"If I am a poet, I owe it to the air of Greece," proclaimed Lord Byron in 1823, after a Cephallonian sojourn. The islands rarified air — its splendor, its agricultural and mineral riches, and its strategic position in the Mediterranean — have made it a magnet for poets, pirates and a series of conquerors, starting in the second century BC with the Romans.
The island's mythological roots are detailed by Homer in The Iliad. Cephallonia was part of the kingdom of Odysseus, who built his ships from its fabled fir, sailing twelve of them to Troy filled with 'bighearted Keffalines.'
In recent y ears the island has enjoy ed a very contemporary kind of attention, celebrity stemming from the success of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. First published in 1994, the novel touched a nerve in the British reading public, climbing onto best seller lists where it remained for more than three y ears. It has since been translated into 18 languages.
As a unit, the seven Ionian Islands represent a cultural and historical synthesis unique in the Mediterranean. Although geographically identified as part of the Hellenic archipelago, their modern history is strikingly different from mainland Greece. This is due in part to their being ruled by Venice for more than 300 years, and therefore oriented towards the West and Christianity, whereas Greece was subjugated by Turkey's Islamic Ottoman Empire.
Cephallonia is the largest of the islands and has suffered centuries of relentless seismic activity. A 1953 earthquake reduced it to rubble. The port of Argostoli, its capital city, where much of the story takes place, was virtually destroyed, making it impossible for Captain Corelli's Mandolin to be shot there. The alternative town of Sami was chosen as surrogate because of its deep water port and wide plaza where sets could be built. As a British protectorate during much of the 19th century, Cephallonia s economy soared with new roads, bridges and soil conservation. It and the other Ionians were finally returned to Greece in 1864, and since then their histories and fates have intermingled. Mussolini's disastrous decision to invade Greece in October of 1940 catapulted them into modern history and the terrors of World War II.
As war in Europe became increasingly inevitable, Greece hoped above all to remain neutral. However, the twin realities of economics and geography made neutrality difficult. To survive, the country needed to continue its long-established trade with various countries on opposite sides of the war. including Germany and Britain. Its islands' strategic position throughout the Mediterranean gave them extraordinary importance to both Allies and the Axis powers.
Greece's internal problems an unsteady economy and a fragmented government whose key figure was Ioannis Metaxas — exacerbated its dilemma. A Cephallonian whom the king appointed prime minister in 1936, Metaxas was an astute politician who did everything in his power to sidestep a confrontation with either side. But he could not control the egomania of Mussolini.
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