Odyssey in Sicily: Homer's places between myth and reality

Sicily is a magical island where legends are at home. One of the most fascinating stories of all time takes us back many centuries, a mythical journey in the Mediterranean that never ceases to capture the attention and curiosity of readers. It is the Odyssey, with its destinations inhabited by creatures such as sirens and nymphs, monsters and gods…there by sea, where it took Odysseus ten years to return to his Ithaca. Sicilian Secrets takes you on a voyage of discovery to the places of the Odyssey that, according to tradition, would be found in Sicily itself…ready to embark with us?

As you set out for Ithaka

hope your road is a long one,

full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:

you’ll never find things like that on your way

as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,

as long as a rare excitement

stirs your spirit and your body.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them

unless you bring them along inside your soul,

unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

[…]

The myth of Odysseus is one of the best known in literature, the stories Homer told in the Odyssey have transcended the barriers of time and become a source of inspiration for modern travelers. And so, although of some places the actual geographical location is uncertain and widely debated, it turns out that Odysseus and his companions also visited Sicily. Where, let’s find out together!

The Strait of Messina, where Ulysses met Scylla and Charybdis

According to legend, Charybdis was a beautiful maiden daughter of Gaea and Poseidon, punished by Zeus for stealing oxen from Heracles. The father of the gods transformed her into a hideous sea monster, voracious and capable of creating terrible whirlpools that struck and sank passing ships. Her ‘home’ was on the Sicilian side of what we now call the Straits of Messina, opposite the cavern of another hideous creature, Scylla. When Odysseus, in canto XII of the Odyssey, faces that stretch of the Mediterranean constantly battered by currents, he preferred to approach the shore of Scylla – apparently less dangerous – seeing the death of six of his companions. Charybdis is also mentioned by Virgil in the Aeneid, who, in the third book of his work, speaks of it thus:

«Scylla guards the right side; insatiate Charybdis the left; and at the bottom of her seething chasm thrice she sucks the vast waves into the abyss, and again in turn throws them upwards, lashing the stars with spray».

Sataria Cave, the love with Calypso

One of the most romantic and dramatic moments in the Odyssey is when Odysseus meets the nymph Calypso on the island of Ogygia. But where, in reality, is this mysterious place? One of the reconstructions takes us to Pantelleria, and to be specific, to the Sataria Cave. This place is famous for its beneficial thermal water sources exploited since ancient times. The name derives precisely from the Greek language carrying with it the meaning of ‘health,’ given the curative power of these hot waters ideal for fighting pain. It is said that Odysseus, after returning to Ithaca and choosing to put out to sea again, returned precisely to Calypso dying in the very arms of the goddess.

[…] Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars. […]

The stacks of Aci Trezza, all the fault of Polyphemus

Known as the Stacks, the ‘islands of the Cyclops’ earned this name precisely because of the Odyssey. It is in the 9th book of the poem that Homer recounts the encounter between his hero and the Cyclops Polyphemus, and it is here that the latter – once blinded – began to hurl large rocks at Ulysses so as to prevent him from escaping. And these very huge rocks would be today the famous stacks that stand out not far from the coast of Catania. An unbelievable story, but if you want to know the truth…these rocks date back instead to about half a million years ago, the result of intense volcanic activity, as indeed evidenced by the lava rock that characterizes them.

The Aeolian Islands, together with the God of Winds

In Book X of the Odyssey, Odysseus and his companions come to Aeolus, god of the wind. Where? As one can imagine right there among the seven sisters of the Tyrrhenian Sea: the Aeolian Islands. To be precise, Homer speaks of Aeolia, a floating island, which some authors speculate to be Lipari and some others Stromboli.
The story goes that the god, wanting to help Ulysses in his return home, handed him a wineskin containing the winds against navigation…but while the Homeric hero wisely used the gentle Zephyrus, his companions – greedy and convinced that they would find gold inside the wineskin – opened it, unleashing a disastrous storm. Today this archipelago is a popular tourist destination that, especially in summer, attracts visitors arriving from all over the world ready to dive into the crystal-clear waters kissed by the warm Sicilian sun.

[…] Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn’t have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.

Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,

you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

– C.P. Cavafy

Trapani, the land of the Phaeacians

The last stop on our journey, just as the last stop was for Odysseus, is the land of the Phaeacians. An isolated people, ruled by King Alcinous, known for their prosperity and hospitality. Odysseus, after many adventures, lands right here, where he is welcomed and honored. But where is this city located? One of the theories, developed by the English writer Samuel Butler, claims it is Trapani. Evidence of this would be, to be exact, the Rock of Ligny, a rock formation that resembles the shape of a boat and therefore could be precisely the ship of Alcinous, which-as the legend goes-would have been petrified by Poseidon to punish the king of the Phaeacians for harboring Ulysses, his enemy for the evil done to his son Polyphemus.

One last curiosity…again according to Samuel Butler, the author of the Odyssey would be a woman from Trapani who wrote the poem without ever leaving home and setting the whole story in the surrounding area, between Sicily and the Egadi Islands. Trapani, precisely, would be Scheria and Ithaca, not far away, the magical Marettimo. And we, after all, like this all-Sicilian theory…we like it!