ODYSSEY MAP · STOP 5/14
Where Is Aeolia?
A homecoming sealed inside a bag — and the hands that opened it
Aeolus, keeper of the winds, hosts Odysseus for a month and gives him a magnificent gift: a bag bound with silver wire, holding every contrary wind — all but the gentle west wind that will carry him home. For nine days the fleet flies toward Ithaca, until the shore fires glimmer on the horizon.
That very night Odysseus finally gives in to sleep. His men, convinced the bag hides gold, open it; the released storm hurls the fleet all the way back to Aeolia. Aeolus will not help twice: no wind can carry home a man the gods have cursed.
Where is it in the real world?
Aeolia is identified with the volcanic archipelago north of Sicily: the Aeolian Islands, still named for the lord of the winds. The group — including Lipari, Stromboli and Vulcano — is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
What awaits you in the game?
In the game the bag is a test of trust: share the secret with the crew, or seal it and tell no one? Ithaca appears on the horizon exactly once; nobody promises a second chance.
Quick facts
- Position on the route
- 5 / 14
- Previous stop
- Land of the Cyclopes · 60 nautical miles · ≈ 8 sail days
- Next stop
- The Laestrygonians · 260 nautical miles · ≈ 2 months under sail
- Modern location
- Aeolian (Lipari) Islands, north of Sicily, Italy
- Region
- Tyrrhenian Sea, volcanic archipelago
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