Odysseus Unbound

Help us solve the greatest mystery of the Classical world

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Scholars have been baffled for centuries.

In the Odyssey Homer gives a detailed description of Ithaca, Odysseus’ homeland.

But where is it?

Robert Bittlestone had an inspired idea.

What if Paliki, the peninsula on the western coast of Kefalonia, was actually a separate island at the time of Odysseus?

Then it perfectly matches Homer’s description of Ithaca.

Our compelling research, from geophysics to classical history, means we are close to finding the answer!

Be the first to find out about all our latest news and research results.

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Inspired by Odysseus

Marco Grieco has been so inspired by the Odysseus Unbound project, he’s featuring it in his new novel. The Italian composer of ”Odissea the Musical’ spoke to us on a recent visit to Kefalonia. … Read More

NEWS UPDATES

2020 fieldwork starts in spite of COVID pandemic

By unexpected good fortune and against all odds, we have been able to start our field research this summer!… Read More

NEWS UPDATES

Odysseus Unbound at Athens archaeology conference

Recent results of our survey work on the Livadi Marsh was presented to an audience of scientists and archaeologists at a conference in Athens in January 2020. Find out how the data supports our theory that this was Odysseus’ harbour on Ithaca.… Read More

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“[Bittlestone] is the first to have tried to prove in a systematic way that Paliki, during historical times, formed its own island as identified in Homer’s description of Ithaca. It is an original theory that needs to be investigated further.”… Read More

Prof. Denis Searby - Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

“The book provides… a departure point in an investigative project of impressive potency. This augurs well for its future acceptance.”… Read More

Prof. Adolfo J. Domínguez Monedero - University Autónoma of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

“’Epoch-making’ aptly describes what this book has unleashed.”… Read More

Dr Frederico Lourenço - Centro de Estudos Clássicos, Lisbon, Portugal

“Bittlestone’s theory is fundamentally simple… and it is almost certainly correct.”… Read More

Prof. Peter Green - University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA

“The geological argument in particular is first-class and leaves me in no doubt about the possibility of the theory being proposed.”… Read More

Prof. Tjeerd van Andel - Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK

[Bittlestone’s] case for equating Paliki with Ithaca is breathtakingly cogent. Site after site is shown to jibe with the details of Homer’s narrative.”… Read More

Prof. James Holoka - Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA

“This book is a gem. Its reconstruction of prehistoric Ithaca has a convincingly Homeric ‘look and feel’ to it. Reading the Odyssey is unlikely ever to be the same again”.… Read More

Prof. Gregory Nagy - Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington DC, USA

“There seems to be no doubt at all that Paliki was once a separate island from the rest of Kefalonia.”… Read More

Prof. Mary Beard - Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK

Help us solve the greatest mystery of the Classical world

Scholars have been baffled for centuries.

Robert Bittlestone had an inspired idea.

Then it perfectly matches Homer’s description of Ithaca.

Be the first to find out about all our latest news and research results.

Latest News

Inspired by Odysseus

2020 fieldwork starts in spite of COVID pandemic

Odysseus Unbound at Athens archaeology conference

What they say about Odysseus Unbound

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