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(Ὀγχηστός/ Onchēstós). [German version] [1] Site, mentioned in Homer, of a common Boeotian sanctuary to Poseidon This item can be found on the following maps: Boeotia, Boeotians Site, already mentioned in Homer (Hom. Il. 2,506; H. Hom. ad Apollinem 229-238; H. Hom. ad Mercurium 185-188), of a common Boeotian sanctuary to Poseidon, whose origins may stretch back as far as the Mycenaean period [3]. Initially O. probably belonged to Thebes and from the 5th cent. BC to Haliartus; in the Hellenistic period O. was the political…

(Ἱππομένης; Hippoménēs). [German version] [1] Victor in foot race against Atalante Boeotian from Onchestus, son of  Megareus (Hyg. Fab. 185) or Ares (schol. Theoc. 3,40) and Merope (Hyg. Fab. 185). The foot race between H. and  Atalante was already known to Hesiod (fr. 74 M.-W.). The most comprehensive account can be found in Ov. Met. 10,560-707 [1]: Upon his request, Venus gives him three apples which Atalante picks up during the race, causing her to lose. H. fails to perform the thanks-offering; Venus en…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Education / Culture | Boeotia, Boeotians (Ἁλίαρτος, Ἀρίαρτος, Ἁρίαρτος; Halíartos, Aríartos, Haríartos [1. 483]). Boeotian city on the southern edge of Lake Copais, 20 km west of Thebes. The acropolis with archaic Athena sanctuary is located on the hill Kastri Mazíou, which was settled from the Middle Helladic to the Roman period and was adjoined by the fortified lower city. In the 6th cent. BC, H. ─ mentioned by Homer (Il. 2,503) ─ struck coins with the …

[German version] (Βοιωτός; Boiōtós). Ancestor of the Boeoti, defies precise identification. Only two genealogies connect him to the region that bears his name. According to Hellanicus (FGrH 4F51) and others [1], he was the son of Poseidon and Arne (who gave her name to the original homeland of the Boeoti). In Paus. (9,1,1) B. is the son of Itonus and Melanippe. One of the two is probably father of Onchestus (Hes. fr. 219 M-W). The myth passed down to us seems to go back no further than two lost pla…

(Κλύμενος; Klýmenos, ‘the famous’). [German version] [1] Epithet of Hades-Pluto Epithet of  Hades-Pluto, in the Argive  Hermion(e). The Demeter temple there is said to have been erected by C. and his sister Chthonia: When  Demeter arrives in Argolis, she is ignored by their father Phoroneus, and Chthonia disapproves of her father's behaviour. As punishment the father is burned, together with the house, but she is brought to Hermione to erect a sanctuary to Demeter. Thus, C. (Ov. Fast. 6,757) and Chthonia …

(Βάττος; Báttos). [German version] [1] B.I. King of Cyrene, around 630 BC Son of Polymnestus, from the lineage of the Minyan Euphemus of Thera (Hdt. 4,150). Leader of the colonists and King of Cyrene (Hdt. 4,153,3; SEG 9,3: ἡγεμόνα ἀρχαγέταν καὶ βασιλέα). Around 630 BC, he first settled on the island of Platea, then on the Libyan coast, and finally in the town of  Cyrene after reaching an agreement with the local residents (Hdt. 4,153; 156; 158). There he reigned for 40 years according to Herodotus (4,159).…

[German version] (ἀμφικτυονία; amphiktyonía). Probably arose from amphi-ktiones = ‘living in the environs’ (Androt. FGrH 324 F 58), although the Greek usually derived it from an eponymous hero Amphictyon (e.g. Hdt. 7,200; Theopomp. FGrH 115 F 63). Amphictyony designates a group of people who congregate around a sanctuary and tend its cult. As a rule, cult members lived near the sanctuary; the most significant ones, namely the amphictyony of Anthela and that of  Delphi, included members from many parts of Greece. They made good on their promise to become the amphictyony par excellence b…

[German version] [1] Phocian city in the eastern part of the bay of Anticyra (Μεδεών/ Medeṓn; ethnicon Μεδεώνιος). Phocian town in the eastern part of the bay of Anticyra [2] (Str. 9,2,26; Paus. 10,36,6; Hdt. 1,38,21; Steph. Byz. s.v. Μ.), localized in the fortified centre of which the considerable remains can be found on the hill-top of the modern Hagioi Theodoroi (the acropolis of M.) and in the surrounding area. These remains include a section of the surrounding wall, with three towers; outside the wall, on…

(Βοιωτία, Βοιωτοί; Boiōtía, Boiōtoi). [German version] A. Topography Region and people in south-eastern Central Greece; with c. 2,500 km2 almost as large as  Attica. Bounded in the south-west by the Corinthian Gulf and in the north-east and east by the Euboean Gulf, B. is the only land bridge between northern and southern Greece and was thus a battleground over and over again ( Chaeronea,  Coronea,  Plataeae). In the south the  Parnes and the  Cithaeron formed a natural border with Attica and Megaris, while in t…

(Ποσειδῶν/ Poseidôn, Doric Ποτειδάν/ Poteidán, along with other forms of the name). I. Myth and cult [German version] A. General remarks P. was the Greek "god of the sea, of earthquakes and of horses" (Paus. 7,21,7). He belongs to the older st…

I. Name Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, occurs in the Bible only in the Apocrypha, as a theophoric name (Poseidonios: 2 Macc. 14.19). Numerous dialectal forms occur in inscriptions, the main division being between the ποσ- and ποτ-(western dialects, Corinth, Crete, Rhodes) forms. The dominant form occurs in a number of Linear B tablets from Pylos and once at Knossos (nom. po-se-da-o, also po-si-). But the ‘original’ form was probably *Ποτ(σ)ειδάηων. No etymology so far proposed (a selection in Burkert 1985:402 n. 2) is without serious difficulties: the weakness of the a…

(οἶνος/ oînos; Lat. vinum). [German version] I.Egypt and Ancient Near East Archeological finds (excavations, pictorial representations in tombs) as…

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