Ithaca is small beside Troy, but mythologically immense: it is the place where the hero must become husband, father and king again.
In The Odyssey, Ithaca is not only the goal of the voyage. It is the final test. Odysseus can survive monsters and storms, but he still has to prove that he belongs to his own house.
The palace occupied by the suitors turns the return into a political crisis. The king comes back to a place that has not waited motionless: his son has grown, Penelope has resisted, the servants have divided, and authority must be rebuilt.
Ithaca gives nostos its true difficulty. Coming home does not mean finding exactly what one left; it means recognizing what has changed and becoming legitimate again.