"Some have asserted that, in the comparison of places now
existing with the descriptions of Homer, we ought not to
expect coincidence in minute details; yet it seems only by
these that the kingdom of Ulysses, or any other, can be
identified, as, if such as idea be admitted, every small and
rocky island in the Ionian Sea, containing a good port, might,
with equal plausibility, assume the appellation of Ithaca.

"The Venetian geographers have in a great degree contributed
to raise those doubts which have existed on the identity of
the modern with the ancient Ithaca, by giving, in their
charts, the name of Val di Compare to the island. That name
is, however, totally unknown in the country, where the isle is
invariably called Ithaca by the upper ranks, and Theaki by the
vulgar. The Venetians have equally corrupted the name of
almost every place in Greece; yet, as the natives of Epactos
or Naupactos never heard of Lepanto, those of Zacynthos of
Zante, or the Athenians of Settines, it would be as unfair to
rob Ithaca of its name, on such authority, as it would be to
assert that no such island existed, because no tolerable
representation of its form can be found in the Venetian
surveys.

"The rare medals of the Island, of which three are represented
in the title-page, might be adduced as a proof that the name
of Ithaca was not lost during the reigns of the Roman
emperors. They have the head of Ulysses, recognised by the
pileum, or pointed cap, while the reverse of one presents the
figure of a cock, the emblem of his vigilance, with the legend
[Greek: ITHAKON]. A few of these medals are preserved in the