Where is (the real) Mount Neriton?

As the frequent visitor of this obscure weblog might know, the precise names of the Ionian Islands were lost during the Dark Age of Greece. When the islands were repopulated the new islanders simply named these islands as they thought they were originally named.

How wrong there were.

We can simply demonstrate that by pointing to the description Odysseus gives of his beloved Ithaca.

In the Odyssey, lines 9.20-21 it is stated that:
ναιετάω δ' Ἰθάκην ἐυδείελον: ἐν δ' ὄρος αὐτῇ
Νήριτον εἰνοσίφυλλον, ἀριπρεπές: ἀµφὶ δὲ νῆσοι

Bright Ithaca is my home: it has a mountain,
Leaf-quivering Neriton, far visible

In the Odyssey, lines 13.344-351 it is stated that:
ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε τοι δείξω Ἰθάκης ἕδος, ὄφρα πεποίθῃς.
[..]
τοῦτο δὲ Νήριτόν ἐστιν ὄρος καταειμένον ὕλῃ.

But come now, to convince you I will show you the landmarks of Ithaca.
[..]
and over there is Mount Neriton, clothed with its forests.

Odysseus was extremely proud of 'his' Ithaca and he explicitly mentions Neriton, a mountain that is 'far visible'. To be visible from afar means it must be rather high. The mountain is also covered by trees.

If we turn our attention to the island that nowadays erroneously bears the illustrious name Ithaca, we can immediately see that, yes, it is a rugged place and, yes, it does have some low mountains. But these are not something to be proud of because they dwarf beside Mount Ainos on Cephalonia. That mountain has a lofty elevation of 1,628 meters. The top of Mount Ainos is covered with fir trees and is a natural reserve.

But that explanation immediately poses another problem.

Because, we identify ancient Ithaca with modern Paliki, the peninsula attached to Cephalonia. If Mount Neriton is Mount Ainos then our theory must be wrong.

But suppose that Ithaca of Odysseus wasn't just the peninsula of Paliki but rather some settlements around the coasts of the Gulf of Argostoli, situated between Paliki and mainland Cephalonia. That also means that the Gulf of Argostoli must be identical with Odysseus' harbour of Phorkys.

When I visited neighbouring Zakynthos (Zante) in 2023 and viewed Cephalonia, the most striking feature of that island was its high mountain. Thus, even nowadays you are amazed by the imposing height of Mount Ainos (Ὄρος Αἶνος) or in Italian Monte Nero ('Black Mountain').