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[German version] [1] Town in southern Perrhaebia (Μύλαι; Mýlai). Town in southern Perrhaebia ( Perrhaebi) between Chyretiae und Phalanna, mentioned in literature only about the year 171 BC, when it was captured and plundered by Perseus after a long resistance (Liv. 42,54,1ff.). Starting from the evidence in Livy, M. has been located in a citadel's ruins - the walls had been restored during the Byzantine period - on a steep hill above the Xerias (= Titaresius) near present Damasion, where also inscriptions attributed to M. have been discovered (IG IX 2, 332-337; [1]). Kramolisch, Herwig …

[German version] [1] Kingdom of Peleus and Achilles (Φθία/ Phthía, Φθίη/ Phthíē). The kingdom of Peleus and Achilles [1], home of the Myrmidones (Hom. Il. 1,155; 2,683f.; 762-767; 19,323; Hom. Od. 11,496), extending over the valley of the Spercheius and the adjacent north shore of the Thermaios Kolpos (Str. 9,5,8). The Spercheius was regarded as the home river of Achilles (Hom. Il. 23,140-144) and Phthios as the son of Spercheus (schol. Hom. Il. 23,142). The Dolopes lived 'in the most remote part of P.' (H…

(Οἰχαλία; Oichalía). [German version] [1] Mythical place in Homer, Catalogue of the Pylians Mythical place in Homer, in the Catalogue of the Pylians (Hom. Il. 2,594ff.). According to the narrative context, O. must be located in north western Messenia. It was from O. that the Thracian singer Thamyris came to Dorium, where the Muses robbed him of his gift of song. Homer's interpreters equate O. with Andania (Str. 8,3,6; 8,4,5; Plin. HN 4,15; Paus. 4,2,2f.). Pherecydes (FGrH 3 F 82a) assumed that O. was 'somewh…

(Παμισός; Pamisós). [German version] [1] Main River of the Region of Messana [2] Main river of the region of Messana [2], fed by three source rivers in the upper Messenian plain. In Antiquity the strong springs of Hagios Floros in the lower Messenian plain were considered to be the starting-point of the P., whence the river was called P. only from that point on. It is the river with most constantly abundant flow in the Peloponnese, and is navigable by boat a short distance from the mouth. At the Hagios Floros springs there was a sanctuary to P. with a small Doric templum in antis from the 6th cent…

(Ὀμφάλιον/ Omphálion). [German version] [1] Plain in Crete Plain (Diod. Sic. 5,70) on Crete in the area of Knossos on the river Triton (modern Platyperama; Callim. H. 1,42ff.; Steph. Byz. s.v. Ὀ.). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography C. Bursian, Geographie von Griechenland, vol. 2, 1868, 570  M. Guarducci, Inscriptiones Creticae, vol. 1, 1935, 45f. [German version] [2] Place in Thessalia Place in Thessalia (Steph. Byz. s.v. Ὀ.) near modern Lutra Smokovu, possibly the sanctuary of Omphale. The Dolopian cities of Angeae and Ctimenae fought over its possession [1]. Kramolisch,…

(Μεθώνη/ Methṓnē, Μοθώνη/ Mothṓnē). [German version] [1] City on the west coast of Messana [2] This item can be found on the following maps: Sparta | Achaeans, Achaea | Macedonia, Macedones A city on the west coast of Messana [2]. Its indigenous name was Mothṓnē (Μοθώνη on coins), after the reef called Móthōn which rose in front of it; hence the medieval and modern name Modon, Mothoni, Methoni (Μεθώνη in Thuc. 2,25,1ff. and Strab. 8,4,3). There are few ancient remains: isolated bases of city walls under the Venetian fortress and the breakwater wa…

(Τρίπολις/ Trípolis; literally, 'triple city'). [German version] [1] Perrhaebic T. The three cities of Azorus, Doliche and Pythium [2] in the small valley south of the Titarus and west of the Olympus [1] were referred to as the 'Perrhaebic T.' The locations of the cities are attested archaeologically, some in inscriptions as well. Up to the 3rd cent. BC, the T. belonged to the Macedonian Elimiotis, then to the alliance of the Perrhaebi and therefore to Thessalia. Literary documentation of T. exists only for the 3rd Macedonian War in 171 BC (Liv. 42,53,6; 42,67,7). Kramolisch, Herwig (Epp…

(Ἀσωπός; Asōpós). [German version] [1] Small river, flowing to the north out of the Oete range Small river, flowing to the north out of the  Oete range. Before flowing into the plains of Heraclea and Trachis, it forms a deep gorge, passable only in summer ( c. 2.5 km in length, up to 200 m deep, with a width of 6 m at the entrance, and about 30 m at the exit). At the time of the Persian Wars, the A. still had its own delta into the sea (Hdt. 7,200), today it flows under the name of Karvunarja into the  Spercheus. In 480 BC, the Persians by…

[German version] [1] City in north-western Boeotia This item can be found on the following maps: Linear B | Mycenaean culture and archaeology | Natural catastrophes | Oracles | Persian Wars | Aegean Koine | Aegean Koine | Boeotia, Boeotians (Ὀρχομενός/ Orchomenós; Boeotian Ἐρχομενός/ Erchomenós, LSAG 95, no. 17). Freitag, Klaus (Münster) [German version] A. Geography City in north-western Boeotia (Hom. Il. 2,511) at the foot of Mount Acontium on the north-western shore of Lake Copais near modern Skripou, today once more called Orkhomenos. The polis had an extensive hinterland, in…

(Ἴων; Íōn). [German version] [1] Hero of the Ionians Eponymous hero of the Ionians ( Iones). Several traditions of his ancestry emphasizing Athens' political primacy are extant. The earliest and most influential versions present I. as the son of  Xuthus and Creusa, thus as the grandson of  Hellen, progenitor of the Hellenes, and of the Athenian king  Erechtheus (Str. 8,383; Paus. 7,1,2). I.'s brother is Achaeus [1], progenitor of the Achaeans, his paternal uncles are  Aeolus [1] and  Dorus. With his wife…

(Ὀλυμπιάς; Olympiás). [German version] [1] Daughter of Neoptolemus Daughter of Neoptolemus [2], born in about 375 BC. She was not given the name O. until after the Olympic victory of Philippus II in 356 BC (cf. Plut. Mor. 401b). She married Philip in 357 as his fifth wife (Ath. 13,557b) and bore him Alexander [4] the Great (356) and Cleopatra [II 3]. The birth of a successor elevated O.'s status, but there is no evidence of any political influence. After Philip's marriage to Cleopatra [II 2] she fled to…

(Αἴσων; Aísōn). [German version] [1] Figure from Greek mythology, eponym of the city of Aeson Son of Cretheus and Tyro (Scarphes: schol. D Hom. Il. 532), husband of Polymelas or Alcimedes, father of Jason (Hom. Od. 11,258; Hes. Theog. 992; fr. 38-40 M-W; Pherecyd. FGrH F 104; Apollod. 1,107) and of Promachus (Apollod. 1, 143; Diod. Sic. 4,50,2). Eponym of the city of Aeson (Pherecyd. FGrH F 103; Pind. fr. 273; Apoll. Rhod. 1,411 with schol.), lives, however, always in Iolcus, whose legitimate ruler is his olde…

(Πτελεόν; Pteleón). [German version] [1] Place at the northern end of the bay of Erythrae Fortified place at the northern end of the bay of Erythrae [2], not located with certainty (Plin. HN 5,117; Steph. Byz. s. v. Π.). As a member of the Delian League (ATL 1,390 f.; 486; 2,82) P. was at times formally independent, but in fact it was dependent on Erythrae. P. is mentioned by Thuc. (8,24,2; 8,31,2) in connexion with the naval war in the waters around Miletus [2] and Chios in the winter of 412/1 BC (Peloponnesian War). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Sauer, Vera (Stuttgart) Bibliography J. Keil, P.…

(μητρόπολις/ mētrópolis, literally ‘mother city’). [German version] [1] Mother city of colonies in the era of the ‘Great’ Colonisation (c. 750-500 BC) Since the so-called Great Colonisation (c. 750-500 BC, Colonization IV, cf. the overview there), in numerous Greek communities an oikistḗs (‘founder’) and further ápoikoi (‘settlers’, ‘colonists’) were selected from the citizenry of the future metropolis as starting point for a colonisation enterprise (or they left on their own initiative) and entrusted with the establishment of an apoikía outside the …

(Μέλας/ Mélas). [German version] [1] Brother of Oeneus Son of Porthaon (Portheus) and Euryte in Calydon [3], brother of Oeneus, Agrius [1], Alcathous [2], Leucopeus and Sterope (cf. Hom. Il. 14,115ff.; Apollod. 1,63). M.'s eight sons were killed by Tydeus for pursuing their uncle Oeneus (Apollod. 1,76 = Alcmaeonis fr. 4 EpGF). Dräger, Paul (Trier) [German version] [2] Son of Phrixus and Chalciope Son of Phrixus and Chalciope [2], the daughter of Aeetes, brother of Argus [I 2], Phrontis and Cytis(s)orus (Apollod. 1,83). In the older myth M., like Argus, prob…

[German version] [1] City in the 4th upper Egyptian nome This item can be found on the following maps: Egypt | Commerce | Egypt The Egyptian Thebes, city in the 4th upper Egyptian nome. Quack, Joachim (Berlin) [German version] I. Names Actually Ws.t ('the strong'), from which derived, no later than the 17th dynasty, a female personification Ws.t nḫt.tj ('victorious Thebes'). Beginning with the Middle Kingdom ( c. 1990-1630 BC), often called simply njw.t, 'the city (par excellence)' - from which also the Hebrew form no (Ez 30:14 f.; Jer 46:25; Nahum 3:8) and Assyrian Ne [10. 260] -- o…

[German version] I. Persons (Δίων; Díōn) Meister, Klaus (Berlin) [German version] [I 1] Close friend of Plato and defender of his philosophy Son of Hipparinus, brother-in-law and son-in-law of Dionysius I of Syracuse, b. 409 BC, close friend of Plato and defender of his philosophy since Plato's first visit to Syracuse in 388. He gained prestige and wealth as Dionysius' I' trusted friend and advisor and also remained an influential person under Dionysius II. In 366, he arbitrated the peace with Carthage and called Pl…

(Λάρισα; Λάρισσα; Lárisa, Lárissa). Name of numerous locations in Greece and Asia Minor, cf. Steph. Byz. s.v. Λ. [German version] [1] Acropolis of Argos The 289-m high acropolis of Argos with Mycenaean remains (not precisely identified) [1]. The temple of Zeus Larisaios and Athena Polias under the large Venetian castle has been excavated. References: Str. 8,6,7; Paus. 2,24,1; 3f.; Steph. Byz. s.v. Λάρισαι πόλεις. Lafond, Yves (Bochum) Bibliography 1 N. Vassilatos, Larissa. The Acropolis of Argos, 1994. [German version] [2] City in Achaea Phthiotis Important city in Achaea Phthi…

(Ἡράκλεια; Hērákleia). [German version] [1] H. Trachinia This item can be found on the following maps: Aetolians, Aetolia | Peloponnesian War | Education / Culture (Ἡράκλεια ἡ Τραχινία; H. hē Trachinía). City on a rock to the left of and above the exit of the gorge of the  Asopus [1] into the Spercheus plain, separated from Oete ( Oetaei, Oete) on the southern and western flanks by deep streambeds, where the Trachinian rocks rise up with their numerous tomb caves. The lower city has vanished without trace. H. was founded in …

(Φοῖνιξ/ Phoînix, Latin Phoenix). Persons P. [1-4], the mythical P. bird [5], the date palm P. [6], geographical locations P. [7-9]. [German version] [1] Mythical king of Sidon or Tyrus Mythical king of Sidon or Tyrus, son of Agenor [1] and Telephassa (Apollod. 3,2-4), brother of Europe [2],  Cadmus [1] and Cilix, according to others also their father (Hom. Il. 14, 321); other children: Phineus (Apoll. Rhod. 2, 178), Carne (Antoninus Liberalis 40). Eponym of the Phoenicians and the Poeni ( Poeni; cf. Phoenicians, Poeni). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [2] Son of Amyntor Son of Amyn…