Untold Italy · Friday, August 28, 2026
Professor Skidmore suggests that northeastern Sardinia, particularly near the Strait of Bonifacio, could be the location of the Lestragonians, the giant cannibals from 'The Odyssey.' The dramatic geography of deep, sheltered harbors surrounded by steep cliffs aligns with Homer's description, despite a lack of direct historical evidence.
“So one of the wildest, least visited areas of Italy, but one of my favorite areas the land of the Lestragonians. So you wouldn't actually want to go there if you thought you were going to meet this race of giant cannibals. But when he leaves Aeolia, before Odysseus gets to Circe, he actually had all of his ships except he is, oh there's a spoiler alert, crushed by the Lestragonians.”
“So one of the possible places for this mythological island is the north part of Sardinia, near the strait of Bonifacio, so facing out to Corsica, Homer says it. He calls it tellerpillas Olli tells us that it's a dramatic land, a deep, sheltered harbor surrounded by steep cliffs.”
“So in Sardinia. A possible location is in the northeast, up near the beautiful Costa Speralda. There's this French scholar, Victor Berard, and the stuff about him all over eastern Sardinia. Because he's a really good marketing ploy. He proposed that capod also was the place where Odysseus men landed to find water, and that Porto Pozza was the enclosed harbor where the fleet was attacked.”