KULTURA / CULTURE
ply of local wine. While they slept on the beach, drunk from the wine, surviv- ing locals brought reinforcements and massacred them. INTERESTING FACT: The wine that nearly destroyed them would later save Odysseus’s life! Specifically, he took sev- eral bottles of the incredibly potent wine from Ismaros, which was ordinarily di- luted with water at a ratio of 1:20 be- fore being drunk. He subsequently of- fered the undiluted wine to the Cyclops Polyphemus, who was left blind drunk after drinking it. TODAY: Ancient Maroneia in the Greek region of Thrace is today a para- dise for lovers of history and viticulture. You can visit the excellently preserved ancient theatre and acropolis, as well as top local wineries that still make strong red wine by the same name today, 3,000 years later. HOW TO GET THERE: This beautiful wine region in northern Greece is located near Thessaloniki, providing an ideal op- portunity to combine a city break with a tour of ancient vineyards. LAND OF THE LOTOPHAGI (TUNISIA) Forget the homeland MYTH: The enraged god of the North Wind, Boreus, sent a terrible storm that drove Odysseus’s ships all the way south to the shores of Africa. There they en- countered the peaceful Lotophagi (lo- tus-eater) tribe. However, total amne- sia immediately struck all of Odysseus’s scouts who tasted that sweet, mythi- cal plant. INTERESTING FACT: Botanists still debate what Homer’s “lotus” actually was. The most popular theory is that it was Ziziphus lotus, aka jujube, a local species of wild date which the ancient natives used to make a strong, fermented alco- holic drink with narcotic effects. TODAY: The Tunisian island of Djer- ba is, thankfully, a place where no one will bewitch you today, but the island re- tains that perfect, almost hypnotic ener- gy. It is known for its wonderful white beaches, specific architecture and the El Griba synagogue, which dates back over 2,500 years. HOW TO GET THERE: During the summer season, Air Serbia organizes char- ter flights to Monastir.
Pontikonisi, ostrvce nadomak obale Krfa, prema mitologiji je nekada bio Odisejev brod za spasavanje koji je gnevni Posejdon pretvorio u kamen Pontikonisi, located off the coast of Corfu, according to mythology, was once Odysseus’s rescue ship that the angry Poseidon turned to stone
CYCLOPS ISLAND (ITALY) From giants to winds MYTH: Their journey next led them to an island that was home to the Cyclops. Odysseus and 13 of his men entered the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus, who cap- tured and began devouring them, two by two, for breakfast and dinner. Odysseus used wine from Ismaros to get Polyphemus drunk, telling the cyclops that his name is “Nobody”. When the beast fell asleep, the Greeks used a red-hot stake to pierce his only eye. Polyphemus screamed for help, prompting the other Cyclopes to ask who was harming him, to which he shouted: “Nobody is killing me!”. The neighbours shrugged and left, enabling the Greeks to flee. Afterwards, Aeolus, king of the winds, gave Odyessues a bag that held all the storm winds, enabling them to get home safely, but just as they were approaching Ithaca, his greedy crew opened the bag, thinking it contained gold, unleashing the storm winds that blew them back to Sicily. INTERESTING FACT: What was the source of the myth of one-eyed gi- ants in Sicily? Scientists have discovered
that skulls of prehistoric dwarf elephants were often found on the island in ancient times. Since laymen didn’t know what an elephant was, the large central cavity in the skull (which was actually the nasal pas- sage of the trunk) appeared to them to be a huge eye socket on the forehead of a hu- man-like creature. TODAY: Sicily and the nearby Aeolian Archipelago are volcanic wonders of nature. You can visit the Cave of Polyphemus in Milazzo, while the nearby island of Strom- boli, with its constantly smouldering ac- tive volcano, perfectly evokes the mythi- cal home of the raging wind-king Aeolus. HOW TO GET THERE: You can reach these mythical volcanic lands directly via the airports in Catania or Palermo, taking a short boat ride to the islands that hold the secrets of the Cyclops. OGYGIA (MALTA) Golden cage and seven years MYTH: After surviving the storms at sea and the gods’ destruction of his last ship, Odysseus was left alone, drift- ing for days on a broken wooden mast.
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