... or more specifically to Peripighadi Bay on the south east coast of Ithaca. A lovely spot, with clear blue waters running up to white rocks and fragrant shrub-covered hillsides. Ferry wash (you can see the waves in the picture) does tend to make the anchorage at times a little rolly, but its still a peaceful and pleasant spot. Good for a little swimming and snorkeling.. as good as the area can be, because most of the underwater life around here is somewhat sparse, other than a few fish.
And good for walking, as there is a path up to Raven's rocks and, en route, the spring of Arethousa. Whether the present day Ithaca is actually the Ithaki of Odysseus is a subject of debate by archaelogists and historians (see article hereand ), but as I walk up the path I like to imagine that it was. Odysseus said, "My home is under the clear skies of Ithaca. Our landmark is Mount Neriton with its quivering leaves".
Was Odysseus, after his long and tortuous adventures, returned here from Troy by the Phaeacians? Was it here that he was disguised as a beggar by Athena? The Odyssey describes how Athena tells the disguised Odysseus, to find the swineherd Eumayeus "watching over his swine… at their pastures by the Raven's Crag and at the Spring of Arethusa". To cut along story short, here, he invents a story to explain who he is, and is met by his son Telemachus. Odysseus, Telemachus, Eumayeus and Philotus the cowherd return to court to try to liberate Odysseus' loyal wife Penelope who has been besieged by 108 suitors for her hand, all of whom have taken up permanent residence in his palace. All is eventually resolved, but only after much inevitable bloodshed.
Well, I don't find Athena, or Eumayeus at the spring of Arethousa, but I do find some guardians of the spring.. aptly, some goats. After all, Telemachus says... ""In Ithaca there is no room for horses to run, nor any meadows at all. It is a pasture land for goats."
These goats are fairly splendid beasts with huge spreading horns.Startled by my arrival at the spring, they leave the cool shade of the damp overhang and bound up what looks like sheer rock cliffs. "Big daddy" snorts and stamps, and peers back over the edge at me, looking like some god -like reincarnation of some mythical beast. Others peer from behind bushes.Its quite a splendid sight.
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