Scheria –also known as
Scherie or
Phaeacia– was a geographical region in
Greek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, first mentioned in
HomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's
OdysseyThe Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
as the home of the
Phaiakians (Phaeacians) and the last destination of
OdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
before returning home to
IthacaThe location of Homer's Ithaca, i.e. Ithaca as featured in Homer's Odyssey, is a matter for debate.The central characters of the epic such as Odysseus, Achilles, Agamemnon and Hector are generally believed to be fictional characters. Yet there are many claims that some Homeric hero long ago had...
.
Odysseus meets Nausikaa
In the
Odyssey, after Odysseus sails from
OgygiaOgygia , is an island mentioned in Homer's Odyssey, Book V, as the home of the nymph Calypso, the daughter of the Titan Atlas, also known as Atlantis in ancient Greek. In Homer's Odyssey Calypso detained Odysseus on Ogygia for 7 years and kept him from returning to his home of Ithaca, wanting to...
, his raft is wrecked by a storm and he is washed up on Scheria. Meanwhile, the goddess
AthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
, who sneaks into the palace, disguises herself as a sea-captain's daughter and instructs princess Nausikaa, the daughter of King Alkinoös in her sleep to go to the seashore to wash her clothes. The next morning Nausikaa and her maids go to the seashore, and after washing the clothes, they start to play a ball game on the beach, with laughs, giggles and shouts. Odysseus, who was exhausted from his adventure and was sleeping nearby, is awakened by the shouts. He covers his nakedness with thick leaves and goes to ask for help from the playing team. On seeing the unkempt Odysseus in this state, the maids run away, but Nausikaa, encouraged by Athena, stands her ground and talks to him. To excuse the maids she admits that the Phaeacians are
"the farthermost of men, and no other mortals are conversant with them", so they run away since they have never seen a stranger before. Nausikaa, being hospitable, provides clothes, food and drink to Odysseus, then she directs him to the palace of King Alkinoös, since she doesn't want to be seen with a stranger, let alone a man, as she is yet unmarried and people watch and talk and may raise rumors of her befriending men.
The palace of King Alkinoös
On his way to the palace, Odysseus meets Athena disguised as a little local girl. Athena advises him clearly on how to enter the palace, which is guarded by mechanical dogs made of silver and gold, constructed by
HephaestusHephaestus was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan. He is the son of Zeus and Hera, the King and Queen of the Gods - or else, according to some accounts, of Hera alone. He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes...
. The palace is surrounded by bronze walls that
"shine like the sun", secured with gates made of gold. Within the walls there is a magnificent garden with trees that grow all kinds of fruit, pears, pomegranates, and apples, all the year round. The palace is even equipped with a lighting system consisting of golden statues of young men with lighted torches in their hands to give light during the night. Following her through the town, he is told to enter the palace and plead for mercy from the queen Arete. Odysseus, covered with a cloaking cloud provided by Athena, passes through all the protection systems of the palace and enters the chamber of King Alkinoös. He throws his arms around the queen's legs and appeals to her. Naturally, Alkinoös and his court were surprised to see a stranger walking in to their secured palace, but immediately offer him hospitality and to help him on his journey.
After Odysseus tells
AlkinoösAlcinous or Alkínoös was, in Greek mythology, a son of Nausithous, or of Phaeax , and father of Nausicaa, Halius, Clytoneus and Laodamas with Arete. His name literally means "mighty mind"...
and his court the story of his adventures after the
Trojan WarIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
, the Phaiakians bring him to Ithaca on one of their sophisticated ships.
The Phaeacian ships
The Phaeacians possessed remarkable ships. They were quite different from the ancient galleys, the ships used during the Trojan War, and they were steered by thought. King Alkinoös says that Phaeacians carried Rhadamanthus to Euboea,
"which is the furthest of any place" and came back on the same day.
He also explains to Odysseus what sort of information the Phaeacian ships require in order to take him home to Ithaca.
HomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
describes the Phaeacian ships as fast as a
falconA falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....
and gives a vivid description of the ship's departure.
Geographical location of Scheria
Many ancient and modern interpreters favour identification of Scheria with the island of
CorfuCorfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
, which is within 80 miles of Ithaca. Locals on Corfu had long claimed this, based on the rock outside Corfu harbour, which is supposedly the ship that carried
OdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
back to Ithaca, but was turned to stone by
PoseidonPoseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
, to punish the Phaiakians for helping his enemy:
The Phaiakians did not participate in the
Trojan WarIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
. The Greek word
Phaiakians (Φαίακες) is derived from
phaios (φαιός) meaning
gray, hence Phaiakians means "dark-skinned". The Phaiakians in the
Odyssey did not know Odysseus (although they knew
of him, as evidenced by the tales of Demodocus), so they called him a "stranger". Odysseus however was the king of the majority of the
Ionian IslandsThe Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
, not only of
IthacaThe location of Homer's Ithaca, i.e. Ithaca as featured in Homer's Odyssey, is a matter for debate.The central characters of the epic such as Odysseus, Achilles, Agamemnon and Hector are generally believed to be fictional characters. Yet there are many claims that some Homeric hero long ago had...
, but also
"of Cephallenia, NeritumNeritum is an Ancient Greek name of an island in the Ionian Sea, near Ithaca and Cephalonia. In Homer's Iliad, book II, Neritum is part of Odysseus's kingdom....
, Crocylea, AegilipsAegilips is an Ancient Greek name of an island in the Ionian Sea, near Ithaca. In Homer's Iliad, book II, Aegilips is part of Odysseus's kingdom. Some researchers, including Wilhelm Dörpfeld estimate that Aegilips is present day island of Meganisi....
, SameSame is an Ancient Greek name of a Homeric and unidentified island in the Ionian Sea, near Ithaca and Cephalonia. In Homer's Iliad, book II, in the Catalogue of Ships, Same is described as part of Odysseus's kingdom...
and Zacynthus" so if Schería was Corfu, it would be surprising that the citizens of one of the Ionian Islands did not know Odysseus. Furthermore, when Odysseus reveals his identity, he says to the nobles:
"...if I outlive this time of sorrow, I may be counted as your friend, though I live so far away from all of you" indicating that Schería was far away from Ithaca. From the ancient times, some scholars having examined the work and the geography of Homer have suggested that Scheria was located in the
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. Among them were
StraboStrabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
and
PlutarchPlutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
. Many characteristics of the Phaiakians, including their seafaring and relaxed lifestyle are suggestive of Minoan Crete.
The latter similarities make Scheria also suggestive of Atlantis. Helena Blavatsky proposed in her
Secret Doctrine (1888) that it was
HomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
before Plato who first wrote of Atlantis. Aside from the seafaring prowess, the palace walls that shone like the sun are read to be covered not by bronze but
orichalcumOrichalcum is a metal mentioned in several ancient writings, most notably the story of Atlantis as recounted in the Critias dialogue, recorded by Plato. According to Critias, orichalcum was considered second only to gold in value, and was found and mined in many parts of Atlantis in ancient times....
.
Geographical account by Strabo
Approximately eight centuries after
HomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
,
StraboStrabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
, the geographer criticized
PolybiusPolybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
on the
Geography of the OdysseyEvents in the main sequence of the Odyssey take place in the Peloponnese and in what are now called the Ionian Islands . Incidental mentions of Troy and its house Phoenicia, Egypt and Crete hint at geographical knowledge equal to, or perhaps slightly more extensive than that of the Iliad...
. Strabo proposed that Schería and
OgygiaOgygia , is an island mentioned in Homer's Odyssey, Book V, as the home of the nymph Calypso, the daughter of the Titan Atlas, also known as Atlantis in ancient Greek. In Homer's Odyssey Calypso detained Odysseus on Ogygia for 7 years and kept him from returning to his home of Ithaca, wanting to...
were located in the middle of the
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
.
External links