Homer's Mediterranean

A Travel Companion
By Wolfgang Geisthövel

Geisthövel aims at discovering which countryside or rather the stories about it might have served as an inspiration for Homer. He gives a detailed and lively desciption of the individual steps of the Odyssey, starting in troy and finishing in Ithaca. That way he includes the countries of Turkey, Tunisia, Malta, Italy and of course Greece.

   Due to this descriptions the book is enjoyable for those who are neither familiar with Homer's Odyssey, nor with the countries the book deals with. By quoting regularly from it, Geisthövel manages wonderfully to combine the epic with the historic, as well as a contemporary account, of the places he travelled to. As a result the reader gets well acquainted with the myth of Odysseus and its different scenes in a relevant context. Together with the author the reader gets the chance to discover places of historic importance mingled with the wonderful world of a 2700-year old epic poem.

'Haus has launched its hardback Literary Travellers.  If Homer's Mediterranean is anything to go by, this is a series to collect...'
Anthony Sattin, The best travel books 2008, The Sunday Times

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