Introduction
Ancient Greek poets, including Homer, frequently explored themes of genuine patriotism and unity with their homeland, exemplifying the spiritual anguish experienced by their contemporaries through the heroic characters of epic poetry. Homer’s poem “The Odyssey” is no exception: in this work, the author describes the return journey of the Trojan War hero Odysseus, who was chosen to survive and return to his home island of Ithaca.
Throughout the poem, Homer constantly refers to the island with epithets — “Ithaca’s sunlit air,” “Ithaca, best of islands…” — making us experience feelings of nostalgic sadness and longing for the places where the character had once grown up before all ten years of military achievement (Homer, p. 23, line 27; p. 68, line 37).
Thus, Odysseus faced many hardships along the way, but his sorrow for home was always his primary motivation. It is noteworthy that Homer often attributes the word home to the neighborhood of Ithaca, alluding to Odysseus’ kinship with the island (Homer, p. 8, p. 15). Such comparisons are not accidental: Homer seeks to demonstrate the importance of the stability and security that characterizes Ithaca as Odysseus’ home, in contrast to the bloody disorder and chaos that the character faced in the Trojan War.
The Symbolic Meaning of Ithaca in Homer’s “The Odyssey”
Ithaca can be seen not only as a home to which every adult dreams of returning at least temporarily but also as a personification of the ultimate goal. All human activity must proceed from a goal to which effort and resources are directed: it is the achievement of the goal that is the reward to which the individual claims to be entitled. Adhering to these thoughts, we can trace how Homer makes us think of Ithaca as the ultimate goal, some heavenly achievement that Odysseus must receive for his efforts, as he writes, “we’d reached our country, Ithaca, at last” (p. 168, line 22; Cox and Theodorakopoulos 211). The return to the island should bring Odysseus a sense of self-realization and completion, a man’s personal catharsis.
Homer, however, does not allow Odysseus to simply reach his well-deserved destination, but instead confronts the character with additional obstacles. Odysseus cannot simply return to the island and be reunited with his family as he wishes, “Sunny Ithaca is my home,”—Odysseus must confront the suitors who claim his wife’s hand.
Through these actions, Homer suggests that even when the final destination is already visible on the horizon of progress, we should not relax, but rather work harder (Homer, p. 137, line 8). Reaching the goal, Odysseus’ goal is the home island, which this ancient Greek author presents as a challenge that must be overcome to be rewarded; these thoughts are still relevant today, regardless of what a person dreams of.
Cavafy the Poet’s “Ithaca”
It is not only Homer who addressed the symbolic meaning of the island of Ithaca, but it is Homer who created the prototype that would be found in the literature of the next millennia. Among the authors who touched on the symbolism of Ithaca is the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy, one of the greatest poets of the New Greek language. In a poem of the same name, Cavafy repeatedly urges us to pray that the road to Ithaca will be long and full of events and adventures: “May your journey be long” (Cavafy, lines 2, 14). Such a request may seem contradictory, since at first glance the poet is forcing the reader to postpone his dreams.
However, Cavafy goes on to indicate the true meaning of such prayers when he writes, “…don’t hurry the journey at all / better if it takes years / so that when you reach the island you are old / rich with all you have gained on the way / not expecting Ithaka to make you rich” (Cavafy, lines 27-31). These lines reflect the meaning of Homer: the journey of life should be as fulfilling as possible, so that even the frustrating achievement of the final goal (especially death) does not bring sadness against the background of rich experience.
Conclusion
Despite the apparent identities that emerge when Homer’s and Cavafy’s Ithaca are compared, there are differences between the two symbols of the final destination. In particular, in his description of Odysseus’ voyage, Homer insists that Ithaca is a goal worth achieving, and that this goal is far more important than the process of reaching it.
Cavafy observes the opposite trend, as the poet highlights the rejection of haste and, conversely, the need to live a more vivid experience of life (Cox and Theodorakopoulos 218). The difference between the two literati, then, lies in the existential sense of Ithaca. The need to achieve it for Homer contradicts the idea of Cavafy’s slow journey through life. It is fitting to acknowledge that Cavafy’s poem represents a more modern reinterpretation of the Ithaca phenomenon, as suggested by Homer.
Works Cited
Cavafy, Constantine. “Ithaka.” Poetry Foundation.
Cox, Fiona, and Theodorakopoulos, Elena. Homer’s Daughters: Women’s Responses to Homer in the Twentieth Century and Beyond. Oxford University Press, 2019.
Homer. “The Odyssey.” Boyle.