Same (; el, Σάμη), also Samos (Σάμος) is an

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

name of a

Homeric Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a 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. Homer is considered one of the ...

island in the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) 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 ...

, near Ithaca and

Cephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia ( el, Κεφαλονιά), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (), 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 ...

. In Homer's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

'' Same is described as part of

Odysseus Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odys ...

's kingdom together with Ithaca,

Dulichium Dulichium ( grc, Δουλίχιον ''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 islan ...

, and

Zacynthus Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zacinto ) or Zante (, , ; el, Τζάντε, Tzánte ; from the Venetian form) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Zak ...

. The ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") 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 '' Odys ...

'', book II, in the

Catalogue of Ships The Catalogue of Ships ( grc, νεῶν κατάλογος, ''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 nam ...

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

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. Some researchers, including Wilhelm Dörpfeld estimate that Aegilips is present day island of Me ...

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: Homer's Ithaka-Dorpf-01

From the above passage, Homer's Same is not the Greek island

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

in the Eastern

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans an ...

, 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 (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge whi ...

. Based on the above information, Wilhelm Dörpfeld in his essay "Alt-Ithaka: Ein Beitrag zur Homer-Frage" proposed that Same was present day Ithaca. 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, the northern peninsula of Kefalonia. Odysseus's younger sister, Ctimene came to Same to marry Eurylochus for a massive

bride-price Bride price, bride-dowry (Mahr in Islam), bride-wealth, 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 dowr ...

. One of the Suitors, Ctesippus 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 Wilhelm Dörpfeld. Digital library of

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

.
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 Locations in Greek mythology