Gell, William: The geography and antiquities of Ithaca (London, 1807)

ercise of imagination, with respect to the geography of the
Odyssey, tends to encourage it in interpreting the voyages
of Ulysses, into whose history we may suppose, from our
previous knowledge of the powers and disposition of Ho-
mer, all accounts of the most distant nations would be
carefully and appropriately introduced, wherever an ap-
pearance of truth, or real entertainment, required any in-
cidents from the copious sources of his own information
or fancy, to fill up and adorn the narrative. The ten years
which elapsed during the wanderings of Ulysses could
scarcely fail to carry him to the utmost limits of the then
known world, and would afford, to the poet, frequent op-
portunities for uniting the improvement with the delight
of his hearers and of inculcating instructive allegories ap-
plicable to the situation of his countrymen.

In the course of the travels of Homer, Ithaca, which,
from the singular excellence of its port, must always have
been a place of commerce, would probably attract his no-
tice ; his residence might be protracted by the hospitality
of some descendant of Ulysses ; the mention made of him
in the poet's story would awake the recollection of his