Celebrating Homer's Landscapes: Troy and Ithaca Revisited

by J.V. Luce

In this beautiful and engaging book, an eminent authority on Homeric texts takes us on a tour of the main localities that Homer paints so vividly in his Iliad and Odyssey. Providing numerous photographs of the terrain and quoting liberally from the two epics, J. V. Luce argues convincingly that Homer's descriptions of the ancient landscape, far from being poetic fantasies, are accurate in every detail. Luce's book is a significant contribution for specialists and a delightful companion for readers of Homer or visitors to the ancient sites.

Genres: Travel

272 pages, Hardcover

First published December 11, 1998

Reviews

[Gert M.]

I found this a sympathetic book. The author fervently defends a thesis for which there is hardly any support in science, namely, that Troy and Ithaca were the historical scene of the events Homer describes long ago. This is a highly improbable scenario, but the author succeeds in taking the reader along in his train of thought, so that the latter feels as if he is being taken by the hand on a journey through the world of Achilles and Odysseus as well as Homer. That the author succeeds in this is very much to his credit, even if his views are scientifically untenable. So read this book, and be carried along the author's world.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always like to imagine the Trojan war having taken place in real life (be it without divine intervention). The author of this book argues it has and provides some illustrating examples as to why. I'm by no means an expert in this field, so I cannot judge the validity of the author's claims. However, it certainly is a nice book about the Trojan landscape with comparisons to lines from the Iliad, mixed with archaeological observations and reflections about Troy's true location.

[Judith Starkston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book if you're interested in the Trojan War and Homer. He tries to place the events of the Iliad and Odyssey in the real geography of the surroundings of Troy and Ithaca. Some of his suggestions may stretch a little, but many seem entirely likely--or as likely as we're going to get at this point. Some of his discussions, such as the shoreline of Troy's ancient bay that has now been silted in, are accurate but now a little dated since this issue has continued to be researched and some of his suggestions are no longer entirely accepted, but his overall description continues to be valid. His photographs are great--the next best thing to being there. If you're interested in Troy and Homer go to www.judithstarkston.com