Location information

Asteris

  Asteris (Asteris, Hom., Asteria), an island between Ithaca and Cephallenia, where the suitors laid in wait for Telemachus on his return from Peloponnesus (Hom. Od. iv. 846). This island gave rise to considerable dispute among the ancient commentators. Demetrius of Scepsis maintained that it was no longer in existence; but this was denied by Apollodorus, who stated that it contained a town called Alalcomenae. (Strab. i. p. 59, x. pp. 456, 457). Some modern writers identify Asteris with a rocky islet, now called Dyscallio; but as this island lies at the northern extremity of the strait between Ithaca and Cephallenia, it would not have answered the purpose of the suitors as a place of ambush for a vessel coming from the south. (Mure, Tour in Greece, vol. i. p. 62; Kruse, Kellas, vol. ii. pt. ii. p. 454.)

This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD)
• http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Per...