And what if we traveled together with Odysseus on his ship! Of course, only in our imagination! Because the Mediterranean, until recently, kept its sunken wrecks inaccessible to us at the bottom of its waters. But what is the historical reality? What were the ships of the Mycenaeans and the Homeric heroes like? Why did they venture "ἐπ' εὐρέα νῶτα θαλάσσης" (into the open sea), and what were their destinations? What were they seeking on their Mediterranean voyages, and how did they deal with the difficulties of sea routes?

What was life like aboard ships, and where did they seek safe harbors? Which peoples gathered on the decks of ships, and how did sailors and cultures of the Aegean world interact with those of Egypt, Phoenicia, and Cyprus? What were the secrets of shipbuilders for choosing the right wood, and what tools did they have at their disposal? How did they build ships without a skeleton frame and without nails?

Through a spiral approach, starting from the shipbuilding reading of Odysseus' "shelled" vessel, all references to Homeric ships and sea voyages are contrasted with archaeological sources: ship sketches on Mycenaean and Geometric period pottery, iconographic parallels of ships from maritime cultures of Southeast Mediterranean, sunken wrecks across the entire Mediterranean over a span of a thousand years (14th - 5th centuries BC). Unsolved questions are addressed through technical studies and experiments.

Maps, plans, photorealistic reconstructions, photographs of underwater excavations, and museum artifacts enrich the overall image of ships and life during Mediterranean journeys. To guide the reader, the author has reconstructed her subject on three levels. The first is the core of her award-winning (2006) scientific research by the Academy of Athens, presented in an accessible and understandable way for the general public.