Scholars have tried to reconstruct Odysseus' vogayes, and to correlate the mythological places named in the Odyssey with real geographical locations.

On this map you can see the first stages of Odysseus' journey, to the point where he was blown off course while rounding Cape Maleia. (For the reconstruction of the entire set of wanderings, see the map for the Background Notes on Book 16.)

In these reconstructions, Phaeacia is most often identified with the island of Corfu, for reasons which emerge in later books: it has to be not far from Ithaca, given the length of time it takes the Phaeacians to sail there; and in Book 19, Odysseus indicates that it was not far from the land of the Thesprotians (on the mainland just opposite Ithaca).