ABSTRACT
The Aegean Sea houses most of the Greek islands and separates mainland Greece from Asia. The largest Greek island, Crete, is located in the eastern part of the Mediterranean basin while the Ionian Islands to the west (Odysseus’ Ithaca among them) bear witness to the fusion of myth and fact of both the ancient Hellenic and Roman civilizations which flourished in this ancient waterway. The Balkan countries of Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey and the former Yugoslavia border Greece to the north.
