I have been somewhat obsessed in the past with the family of Odysseus, particularly Odysseus’ sister, his death by feces, his lesser-known grandson, and a remarkable number of children not named Telemachus.
Where the Homeric Odyssey suppresses names of children used by ancient myth to relate Odysseus to a wider physical world, the epic nevertheless has some hints here and there about geography and politics. Of course, this will can us a bit more about his family and home. In the Odyssey we find what seems to be a formulaic combination of three islands near Ithaca. When Odysseus describes where he’s from, he names his home and then adds (9.23-4):
“Many islands are inhabited right near each other
Doulikhion, Samê, and forest-covered Zakunthos.”
πολλαὶ ναιετάουσι μάλα σχεδὸν ἀλλήλῃσι,
Δουλίχιόν τε Σάμη τε καὶ ὑλήεσσα Ζάκυνθος.
And earlier during his discussion with Telemachus, Odysseus hears the suitors similarly…
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