 

The Geological Society of London, founded in 1807, is the UK national society for geoscience and it is the largest national geoscience society in Europe. Geoscientist magazine is the main mouthpiece of the society and is distributed free to all Fellows, with a print run of 10,000 copies.

 

“Because the valley floor today rises to c. 180m, it is clearly demanding to suggest that it might have been at sea level as recently as the Bronze Age (late Holocene). As a result, I anticipated that Bittlestone’s hypothesis would be easy to test - and disprove. However, rebuttal has not proved at all straightforward. None of the results of geological and geomorphological fieldwork performed so far rules out the hypothesis that a marine connection as described by Strabo could have existed at that time.” Professor John Underhill, Geoscientist September 2006.

 

“Odysseus Unbound presents a highly readable personal account of what can happen when an enthusiast with a compelling synthetic vision glimpses a solution no specialist has seen and uses his considerable resources of energy and curiosity to bring renowned experts like Professors Underhill (Geology, Edinburgh University) and Diggle (Classics, Cambridge University) to focus on solving a puzzle that has mystified scholars for centuries. Robert Bittlestone may one day emerge as Homeric studies' Alfred Wegener of the Internet age.” Dr Ted Nield, Editor, Geoscientist magazine.

 

Click here for the full article: Medium resolution (12 Mb); Low resolution (2.5 Mb)

 

 

53rd anniversary of the 1953 earthquake on Cephalonia

 

From Odysseus Unbound, Chapter 1: "At 09:24 GMT on Wednesday August 12th 1953 something happens to Cephalonia that is both unthinkable and unendurable...On that day an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 pushes this mass upwards by about 60 centimetres within the space of a few seconds and with the force of 63 million tons of high explosive...The effect of the magnitude 7.2 earthquake is literally catastrophic: it is as if a thermonuclear bomb were to be modified so that instead of exploding at a single point, its energy is radiated evenly from the surface of a huge blanket lying underneath the island." Click here to read on.

 

 

Contract signed for Greek translation of Odysseus Unbound

 

Cambridge University Press has signed a contract for a Greek translation of Odysseus Unbound with Polytropon, a publishing business within the fast-growing Lyra group based in Athens. The translation is being carried out by Elias Toumasatos, Director of the Corgialenios Library in Argostoli, Kefallinia. It is expected that the book will be published mid-2007. The main publishing interest of Polytropon focuses on the fields of philosophy, sociology, history, political science, economics, classics, biology-bioethics and linguistics. The Director of Polytropon Publishing is Petros Stathatos. Click here for the announcement in Greek.

 

 

US East Coast Tour Triggers Major Interest in Odysseus Unbound Findings

 

From May 16-19 a series of seminars about the project and author interviews took place in New York and Boston. The aim was to provide both Americans and Greek Americans with an update on developments since the book was published, and to open discussions regarding funding for Phases B and C. For further details, click on the links below:

Hellenic Public Radio interview

John Metaxas interview

National Herald interview

Tavern Club lecture

 

 

'Palace of Ajax' found in Greece at Kanakia on island of Salamis

Greek archaeologists led by Professor Yannos Lolos say they have unearthed the remains of a 13th Century BC palace and city linked to the legendary warrior-king Ajax. In Homer's classic tale the Iliad, the Achaean hero Ajax the Great fought duels with Hector in the Trojan War...The city, named 'Kychreia' on an epigraph found on the Athens Acropolis that dates from the first century BC, is mentioned by the ancient geographer Strabo.

 

Iliad 2.557: "And Aias led from Salamis twelve ships, and stationed them where the battalions of the Athenians stood"

 

Iliad 2.631: "Odysseus led the gallant Cephallenians, from Ithaca...together with twelve red-cheeked ships"

 

Full text of press announcements: BBC, Times, Independent

 

 

 

 

 

 

Site photographs taken on April 12 2006: Click on them to enlarge

 

 

Smithsonian Magazine publishes article and photographs from Paliki in April edition

Odyssey's End? The Search for Ancient Ithaca

A British researcher believes he has at last pinpointed the island to which Homer's wanderer returned

Celebrated writer Fergus Bordewich and award-winning photographer Jeffrey Aaronson visited Kefalonia with Robert Bittlestone in October 2005. "Half an hour after leaving the pig farm, we park in an olive grove and begin climbing Kastelli’s steep 830-foot-high slopes, through a dense carpet of prickly underbrush. The bells of unseen goats ring in our ears. We scramble over lichen-crusted terraces that might once have supported houses, and then, near the hillcrest, clamber over traces of a defensive wall and heaps of jagged stones...Here, perhaps, with “a shield of fourfold hide” and a plumed helmet on his “heroic head,” Odysseus set to his bloody work. As Homer puts it, “Ghastly screams rose up as men’s heads were smashed in, and the whole floor ran with blood.” In the end, corpses lay heaped in the dust “like fishes the fishermen have dragged out of the grey surf in the meshes of their net onto a curving beach, to lie in masses on the sand longing for the salt water till the bright sun ends their lives.” Bittlestone prowls the windswept summit, pointing out shards of ancient pottery—fragments of pots, wine jugs and oil jars, compacted amid generations of goat droppings and dust, the last traces of an ancient town and perhaps a palace." Click here to read the article

 

 

 

History Channel broadcasts first film footage from Paliki

 

The History Channel's "Digging for the Truth" field archaeology program broadcast a documentary about Homer's Troy and Ithaca in the USA on March 20 and 21. The film is called "Troy: Of Gods and Warriors" and it includes the first footage of some of the sites identified in "Odysseus Unbound" on the island of Kefalonia. The legendary Josh Bernstein is the intrepid interviewer and the series is produced by an Emmy-award winning team from JWM Productions.

 

With the kind permission of The History Channel and JWM Productions, an extract of the Ithaca material will be posted on this website on March 28.

 

 

Now available - Watch the History Channel extract about Ithaca

First broadcast on Mar 20. Duration: 5 minutes.

 

 

 

Low resolution: right-click here to Save Target then play offline (15 Mb WMV file, use Windows Media player).

 

 

 

 

High resolution: right-click here to Save Target then play offline (37Mb MP4 file, use QuickTime player).

 

 

 

Josh Bernstein's web journal

Now available in our Reviews section - click here and scroll down to April 2006.

 

Missed the program?

Click here to order your copy of the full length film. Duration: 45 minutes. Ships on May 2 2006.

 

 

 

Encyclopaedia sets out the case for Paliki as Homer's Ithaca

 

Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia now accessed by about 75 million users per month, has published a significant new entry regarding the location of Homer's Ithaca.

 

"According to Robert Bittlestone's "Odysseus Unbound" (2005), written with the assistance of Professor James Diggle of Cambridge University and Professor John Underhill of the University of Edinburgh, Paliki, a peninsula of Kefalonia, is the location of Homer's Ithaca, the home of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey. ".

 

Full text of Wikipedia entry on Odysseus Unbound

Full text of Wikipedia entry on Homer's Ithaca

 

 

Odysseus Unbound is a ForeWord 'Big Ten' Exceptional Book for 2005

Joint winner in The Living Past category of University Presses

 

America's 'ForeWord' magazine has announced the results of its 'Ten Exceptional Books from University Presses' awards for 2005: 'Odysseus Unbound' is joint winner in The Living Past category.

 

"Year 2005 has been impossibly rich in every sort of book, and Big Ten choices must seem ever more arbitrary. Intent remains unchanged: to note ten books of unusual interest and reward...The acid tests are two: will a selected book ease two days’ isolation in a lonely, snow-bound cabin? And would a book’s owner (at the risk of a ruptured friendship) say, “You’d love this—but I’m not about to lend it and lose it”?... The best books invariably open the mind to ideas and experiences beyond the expected: they expand the reader’s universe."

 

"Odysseus Unbound brings new analyses to an old problem: the seeming impossibility of pinpointing on Ithaca Homer’s many references to the much-changed island. Using the most advanced investigative techniques available to geologists and archaeologists, together with aerial photography and comprehensive literary research, the expert authorial trio posits, disproves, or proves hypotheses in order to “reconstruct” ancient Ithaca, allowing for convincing identification of Homer’s locations and sites, including that of Odysseus’s palace. The appositely quoted Odyssey forms the spine of the book, scientific findings its ribs, and vivid prose its sinews. The reader’s reward is truly thrilling detection supported by breathtaking illustration, yielding a revitalized epic whose prime location of Ithaca is made newly recognizable and powerfully evocative".

Full text of ForeWord announcement

Prize draw on March 24 2006 for a free signed copy of the book

 

Odysseus Unbound findings voted a Top Science Story by Discover magazine

 

America's Discover magazine has announced the results of its 'Year in Science' top stories for 2005. In the History of Science section the journal writes "Bittlestone says Odysseus' home is not the Greek island now called Itháki, as some believe, nor is it a creation of Homer's imagination. The real Ithaca, he says, is the peninsula of Paliki on the western side of the island of Kefallinía in the Ionian Sea".

 

Full text of Press announcement

 

 

Global Mapper technology confirms Homer's description of ancient Ithaca as 'low-lying'

 

Latest version of software package calculates average elevation above sea level of Paliki vs. Ithaki

 

Click here for full size screenshots and instructions

 

Cambridge event debates classical controversy

 

Can Odysseus' island be identified as closely as 'Odysseus Unbound' suggests? If so, how could Homer have known the geography so well? On November 30 the Cambridge University Hellenic Society hosted a presentation on this topic.

 

Click here for further details on the Events page

Click here to access the Reviews page that sets out the controversy

About 130 delegates attended the seminar: Click here for photographs

 

NASA’s ‘World Wind’ Planetary Visualisation software pinpoints proposed site of ancient Ithaca

 

NASA's free 'World Wind' software can be downloaded to track the discovery. Fly around ancient Ithaca on your PC.

 

Click here for full size screenshots and instructions

 

 

 

 

 

Book Reviews page added to website

 

“Odysseus Unbound has made the final link between real location and Homeric description”...“Paliki-as-island is a sensational hypothesis”...“Bittlestone's argument romps home”...“the account of how he reached his conclusions is clear, engaging, funny, wonderfully illustrated”...“Bittlestone has had the benefit of expert advice from James Diggle, probably the greatest living Hellenist, and John Underhill, professor at the University of Edinburgh (well known to football fans: he referees for FIFA)”... “I've just finished reading Odysseus Unbound and I have to say that the experience was utterly enthralling from start to finish”...“A fascinating and compelling book"...“I can feel that Odysseus was a real person, and that some sort of journey took place. It was just so amazing and I highly recommend it for anyone who loves Greece, Homer, or the Odyssey”... “If Robert Bittlestone is correct, this will be one of the most important archaeological discoveries since Schliemann’s uncovering of Troy in the late 19th century”... “Scholars will now have to think again about received wisdom on the Odyssey”...“Shines a light on the past and its scholarly achievement must be acknowledged”.

 

Click here to access the Reviews page

 

Seminars in the UK, USA and Greece attract worldwide audience for 'Odysseus Unbound' discovery

 

Since the September 29 news conference the authors have delivered seminars in London, Oxford, Cambridge, Washington and Athens, and also in Kefallinia itself (Lixouri and Argostoli), attracting audiences of up to several hundred delegates. Computer-based animations were used to explain the landscape changes and NASA's "World Wind" software was deployed to enable the audience to 'fly around' the island of Kefallinia. The conferences in Greece were delivered simultaneously in Greek and English. Pending further geological tests there was widespread acceptance of these new proposals and considerable interest in following the progress of "Phase B".

 

Click on the entries below for photographs of these events.

 

September 29: London - Foreign Press Association

October 4: Cambridge - Heffers

October 6: Oxford - Blackwells

October 13: Washington - Center for Hellenic Studies

October 19: Athens - Ledra Marriott and Eleftheroudakis

October 21: Kefallinia - Lixouri

October 22: Kefallinia - Argostoli

 

Odysseus Unbound authors to visit Greece: seminars and book-signing in Athens and Kefallinia

Between October 19-22 Robert Bittlestone, Professor James Diggle and Professor John Underhill will be in Greece to present seminars and to answer questions about the geological, classical and archaeological discoveries of Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer's Ithaca. The seminars will be illustrated throughout with slides and computer animations and the content is aimed at a non-specialist audience. The talks will be delivered simultaneously in Greek and English. There is no charge for attendance and signed copies of the book will be available for purchase.

 

Click on the entries below for further details.

 

October 19 at 11:00 - Athens Ledra Marriott Hotel

October 19 at 18:00 - Eleftheroudakis Bookshop, Athens

October 21 at 19:00 - New Theatre, Lixouri, Kefallinia

October 22 at 17:00 - Mediterranean Hotel, Argostoli, Kefallinia

 

Click here to download event posters:

ENGLISH: Athens Ledra Marriott Hotel, New Theatre Lixouri, Mediterranean Hotel Argostoli.

GREEK: New Theatre Lixouri, Mediterranean Hotel Argostoli.

Full text of Press announcement

International project team announces discovery of location of Homer’s Ithaca:

• Dramatic geological shifts hid solution to mystery of Odysseus’ island for 3,000 years

• Peninsula in western Kefallinia believed to have been a separate island

• Catastrophic earthquakes triggered massive landslides that joined islands together

 

What is potentially one of the most exciting classical discoveries for over 130 years was revealed in London today. At a conference held at the Foreign Press Association, Robert Bittlestone (Chairman of management consultancy Metapraxis Ltd), James Diggle (Professor of Greek and Latin at Cambridge University) and John Underhill (Professor of Stratigraphy at Edinburgh University) announced that they had found new and compelling evidence in support of the location of ancient Ithaca, the island described in great detail in Homer’s Odyssey.

 

Full text of Press announcement

Watch Channel 4 Special Report in Windows Media Player (9 Mb broadband)

Global Press coverage

 

 

Statement issued today in Athens by the Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration:

“The Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration in Athens has facilitated the geological researches of Professor John Underhill in the Ionian Islands since 1982. The results of his recent investigation of the Holocene geomorphology of western Kefallinia are unexpected and thought-provoking. We are pleased to be working closely with him and his team at the University of Edinburgh with the joint objective of furthering our understanding of the geological history and the tectonic setting of these islands. We have already started on a program of collaborative marine surveys and we look forward to advancing our knowledge of this region together.”

www.igme.gr

Statement issued today in Athens by The Deputy Minister of Culture, Petros Tatoulis:

"The Hellenic Ministry of Culture welcomes the release of the book “Odysseus Unbound: The Search for Homer’s Ithaca” (Robert Bittlestone, with James Diggle and John Underhill: Cambridge University Press, 2005). The book opens exciting prospects for future research regarding the location of Homeric Ithaca. The Ministry eagerly follows Mr. Bittlestone’s hypothesis and looks forward to staying informed about any future developments".

www.culture.gr

Countdown to the solution of the mystery of Odysseus’ island which has baffled scholars for over 2,000 years

A Press statement was issued today confirming arrangements for the Press conference in London on September 29 at which the details of the discovery will be announced. To read the statement click here.

NASA announces role of 'World Wind' in the Search for Homer's Ithaca:

"NASA's extraordinary 'World Wind' technology has made it possible for us to fly around ancient Ithaca as if we were hovering over it in a helicopter."

worldwind.arc.nasa.gov

Aug 3 2005

OziExplorer integrates satellite images with GPS data for Odysseus Unbound:

"We linked OziExplorer's 2D mapping software to satellite imagery and GPS waypoints. By integrating this with high-resolution digital elevation model data we were then able to 'lift' these images off the ground using OziExplorer 3D. The results represented a real breakthrough in landscape visualisation."

www.oziexplorer.com

Jul 21 2005

Global Mapper provides Odysseus Unbound team with DEM support:

"Global Mapper's powerful satellite image visualisation tools and support for Digital Elevation Models enabled us to answer an age-old clue in the Odyssey about low-lying vs. mountainous terrain."

www.globalmapper.com