Lefkada, the isle of poets…

A great many remarkable literary, cultural, and artistic figures were born and lived in Lefkada. Some of these are Angelos Sikelianos (poet), Aristotle Valaorites (poet), Lefkadio Hearn (author, national poet of Japan), Theodoro Stamos (painter), Dimitrios Golemis (Olympic athlete) , Agni Baltsa (operatic mezzo soprano), and Ilias Logothetis (actor).

In ancient times, the island was known as Leukas, Leukadia, or as the Chersonessos (Penninsula) of the Leukadians. According to history, the island derives its name from its southernmost cape which is called Leukatas, because its cliffs are of a whitish hue (from the ancient Greek, "leukon”, meaning white). Other sources support the tradition that the name is derived from one of Odysseus’ companions, Leukos. Still another version claims that the island’s name came from the mythical hero Leukadios, a son Ikarios and brother of Penelope and Alyzeas.

In the Homeric epics, Leukas is named Neritos and is described as a part of mainland Greece --"a coast of the continent.”
There is also the theory, according to the eminent 19th century German archaeologist W. Doerpfeld (1853-1940) , that Lefkada is none other than Homer’s Ithaca, based on artefacts that he recovered from excavations on the island.