Geography of the Odyssey from historical inquiries that Hesiod had made. The 2nd century BC poet-historian Apollodorus of Athens sympathises with Eratosthenes, believing that Homer imagined the wanderings as having taken place in a kind of fairyland in the Atlantic; he actively criticises the standard identifications in and around Sicily, and refuses to offer any identifications of his own. The 2nd century BC historian Polybius discusses the wanderings in book 34 of his history. He refutes Apollodorus' idea that the wanderings were in the Atlantic on the basis of "Odyssey" 9.82, where Odysseus says that he sailed for nine days from Cape Malea in
The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses The pages' dispute quickly turns into an argument, and then a fight. The fight is broken up by the entrance of Calchas, who clears away the pages for the debate that is about to occur. The Greek generals and officers, led by Agamemnon and including Menelaus, Nestor, Thersander, and Diomedes, enter and seat themselves to hear the debate; Ajax and Ulysses follow. Ajax begins, and makes long and fulsome speeches in praise of his own valor and prowess in battle; he also attacks the courage and character of his opponent. Ulysses speaks second, and is far more eloquent and perceptive,