Same (; ), also Samos (Σάμος), is an

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

name of a

Homeric Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his authorship, Homer is ...

island in the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...

, near

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

and

Cephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia (), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallonia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th-largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It is also a separate regio ...

. In Homer's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'' Same is described as part of

Odysseus In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...

's kingdom together with Ithaca,

Dulichium Dulichium ( ''Doulíkhion''),Hom. Il2.625/ref> also called Dolicha (Δολίχα ''Dolíkhā'') or Doliche (Δολίχη ''Dolíkhē''), was a place noted by numerous ancient writers that was either a city on, or an island off, the Ionian Sea c ...

, and

Zacynthus Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an area of , and a coastline ...

. The ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'', book II, in the

Catalogue of Ships The Catalogue of Ships (, ''neōn katálogos'') is an epic catalogue in Book 2 of Homer's ''Iliad'' (2.494–759), which lists the contingents of the Achaean army that sailed to Troy. The catalogue gives the names of the leaders of each conting ...

, contains a different list of islands comprising Odysseus's kingdom. Same is included together with Ithaca, Neritum,

Krocylea Krocylea () is an Ancient Greek name of an island in the Ionian Sea, near Ithaca. In Homer's ''Iliad'', book II, Krocylea is part of Odysseus's kingdom. Some researchers, including Wilhelm Dörpfeld estimate that Krocylea is present day island of A ...

Aegilips Aegilips ( ) 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. According to an attempt by the ancient geographer Strabo to localize it, Aigilips was on the ...

and Zacynthus, indicating that the "Catalogue of Ships" could be a later addition to the ''Iliad''. In Homer's ''Odyssey'', there is an interesting geographical description: From the above passage, Homer's Same is not the Greek island

Samos Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate reg ...

in the Eastern

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

, Same should be in the

, near Homer's Ithaca and there should be at least one rocky island between the two islands. Also, this rocky island should be located South of Homer's Ithaca where Telemakhos would arrive from South-West

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

. Based on the above information,

Wilhelm Dörpfeld Wilhelm Dörpfeld (26 December 1853 – 25 April 1940) was a German architect and archaeologist, a pioneer of stratigraphy, stratigraphic excavation and precise graphical documentation of archaeological projects. He is famous for his work on B ...

in his essay "Alt-Ithaka: Ein Beitrag zur Homer-Frage" proposed that Same was present day

. Other authors make extensive description of Dörpfeld's theory. C.H. Goekoop relates Same to "Thiaki", "the islet Asteris" to Asteris, a small islet between Kefalonia and Ithaki, and "the bay of Phorkys" to "the bay of Asos" at

Erissos Akanthos (; ) was an ancient Greek city on the Athos peninsula, on the narrow neck of land between the sacred mountain and the mainland, to the northwest of the Xerxes Canal. It was founded in the 7th century BCE as a colony of Andros, itself a ...

, the northern peninsula of Kefalonia. Odysseus's younger sister,

Ctimene In Greek mythology, Ctimene ( ; , ) was an Ithacan princess as the daughter of King Laertes and Anticlea, and wife of Eurylochus. Family Ctimene was the younger sister of Odysseus, the legendary king of Ithaca and is the wife of Eurylochus ...

, came to Same to marry Eurylochus for a massive

bride-price Bride price, bride-dowry, bride-wealth, bride service or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dowry ...

. One of the

suitors Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage or committed romantic, ''de facto'' relationship. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marria ...

Ctesippus :''The name Ctesippus may also refer to a character in Plato's Euthydemus and Lysis, and to a historical figure, see Leptines and Against Leptines.'' In Greek mythology, the name Ctesippus (; Ancient Greek: Κτήσιππος means 'possessing ho ...

of Same, is described as "a man who had no sense of right and wrong" and attempts to throw an ox's hoof from the meat-basket of the dinner table at Odysseus.Homer's ''Odyssey''
Hom. Od. 20.288
/ref>

Notes

External links

* Map o
Homer's Ithaka
Same and Asteris according to

. Digital library of

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

.
Photo of Asteris (Arkoudi)
by Wilhelm Dörpfeld. Digital library of

. * Coordinates of the islet Arkoudi: {{DEFAULTSORT:Same (Ancient Greece) Geography of the Odyssey Islands of Greece History of the Ionian Islands Mythological islands Places in Greek mythology