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(Πύθιον/ Pýthion). [German version] [1] Term for Attic sanctuaries to Apollo A term rarely used in modern archaeology but common in Antiquity for various Athenian and Attic sanctuaries to Apollo: 1. in southeast Athens on the right bank of the Ilissus (inscriptions, tripod bases extant); 2. cave sanctuary in the cliff on the northwest side of the Acropolis (numerous finds; however, often denoted in ancient literature with the cult name of Apóllōn Hypakraîos); 3. near the Daphni monastery on the sacred way to Eleusis (of undetermined location but presumably the sourc…

(Ἄρνη; Árnē). [German version] [1] Boeotian settlement Boeotian settlement (Hom. Il. 2,507). According to Str. 1,3,18; 9,2,34-35, A. was either equated with  Acraephia, or believed to have been drowned by  L. Copais. According to other sources, A. was the ancient name of  Chaeronea (Paus. 9,40,5; Steph. Byz. s.v. Χαιρώνεια). It is probably not identical with the fortress of Gla which had been abandoned in the late Mycenaean period [1].  Boeotia Freitag, Klaus (Münster) Bibliography 1 F. Noack, A., in: MDAI (A) 19, 1894, 405-485. J. M. Fossey, Papers in Boiotian Topography and H…

[German version] (Πελεθρόνιον; Pelethrónion). Valley or region on the western slopes of the peak of  Pelium in Thessalia, where Chiron is supposed to have grown up and where the herb chironion or centaurion, used for healing snake bites, grew. Hence poetically the epithet 'Pelethronian' is used for Chiron, but also generally for 'Thessalian'. Documentation: Nic. Ther. 438ff.; 505; Strab. 7,3,6; Verg. G. 3,115. Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) Meyer, Ernst (Zürich) Bibliography F. Stählin, Das hellenische Thessalien, 1924, 43f.  Id., s.v. Pelethronion, RE 19, 269f.

[German version] (Πελίννα; Pelínna). A city in Thessalian Hestiaeotis (Pind. Pyth. 10,4 and Str. 9,5,17: Πελινναῖον/ Pelinna ȋon; erroneously located in Phthiotis in Steph. Byz. s.v. Π., as in Plin. HN 4,32: Magnesia), the modern Paliogardiki east of Taxiarches (15 km east of Trikala); it features a well-preserved 3.2 km long wall round an area of 59 ha. P. gained independent significance only in the 4th cent. BC; from this time on, therefore, Pelinnaei appear more often in Delphic inscriptions as naopoioí (Temple economy) or hieromnemones (cf. Syll.3 p. 340f. and 444f.). P. wa…

[German version] (Πηνειός; Pēneiós). The large main river of Thessaly, copious in flow throughout the year. With its many tributaries - in Pelasgiotis flowing from the north and in Thessaliotis primarily from the south - it irrigates almost all of Thessaly (Thessalia). Rising in the Pindus [1] some 5 km to the east of Metsovo, the P. flows through the two great plains of Thessaly in the north and, after a stretch of 227 km through the  Tempe Valley, into the Thermaic Gulf. References: Hom. Il. 2,755; Hdt. 7,128f. Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) Meyer, Ernst (Zürich) Bibliography L. Darmez…

(Ἐλάτεια; Eláteia). [German version] [1] Phocian town This item can be found on the following maps: Dark Ages | Macedonia, Macedones | Education / Culture In antiquity together with  Delphi (Str. 9,3,2) the largest (Paus. 10,34,1-2; Str. 9,2,19; Harpocr., Suda s.v. E.) and most famous Phocian town. Located in the farthest north of the Cephissus valley near modern Elatia (Leftà), E. dominated the road that led south from Thessaly and Locris through the passes of Thermopylae and Hyampolis. This location made E. a lively c…

[German version] [1] Acarnian town This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | Aetolians, Aetolia | Acarnanians, Acarnania | Peloponnesian War | Education / Culture (Οἰνιάδαι/ Oiniádai, occasionally Οἰνειάδαι/ Oineiádai). Acarnanian city near the mouth of the Achelous [1] (Thuc. 2,102,2f.; Str. 10,2,21). The city area, located near what is now Katochi, is located on a hill measuring 3 km in length and 2 km in width. Remains of the six-kilometer long city wall have been preserved, along with gate and tower installat…

[German version] Doliche [1] (Δολίχη; Dolíchē). City of the Perrhaebic Tripolis (with Azorus and Pythium) in western Olympus on the border of Macedonian Elimiotis. D. is now identified not with today's village of Duklista but with the ruins at the village of Sarantaporo. Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) Bibliography G. Lucas, La Tripolis de Perrhébie et ses confins, in: I. Blum (ed.), Topographie antique et géographie historique en pays grec, 1992, 93-137 F. Stählin, Das hellen. Thessalien, 1924, 21 Th. Tzaphalias, in: Thessaliko Himerologio 8, 1985, 140-144 (exploration). …

(Ἐρέτρια; Erétria). [German version] [1] City on Euboea This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | Ionic | Colonization | Apollo | Persian Wars | Delian League | Athenian League (Second) | Education / Culture | Boeotia, Boeotians City on Euboea Ducrey, Pierre (Lausanne) [German version] A. Location E. lies on the SW coast of  Euboea, at a distance of c. 20 km from the main town of Chalcis, across from Oropus on the mainland. First mentioned by Hom. Il. 2,536 (for the origin of the name E. cf. Str. 10,1,8). Aegilia belonged to the territory of E. (Hdt. 6,107; IG I2 376). Ducrey, Pierre …

[German version] (Πήλιον; Pḗlion). A mountain range, extending on a north-west to south-east axis and consisting of various slates and chalks, demarcating Thessaly (Thessalians, Thessalia) in the east and, in Antiquity, forming the peninsula of Magnesia [1] from the Ossa [1] to the foothills of Sepia. In Antiquity, P. referred in a narrower sense to the highest peak (Pliassidi; 1624 m). The easterly slope to the sea is precipitous and entirely without harbours, and was feared by ancient navigators…

(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…

[German version] [1] Mountain range (ὁ/ἡ Πίνδος; ho/hē Píndos). In antiquity, P. denoted only the central part of the huge, almost inaccessible wall of mountains traversing the whole of north and central Greece from north to south in a series of chains, most of which are over 2000 m in elevation, south of the Zygos Pass (Metsovo Pass, el. 1650 m) and west of Thessaly (Thessalians), dividing the river basins of the Peneius in the east and the Achelous [1] in the west. The mountain ranges to the north of …

[German version] (Πύρασος; Pýrasos). City in Achaea Phthiotis (Hom. Il. 2,695) on the northeastern edge of the Halmyrus plain, today's Nea Anchialos. Settled from prehistoric times until the present; in the historical era it belonged to Thebes (Str. 9,5,14). Archaeology: large Christian basilica and other buildings. Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) Meyer, Ernst (Zürich) Bibliography F. Hild, E. Hanschmann, s. v. P., in: Lauffer, Griechenland, 578 f.  P. Lazaridis, Βυζαντινὰ καὶ μεσαιωνικὰ μνημεῖα Θεσσαλίας: Νέα Ἀγχίαλος Φθιώτιδες Θῆβαι, in: AD 25, 1970, 286 f.  TIB 1, 271  E. Viss…

(Μελίβοια/ Melíboia, Latin Meliboea). [German version] [1] Heroine Heroine, known within the Leto cult of Argos as Chloris [2] (on the aition: Paus. 2,21,9f.). In the Demeter cult of Hermion(e), Kore ( Persephone) bears the byname M. (Ath. 14,624e, the passage is textually disputed). M. first appears in Hom. Od. 11,281-287 as the daughter of Amphion [1], later also as the daughter of Niobe (Apollod. 3,47) and spouse of Neleus (Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 117). Ath. 13,557a mentions her as the spouse of Theseus. Harder, Ruth Elisabeth (Zürich) Bibliography R. Carden, The Papyrus Fragments of …

(Ληθαῖος; Lēthaîos). [German version] [1] Tributary of the Peneius Left-hand tributary of the Peneius in north-west Thessalia, flows through Tricca (Paus. 14,139), modern Trikkalinos. Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) Bibliography F. Stählin, Das hellenische Thessalien, 1924, 121. [German version] [2] River in southern Crete River in southern Crete, which flows through Gortyn from north to south (Str. 10,4,11), modern Mitropolianos. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) [German version] [3] Tributary of the Maiander Right-hand tributary of the Maeander (river god: coins o…

(Ἐνιπεύς; Enipeús). [German version] [1] Tributary to the right of the Alpheius [1] in Elis A tributary to the right of the  Alpheius [1] in Elis, also Βαρνίχιος ( Barníchios, ‘River of Lambs’) [1], modern Lestenitsa west of Olympia (Str. 8,3,32; Hom. Od. 11,238ff.). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Lienau, Cay (Münster) Bibliography 1 E. Curtius, Peloponnesos 2, 1852, 71f. [German version] [2] Main river of the West Thessalian plain Main river of the West Thessalian plain, modern Tsanarlis. Its source is in the Othrys range near Melitaea under the name Elipeus (IG IX 2, 205 and add.…

[German version] [1] Female spirit (Λάμια; Lámia). A female spirit who specialized in attacking children (Duris, FGrH 76 F 17; Diod. Sic. 20,41,3-5; Str. 1,2,8; [1. ch. 5]). In this function, L. was often confused with Gello, Mormo and the Strix. In later sources, L. also seduces and destroys attractive men (Philostr. VA 4,25; cf. Apul. Met. 1,17). Her name is etymologically related to laimós (‘maw’), which is an expression of her all-consuming hunger (cf. Hor. Ars P. 340; Hom. Od. 10,81-117 on Lamus, the king of the cannibalistic Laestrygones; lamía is also a designation for ‘shark’…

(Ἐχῖνος; Echînos). [German version] [1] Town on the northern shore of the Gulf of Malia Town on the northern shore of the Gulf of Malia near today's village of Achino. Originally part of the Achaea Phthiotis, Echinus was granted by Philippus II to the Malieis in 342 with whom E. belonged to the Aetolian league from c. 235. In 210, E. was conquered by Philippus V (Pol. 9,41; [1]) who refused to return it to the Aetolians; after 193, the Romans conquered it and assigned E. to Malis again in 189. In Roman times, E. was considered part of Achaea Phthiot…

(Φυλάκη; Phylákē). [German version] [1] City of Achaea Phthiotis City, mentioned in Homer and other early verse as well as passages dependent on them, belonging to Achaea Phthiotis in the Halmyrus plain. P. was the home of Protesilaus; as late as Pind. I.1,83f. P. is mentioned with a sanctuary of Protesilaus. Later P. was evidently absorbed in Thebae Phthiotides (Heraclides fr. 3,3 identifies P. with it), which continued the cultural and mythological tradition of P. A more precise location at Thebae is not possible. Sources: Hom. Il. 2,695; 13,696; 15,335; Str. 9,5,8; 9,5,14. Kramolisc…

(Ὄσσα/ Óssa). [German version] [1] Mountain range in central Greece, modern Kissavos Mountain range (1978 m) of lime and slate, divided from Olympus [1] in the north by the erosion gorge that is the Vale of Tempe and from Pelion (modern Kissavos) in the south by the Agia depression. Politically it was part of Magnesia [1]. The steep eastern slopes down to the Aegaean were uninhabited, in spite of a coastal road from Homole in the north to Meliboea [2]. On the western slopes there were Thessalian towns (Elat…