Ithaca Beyond Homer: A Classical and Hellenistic Polis

Abstract

Beyond the Bronze Age and Geometric Period through landscape analysis and the GIS, we can prove that the polis of Ithaca in the Classical and Hellenistic periods was characterized by the expansion of the settlements, and the construction of numerous fortifications, so that once this process had concluded, all of the cultivable land on the island was brought into play and all of the population centers would have been interconnected and visual surveillance would have existed throughout all parts of the island liable to be exploited. In short, Ithaca was an independent city-state community fully structured from a political, religious and economic point of view that was flourishing and expanding during the Classical and Hellenistic Periods.