On Ulysses' Trail - A Cultural Route
Who has not heard or read of the Trojan War, of Homer and of Ulysses, that crafty hero of
Greek myth and the Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, among the most famous works
of all time? No civilized man exists who has not come across the Odyssey - the tale of the
wanderings of Ulysses - at school, at university, in plays, poetry, history or geography,
who has not learnt of the plights and ploys of 'much-enduring' Ulysses in the ten years it
took him to come home after the Fall of Troy.
The Trojan War, waged in about 1200 BC, was a campaign organized by the Achaeans from
Greece to bring back fair Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta, who had been abducted by
Paris, son of King Priam of Troy. Homer describes the siege of Troy in the Iliad and
Ulysses' return in the Odyssey. The Iliad and the Odyssey are the first and most
celebrated epic poems in the literary heritage of Europe.
Whether the abduction of Helen was really the reason for the expedition against Troy, as
Homer says, or whether the city was conquered in the Achaeans' attempt to gain economic
and political domination of the coast of Asia Minor, is not the issue that concerns us
here. Here we shall follow Homer.
The Center for Greek and European Studies and Education for Tourism of the University of
Piraeus, in collaboration with the Greek National Tourism Organisation, has taken the
initiative of promoting 'Ulysses' Voyage' - nationally and internationally - as a
'Cultural Route'. Four countries Greece, Italy, Malta, Tunisia -, four Universities and
four National Tourism Administrations have decided to bring 'Ulysses' Voyage' to life, to
present it to the public, giving today's travellers the opportunity of following the
hero's trail in these four lands. In visiting the places where Ulysses came ashore, linked
to the epic in folklore, tradition and mythology, discerning tourists will retrace the
route of his journey home and enjoy the day of return.
So they will mentally relive the wandering of 'much-roaming' Ulysses, without his trials
and tribulations, on a unique trip through reality and fantasy.
Myth, history, poetry, geography, or imagination? How true are those things sung of by
Homer in the eighth century BC, five centuries after the age of Ulysses' Voyage? is the
Odyssey fact or fiction? Do the lands described exist and where?
Four eminent scholars and their collaborators have grappled with these questions. From
Greece Professor Phanis Kakridis, President of the Centre of Odyssean Studies; from Italy
Professor Marcello Gigante, Head of the Department of Classics at the University of
Naples; from Tunisia Professor Mhamed Fantar, Head of the Department of Archaeology and
Ancient History at the University Institute of National Heritage; from Malta Professor
Anthony Bonanno, Head of the Department of Classical Studies and Archaeology at the
University of Malta. To all we are especially grateful. Utilizing ancient Greek,
Hellenistic, Roman and modern sources they have tried, as authoritatively as possible, to
determine Ulysses' most likely route, drawing on tradition, scientific research and the
opinion of various scholars.
Continue.....
