Odysseus is a prime exemplar only for the Ithacan people but for all the Greeks, and of course his reputation is universal. Odysseus was not a simple warrior of the Trojan War, but his central hero, as with his insistence he gave solutions to complex problems, and he was called resourceful. However, his great reputation is due to his long wandering around the world until he can return to his beloved country, Ithaca. The Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the leading works of world literature to this day, are among others a profound outline of a personality that has gradually become a key symbol for the virtues and the suffering of Hellenism. Of particular importance is the notion of hospitality, the memory of the homeland and the desire to return to it, which must not, however, overshadow the magic of the journey itself, as Constantine P. Cavafy very wisely points out in his masterly poem “Ithaca” .

The unveiling of the statue of Odysseus Laertiades in the small pier at the center of the harbor took place in August 2011 under the care of the Association of Filomiri Ithaca and the Municipality of Ithaca, to the satisfaction of the timeless request of Ithaca to honor this legendary form. The work was crafted by the sculptor Corina Kassianou from Ithaca, after a competition.

In fact, it is not a statue but a sculptural composition that depicts Odysseus in two distinct forms. One form represents Odysseus upright, determined, and keen to look at the sea, while the other figure represents him shoddy and tired of pulling a paddle with difficulty returning to Ithaca.