John Freely

The Ionian Islands (eBook, PDF)

Corfu, Cephalonia, Ithaka and Beyond

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

Legend has it that the Ionian Islands were created as Zeus' beautiful lover, Io, raced through the Ionian Sea escaping Hera's wrath. Rising from the waters between Greece and Italy, the Ionians - peaks of an underwater mountain range - are quite unlike any of the other Greek islands and are some of the most culturally, historically and mythologically rich in all Greece. Consisting of Corfu, Paxos, Ithaka, Lefkas, Cephalonia, Zakynthos (Zante) and Kythera, they have been inhabited since Paleolithic times and have a colourful and often turbulent past. Variously invaded and occupied by the Goths, Arabs, Normans, Venetians, British, Germans and most recently by tourism, they have always absorbed and assimilated other cultures whilst still retaining their unique character and identity.

The Ionians have been made famous in literature from Homer and Aeschylus to Gerald Durrell and Louis de Bernières and numerous myths are associated with them: Corfu is linked to the voyage of Jason's Argonauts, Aphrodite was born on Kythera, Paxos and Corfu were once joined until Poseidon threw his trident and separated them and Odysseus' home was on Ithaka. John Freely, who has visited and travelled throughout the islands over the course of 40 years, here illuminates the history, culture and present day of all seven islands, providing the most readable and comprehensive guide to the magnificent Ionians.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury UK
• Seitenzahl: 264
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. April 2008
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780857718280
• Artikelnr.: 39141977

Autorenporträt

John Freely (1926-2017) was born in New York and joined the US Navy at the age of seventeen, serving with a commando unit in Burma and China during the last years of World War II. He has lived in New York, Boston, London, Athens and Istanbul and has written over thirty travel books and guides, most of them about Greece and Turkey.

Inhaltsangabe

Introduction 1 The Ionian Islands 2 Corfu I: The Town 3 Corfu II: The
Kanoni Peninsula 4 Corfu III: Around the Island 5 Paxos 6 Lefkas 7 Ithaka 8
Cephalonia 9 Zakynthos 10 Kythera Appendices: 1 Chronology 2 Festivals
(Paneyeria) 3 Bibliography 4 Glossary Index