What is Ithaka?
A place. A poem. And what we’re all searching for.
The Mythology
In Homer’s Odyssey, Ithaka is the homeland of Odysseus. A rocky island off Greece’s western coast, it was the place Odysseus spent ten years trying to return to. He traversed the sea—and a number of monsters, witches, and gods—before returning home, vanquishing the suitors haranguing his wife, and assuming his role as king.
Ithaka is a real place, although the exact location of Odysseus’s Ithaka is debated—some say it is the modern island that bears the name and others the Paliki Peninsula of Keffalonia. Regardless of the exact location of Homeric Ithaka, the place has captured the minds of people for thousands of years.
The Poem
As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Attribution: C. P. Cavafy — Ithaka (1911) · Translated by Edmund Keeley
What we’re all searching for
Ithaka plays a central role in every aspect of our work at Tiresias Leadership. The island inspires our name and the poem inspires us to look at our goals not as places to be rushed to but rather instigators of the journeys we require to grow.
We believe in Direction Growth not Destinational Obsession. With us, we set out in the direction of your Ithaka, knowing that along the way we’ll discover wonderful things we wouldn’t have otherwise. If we rush with only the destination in mind, we miss the golden nuggets along the path.
Additionally, once we reach our destination, it is simply time to set out for the next one.
When Odysseus meets Tiresias in the Underworld, the blind seer tells him that when he returns to Ithaka he must “Go forth once more…” to find the people who know nothing of the sea to appease the sea god Poseidon.
Likewise, when our clients reach their Ithakas, we pause for celebration and to reflect on the learnings of the journey, and then… It is time to set sail once more.
What it is
Your Ithaka gives the work meaning
Without a direction there's no journey—only wandering. Your goal is what allows everything else to follow.
What it isn't
Reaching your Ithaka is not where growth lives
Growth lives on the water between here and where you want to go. It’s in the hard conversations, the honest feedback, and the moments where you stretch into new behaviors and capabilities.
What it leads to
You can't stay there
Arrival is for celebration, for catharsis, and for seeing how far you've come. But you won't live on the shore, because the next island—the next Ithaka—is already forming.
Every journey starts with naming the island
If you're ready to take the journey seriously, a conversation is the right place to start.