Homer Tomb

The Homer Tomb for the Ios island is a real mark of recognition. We find it in the southern part just above the Psathopyrgos hill not far from the picturesque Plakoto village and about thirteen kilometers from the capital Chora.

But let's start from the beginning to discover this marvel which, in addition to being one of the most interesting places to visit and therefore to be included in the list of things to see in Ios, is also a part of Greek mythology, always so fascinating and full of surprises.

Who doesn't know Homer? Great Greek singer who considered the earth as a disc with a diameter of four thousand kilometers where Delphi was the center, whose existence still remains today an open debate, the one who gave birth to the famous "Homeric question" the endless discussion on the paternity of the two colossal and immortal works of the Iliad and the Odyssey leaves the world with another unsolved mystery, the veracity of the remains of his tomb on the island. There are many legends, one speaks of Ios as his homeland to which after a long pilgrimage he wanted to return, another that he returned as his homeland and where his beloved mother Clymene lived, yet another the more plausible one as also mentioned by ancient historians such as Herodotus, Alceo, Pausanias and Stravonas, is that he stopped for a break during his journey from Samos to Athens and in this situation the inhabitants asked him a question to which he was unable to give an answer and for this he was killed. However, the connection between the poet and the island is confirmed by the discovery of some local coins from the 3rd and 2nd century BC where his face is depicted and an inscription relating to a calendar with a month where Homer's name is mentioned. As in all Greek myths, absolute truth will never be found, there are so many rumors and assumptions, but all this further increases the charm of the great poets and of Greece itself.

Despite its enormous importance, not everyone is aware that the Ios island is the place where Homer is supposedly buried. In reality it is not a tomb even if it is often defined in this way to identify it, it consists of a cenotaph a sepulchral monument which according to studies would not even be where the poet's remains actually lie. A small white stone building with a simple workmanship above the hill and overhanging the sea with a plaque on which there is an effigy and an inscription in Greek "There the earth hides, under the sacred head, the divine Homer, by clear order of gods and men". Nothing more' as some inhabitants say, a few piled up stones, but according to the visitors a magical place where the view is breathtaking over the infinite Aegean and the sea breeze that caresses the face blows away all thoughts to create a dreamlike connection with nature and the universe of total bliss.