Editing Ithaca (island) (section)

===Mycenaean era===
{{Further|Mycenaean Greece}}
[[File:Kefallonia IthakiWW.jpg|thumb|right|Ithaca is to the upper right of the larger [[Kefalonia]] island in this picture. The small island in the top-right corner is the uninhabited [[Atokos]] island ([[NASA]] World Wind satellite picture).]]

During the [[Mycenaean period]] (1600–1100 BC), Ithaca rose to the highest level of its ancient history.<ref name="EncBritt">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ithaca-island-Greece|title=Ithaca|date=16 July 2010|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=25 January 2017}}</ref> Mostly based on the ''[[Odyssey]]'' and oral traditions, it is believed that the island became the capital of the Ionian Kingdom-State, which included the surrounding lands, and was referred to as one of the most powerful states of that time. The Ithacans were characterized as great navigators and explorers with daring expeditions reaching further than the [[Mediterranean Sea]].

The epic poems of [[Homer]], the ''[[Iliad]]'' and the ''Odyssey'', shed some light on [[Bronze Age|Bronze-Age]] Ithaca. Those poems are generally thought to have been composed sometime in the 9th or 8th centuries BC, but may have made use of older mythological and poetic traditions; their depiction of the hero [[Odysseus]] and his rule over Ithaca and the surrounding islands and mainland preserves some memories of the political geography, customs, and society of the time.

After the end of the Mycenaean period Ithaca's influence diminished, and it came under the jurisdiction of the nearest large island.