The Ulysses Voyage

In The Jason Voyage: The Quest For The Golden Fleece, Tim Severin documents the research for and the construction of a replica Bronze Age Galley, the Argo. He then sails it along the route of Jason's voyage for the golden fleece. At the end of that journey, he determined that he wasn't finished with the Argo, and that he would try and recreate the route of Ulysses in Homer's Odyssey.

This book is very different from the authors previous works (Brendan, Sindbad and Jason Voyages) where he spends a great amount of time explaining the history of the vessel, the difficulty in obtaining the raw materials to construct a true replica ship, and then the learning how to sail, and how to live in the conditions historically accurately. And of course there is usually a stunning storm sequence, or a capsize, or another thrilling event to open the story... There is none of that in this book. He has already explained it all for the Argo in The Jason Voyage, and we have learned of the sailing techniques and hardships aboard.

This book tackles the mystery of the fantastic locations of the Odyssey, starting at the known point of Troy. From this point on, Severin tackles each location in the story, takes a practical and logical approach - researching local tidal and weather conditions, local folklore, the historic naming of landmarks, the basic geography of the area, and the actual sailing ability of a Bronze age galley and comes to a conclusion for each.

Severins basic theory, follows the thought that Ulysses would have followed the most logical route home after Troy. The traditional locations for the Odyssey have Ulysses zig-zagging all over the Mediterranean, backtracking and following no logical route. Severin sets out a simple and realistic route from Troy back to Ithaca (Ulysses home), which brings a few unorthodox theories to the table.

It is a great read, and Severin manages to capture the excitement of discovery in his writing, to share his obvious enjoyment in doing what he does with his historical re-enactments, of really putting himself in history to understand why decisions were made, and why things happened.

I have no idea how well received these revised theories have been accepted by academia in general, whether they have been refuted, or ridiculed, but to me the book presents them with real legitimacy, and relies not just on one element of the situation to decide that “such and such place is here”, but stacks up several elements to come to a conclusion that offers multiple reasons to consider.

If you are interested in the major turnaround theories, I have put really basic descriptions in a spoiler here, but really, if you are interested enough to read the spoiler, you should read the book instead!

So in a nutshell,- The Odyssey takes place almost fully in Greece, with the exception of the Lotus-Eaters, which is on the northern coast of Libya. Not Tunisia, Corfu, Corsica, Italy, Sicily etc).- The Odyssey effectively tells 5 separate tales, not the four separate tales generally acknowledged (Ulysses voyage from Troy to Ithaca; Telemachus' voyage from Ithaca to visit King Nestor for news of his father Ulysses; King Melelaus wanderings in Egypt; and, the saga of Ulysses homecoming.)- Severin's theory splits Ulysses tale into two separate voyages - the first from Troy to the loss of the other 11 galleys, at the hands of the Laestrygonians; the second voyage taking place on the far side of his homeland. These two stories were woven together by storytellers and bards, and have given confusion to the geography of the tale.- Severin also considers the Calypso a separate element to the story, and he hypothesises that this was a later addition to the story, purely fictional. Reasons include the very different navigational techniques discussed in that section of the text, and the contradictory timeframes not fitting the geography.