Back To The Palace

Stairway to Penelope's place   Photo©Nigel Summerley

 

Something magical always seems to happen whenever I visit the remains of the Palace of Odysseus on Ithaca.

This time I was at the apparently deserted site with friend, colleague and author Jane Cochrane.

While she disappeared up into the higher reaches of the ruins, I sat half-meditating in the remains of the megaron, the main hall, where Homer set Odysseus's bloody massacre of the suitors of his wife, Penelope.

After a while I took the ancient stairway that would have led up to the quarters of Penelope and her women. As I turned to look back down into the main hall, a young woman appeared, also apparently taking in the atmosphere of the place. 

I returned to the megaron to say hello and asked her if she knew much about the site. No, she said, but she wanted to. She had picked up on the powerful energy of the palace.

I gave her a verbal guided tour from Homer to the present day, and told her how I had worked with Jane on the hiking guidebook Walking In The Footsteps Of Odysseus.

I wanted to introduce her to Jane but she was still nowhere to be seen, and the Dutch visitor explained that she had to leave soon to catch a boat.

I gave her Jane's contact details, and the following day she was in touch to say that she had bought Odysseus' Island (prequel to Walking In The Footsteps), was really enjoying it, and was sure she would return to Ithaca – because she had drunk from the spring of Kalamos.

That's the old belief: that those who drink that water will come back to the island.

I suddenly realised that on this, my third visit to Ithaca I had visited the spring but not drunk the water, so maybe I would never return again.

Then I remembered that Jane had filled up her water containers at the spring... and I had drunk numerous cups of tea made from it.

Does that count? I guess we'll see.