Listed 52 sub titles with search on: Homeric world Place-names according to Homer for wider area of: "TURKEY Country EUROPE" .
EFESSOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
A river in Ionia, that flows near Ephesus (Il. 2.461).
Cayster, Caystrus (Kaustros, and Kaustrios, Hom. Il. ii. 461 ; Kara-Su and Kutschuk
Meinder, or Little Maeander), a river of Lydia, which lies between the basin of
the Hermus on the north, and that of the Maeander on the south. The basin of the
Cayster is much smaller than that of either of these rivers, for the Cogamus,
a southern branch of the Hermus, approaches very near the Maeander, and thus these
two rivers and the high lands to the west of the Cogamus completely surround the
basin of the Cayster. The direct distance from the source of the Cayster to its
mouth is not more than seventy miles, but the windings of the river make the whole
length of course considerably more.
The southern boundary of the basin of the Cayster is the Messogis
or Kestane Dagh. The road which led from Physcus in Caria to the Maeander, was
continued from the Maeander to Tralles; from Tralles down the valley of the Maeander
to Magnesia; and from Magnesia over the hills to Ephesus in the valley of the
Cayster. From Magnesia to Ephesus the distance was 120 stadia (Strab. p. 663).
The northern boundary of the basin of the Cayster is the magnificent range of
Tmolus or Kisilja Musa Tagh, over the western or lower part of which runs the
road (320 stadia) from Ephesus to Smyrna. Strabo's notice of the Cayster is very
imperfect. According to Pliny the high lands in which it rises are the Cilbiana
juga (v. 29), which must be between the sources of the Cayster and the valley
of the Cogamus. The Cayster receives a large body of water from the Cilbian hills,
and the slopes of Messogis and Tmolus. Pliny seems to mean to say that it receives
many streams, but they must have a short course, and can only be the channels
by which the waters descend from the mountain slopes that shut in this contracted
river basin. Pliny names one stream, Phyrites (in Harduin?s text), a small river
that is crossed on the road from Ephesus to Smyrna, and joins the Cayster on the
right bank ten or twelve miles above Aiasaluck, near the site of Ephesus. Pliny
mentions a stagnum Pegaseum, which sends forth the Phyrites, and this marsh seems
to be the morass on the road from Smyrna to Ephesus, into which the Phyrites flows,
and out of which it comes a considerable stream. The upper valley of the Cayster
contained the Cilbiani Superiores and Inferiores: the lower or wider part was
the Caystrian plain. It appears that these natural divisions determined in some
measure the political divisions of the valley, and the Caystriani, and the Lower
and Upper Cilbiani, had each their several mints. (Leake, Asia Minor, &c. p. 257.)
The lower valley of the Cayster is a wide flat, and the alluvial soil, instead
of being skirted by a range of lower hills, as it is in the valleys of the Hermus
and the Maeander, abuts at once on the steep limestone mountains by which it is
bounded. (Hamilton, Asia Minor, &c. vol. i. p. 541.) After heavy rains the Cayster
rises suddenly, and floods the lower plains. The immense quantity of earth brought
down by it was a phenomenon that did not escape the observation of the Greeks,
who observed that the earth which was brought down raised the plain of the Cayster,
and in fact had made it. (Strab. p. 691.) The alluvium of the river damaged the
harbour of Ephesus, which was at the mouth of the river.
The flat swampy level at the mouth of the Cayster appears to be the
Asian plain (Asios leimon) of Homer (Il. ii. 461), a resort of wild fowl. (Comp.
Virg. Georg. i. 383, Aen. vii. 699.) Except Ephesus, the valley of the Cayster
contained no great town. Strabo mentions Hypaepa on the slope of Tmolus, on the
descent to the plain of the Cayster. It was of course north of the river. The
ruins at Tyria or Tyre, near the river, and about the middle of its course, must
represent some ancient city. Metropolis seems to lie near the road from Ephesus
to Smyrna, and in the plain of the Phyrites; and the modern name of Tourbali is
supposed to be a corruption of Metropolis.
This is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Father of Ephesus.(Paus. 7,2,7)
FRYGIA (Ancient country) TURKEY
A river in Phrygia, that flew from the Mt. Sipylus (Il. 24.616).
KARIA (Ancient country) TURKEY
A mountain in Caria (Il. 2.868).
LYDIA (Ancient country) TURKEY
In Lydia, on the foot of the Mt. Tmolus (Il. 20.391).
A river between Lydia and Caria. Pausanias mentions that tarisks grew in abundance by the bank of the Maeander (Paus. 5,14,3).
Maeander (Maiandros: Meinder or Boyuk Meinder), a celebrated river in Asia Minor, has its sources not far from Celaenae in Phrygia (Xenoph. Anab. i. 2. § 7), where it gushed forth in a park of Cyrus. According to some (Strab. xii. p. 578; Maxim. Tyr. viii. 38) its sources were the same as those of the river Marsyas; but this is irreconcilable with Xenophon, according to whom the sources of the two rivers were only near each other, the Marsyas rising in a royal palace. Others, again, as Pliny (v. 31), Solinus (40. § 7), and Martianus Capella (6. p. 221), state that the Maeander flowed out of a lake on Mount Aulocrene. Col. Leake (Asia Minor, p. 158, &c.) reconciles all these apparently different statements by the remark that both the Maeander and the Marsyas have their origin in the lake on Mount Aulocrene, above Celaenae, but that they issue at different parts of the mountain below the lake. The Maeander was so celebrated in antiquity for its numerous windings, that its name became, and still is, proverbial. (Hom. Il. ii. 869; Hesiod, Theog. 339; Herod. vii. 26, 30 Strab. xii. p. 577; Paus. viii. 41. § 3; Ov. Met. viii. 162, &c.; Liv. xxxviii. 13; Senec. Herc. Fur. 683, &c., Phoen. 605.) Its whole course has a south-western direction on the south of the range of Mount Messogis. In the south of Tripolis it receives the waters of the Lycus, whereby it becomes a river of some importance. Near Carura it passes from Phrygia into Caria, where it flows in its tortuous course through the Maeandrian plain (comp. Strab. xiv. p. 648, xv. p. 691), and finally discharges itself in the Icarian sea, between Priene and Myus, opposite to Miletus, from which its mouth is only 10 stadia distant. (Plin. l. c.; Paus. ii. 5. § 2.) The tributaries of the Maeander are the Orgyas, Marsyas, Clydrus, Lethaeus, and Gaeson, in the north; and the Obrimas, Lycus, Harpasus, and a second Marsyas in the south. The Maeander is everywhere a very deep river (Nic. Chonat. p. 125; Liv. l. c.), but not very broad, so that in many parts its depth equals its breadth. As moreover it carried in its waters a great quantity of mud, it was navigable only for small craft. (Strab. xii. p. 579, xiv. p. 636.) It frequently overflowed its banks; and, in consequence of the quantity of its deposits at its mouth, the coast has been pushed about 20 or 30 stadia further into the sea, so that several small islands off the coast have become united with the mainland. (Paus. viii. 24. § 5; Thucyd. viii. 17.) There was a story about a subterraneous connection between the Maeander and the Alpheius in Elis. (Paus. il. 5. § 2; comp. Hamilton, Researches, vol. i. p. 525, foll., ii. p. 161, foll.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A mountain in Lydia, near Sardis (Il. 2.866, 20.385).
Tmolus (Tmolos), a mountain range on the south of Sardes, forming the watershed between the basins of the Hermus in the north and the Cayster in the south, and being connected in the east with Mount Messogis. It was said to have received its name from a Lydian king Timolus, whence Ovid (Met. vi. 16) gives this name to the mountain itself. Mount Tmolus was celebrated for the excellent wine growing on its slopes (Virg. Georg. ii. 97; Senec. Phoen. 602; Eurip. Bacch. 55, 64; Strab. xiv. p. 637; Plin. v. 30). It was equally rich in metals; and the river Pactolus, which had its source in Mount Tmolus, at one time carried from its interior a rich supply of gold. (Strab. xiii. pp. 591, 610, 625; Plin. xxxiii. 43; comp. Horn. Il. ii. 373; Aesch. Pers. 50; Herod. i. 84, 93, v. 101; Ptol. v. 2. § 13; Dion. Per. 831.) On the highest summit of Mount Tmolus, the Persians erected a marble watch-tower commanding a view of the whole of the surrounding country (Strab. xiii. p. 625). The Turks now call the mountain Bouz Dagh.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A tributary of the river Hermus in Lydia.
It was named after Hyllus, the son of Earth (Paus. 1,36,8).
A river of Lydia, falling into the Hermus on its north side.
A fertile region in Lydia near the Caystrius river (Il. 2.461).
MYSIA (Ancient country) TURKEY
In Mysia (Il. 12.21).
It is mentioned by Homer (Il. 12.20).
A mountain in Mysia, on the foot of which the city of Thebe was located (Il. 6.396).
A river in Mysia (Il. 6.34, 14.445, 21.87).
Satnioeis: Perseus Project
A mountain in Mysia, near Zeleia (Il. 2.829).
Aesepus (d Aidepos), a river of Northern Mysia, mentioned by Homer (Il. ii. 825, &c.) as flowing past Zeleia, at the foot of Ida; and in another passage (Il. xii. 21) as one of the streams that flow from Ida. According to Strabo's interpretation of Homer, the Aesepus was the eastern boundary of Mysia. The Aesepus is the largest river of Mysia. According to Strabo, it rises in Mount Cotylus, one of the summits of Ida (p. 602), and the distance between its source and its outlet is near 500 stadia. It is joined on the left bank by the Caresus, another stream which flows from Cotylus; and then taking a NE. and N. course, it enters the Propontis, between the mouth of the Granicus and the city of Cyzicus. The modern name appears not to be clearly ascertained. Leake calls it Boklu.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited October 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
PAFLAGONIA (Ancient country) TURKEY
It was located in Paphlagonia and separated the country from Bithynia (Il. 2.854).
Parthenius (2): Perseus Encyclopedia
SIPYLOS (Ancient city) LYDIA
The Mt. Sipylos is mentioned by Homer (Il. 24.615).
According to Pausanias, there was a sanctuary dedicated to Mother Plastene, the Lake of Tantalus and his grave. On the peak of the mountain there was also the thone of Pelops (Paus. 5.13.7).
Sipylus (Sipulos), a mountain of Lydia between the river Hermus and
the town of Smyrna; it is a branch of Mount Tmolus, running in a northwestern
direction along the Hermus. It is a rugged, much torn mountain, which seems to
owe its present form to violent convulsions of the earth. The mountain is mentioned
even in the Iliad, and was rich in metal. (Hom. Il. xxiv. 615; Strab. i. p. 58,
xii. p. 579, xiv. p. 680.) On the eastern slope of the mountain, there once existed,
according to tradition, an ancient city, called Tantalis, afterwards Sipylus,
the capital of the Maeonians, which was believed to have been swallowed up by
an earthquake, and plunged into a crater, afterwards filled by a lake, which bore
the name of Sale or Saloe (Strab. i. p. 58, xii. p. 579; Steph. B. s. v.; Plin.
v. 31; Paus. vii. 24. § 7). Pliny relates that the spot once occupied by Sipylus
was successively occupied by other towns, which he calls Archaeopolis, Colpe and
Lebade. Pausanias (v. 13. § 4) calls the lake the marsh of Tantalus, and adds
that his tomb was conspicuous near it, and that the throne of Pelops was shown
on the summit of the mountain above the temple of (Cybele) Plastene. The tops
of the houses of Sipylus were believed to have been seen under the water for some
time after (Paus. vii. 24. § 7); and some modern travellers, mistaking the ruins
of old Smyrna for those of Sipylus, imagine that they have discovered both the
remains of Sipylus and the tomb of Tantalus. Chandler (Travels in Asia Minor,
p. 331) thought that a small lake of limpid water at the north-eastern foot of
Mount Sipylus, not far from a sepulchre cut in the rock, might be the lake Sale;
but Hamilton (Researches, i. p. 49, foll.) has shown that the lake must be sought
for in the marshy district of Manissa.
In speaking of Mount Sipylus, we cannot pass over the story of Niobe,
alluded to by the poets, who is said to have been metamorphosed into stone on
that mountain in her grief at the loss of her children. (Hom. Il. xxiv. 614; Soph.
Antig. 822; Ov. Met. vi. 310; Apollod. iii. 5; Paus. viii. 2. § 3.) Pausanias
(i. 21. § 5) relates that he himself went to Mount Sipylus and saw the figure
of Niobe formed out of the natural rock; when viewed close he saw only the rock
and precipices, but nothing resembling a woman either weeping or in any other
posture; but standing at a distance you fancied you saw a woman in tears and in
an attitude of grief. This phantom of Niobe, says Chandler (p. 331), whose observation
has been confirmed by subsequent travellers, may be defined as an effect of a
certain portion of light and shade on a part of Sipylus, perceivable at a particular
point of view. Mount Sipylus now bears the name of Saboundji Dagh or Sipuli Dagh.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited October 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Mt. Sipylus: Perseus Encyclopedia
SMYRNI (Ancient city) TURKEY
Meles. A small stream in Ionia, on whose banks near Smyrna Homer was said to have been born. Hence he is styled Melesigenes. One legend makes Meles, the river-god, to have been the poet's father.
TROAS (Ancient country) TURKEY
A river in Troad, between Abydus and Lampsacus (Il. 2.835).
A river in Troas (Il. 12.20).
A river in Troad (Il. 12.20).
Probably the Brook of the Dardanelles. A small river of the Troad, mentioned both by Homer and Hesiod. It rose on the lower slopes of Mount Ida, and flowed northwest into the Hellespont, between Abydus and Dardanus, after receiving the Selleis from the west.
A river in Troas (Il. 2.839, 12.97).
(3) A river in Troas, near Arisbe, and a tributary of the Rhodius.
A river in Troad, that rose in the Mt. Ida (Il. 4.475, 5.774, 12.22).
A river near Troy. As a mythological personage, the river-god Simois is the son of Oceanus and Tethys, and the father of Astyochus and Hieromneme.
A hill near Troy and the Simois river (Il. 20.52 & 151).
A hill in the district of Troas, deriving its name (kale kolone) from the pleasing regularity of its form, and the groves by which it seems for ages to have been adorned. It is mentioned by Homer in the Iliad.
A river in Troad, that according to Homer the gods called Xanthus (Il. 20.74, 14.434). It flows from two springs near Troy, the one with warm water and the other one with cold water (Il. 22.147), joins with the Simois river (Il. 5.774) and emties into the Hellespont (Il. 21.125).
Scamander (Skamandros: Mendere Su, or the river of Bunarbaschi), a famous little stream in the plain of Troy, which according to Homer (II. xx. 74) was called Xanthus by the gods and Scamander by men; though it probably owed the name Xanthus to the yellow or brownish colour of its water (comp. Il. vi. 4, xxi. 8). Notwithstanding this distinct declaration of the poet that the two names belonged to the same river, Pliny (v. 33) mentions the Xanthus and Scamander as two distinct rivers, and describes the former as flowing into the Portus Achaeorum, after having joined the Simoeis. In regard to the colour of the water, it was believed to have even the power of dyeing the wool of sheep which drank of it. (Aristot. Hist. Anim. iii. 12; Aelian, Hist. Anim. viii. 21; Plin. ii. 106; Vitruv. viii. 3,14.) Homer (Il. xxii. 147, &c.) states that the river had two sources close to the city of Ilion, one sending forth hot water and the other cold, and that near these springs the Trojan women used to wash their clothes. Strabo (xiii. p. 602) remarks that in his time no hot spring existed in those districts; he further asserts that the river had only one source; that this was far away from Troy in Mount Ida; and lastly that the notion of its rising near Troy arose from the circumstance of its flowing for some time under ground and reappearing in the neighbourhood of Ilion. Homer describes the Scamander as a large and deep river (Il. xx. 73, xxi. 15, xxii. 148), and states that the Sirmoeis flowed into the Scamander, which after the junction still retained the name of Scamander (Il. v. 774, xxi. 124; comp. Plin. ii. 106; Herod. v. 65; Strab. xiii. p. 595). Although Homer describes the river as large and deep, Herodotus (vii.42) states that its waters were not sufficient to afford drink to the army of Xerxes. The Scamander after being joined by the Simoeis has still a course of about 20 stadia eastward, before it reaches the sea, on the east of Cape Sigeum, the modern Kum Kale. Ptolemy (v. 2. § 3), and apparently Pomp. Mela (i. 18), assign to each river its own mouth, the Siinoeis discharging itself into the sea at a point north of the mouth of the Scamander. To account for these discrepancies, it must be assumed that even at that time the physical changes in the aspect of the country arising from the muddy deposits of the Scamander had produced these effects, or else that Ptolemy mistook a canal for the Scamander. Even in the time of Strabo the Scamander reached the sea only at those seasons when it was swollen byrains, and at other times it was lost in marshes and sand. It was from this circumstance, that, even before its junction with the Simoeis, a canal was dug, which flowed in a western direction into the sea, south of Sigeum, so that the two rivers joined each other only at times when their waters were high. Pliny, who calls the Scamander a navigable river, is in all probability thinking of the same canal, which is still navigable for small barges. The point at which the two rivers reach the sea is now greatly changed, for owing to the deposits at the mouth, the coast has made great advances into the sea, and the Portus Achaeorum, probably a considerable bay, has altogether disappeared. (Comp. Leake, Asia Minor, p. 289, foll., and the various works and treatises on the site and plain of ancient Troy.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
(2) The celebrated river of the Troad. As a mythological personage, the river-god was called Xanthus by the gods. His contest with Achilles is described by Homer.
Xanthus (Xanthos), an important river in the W. of Lycia, which is mentioned even in Homer (Il. ii. 877, v. 479), and which, according to Strabo (xiv. p. 665), was anciently called Sirbes, that is in Phoenician and Arabic reddish yellow, so that the Greek name Xanthus is only a translation of the Semitic Sirbes or Zirba. The Xanthus has its sources in Mount Taurus, on the frontiers between Lycia and Pisidia, and flows as a navigable river in a SW. direction through an extensive plain (Xanthou pedion, Herod. i. 176), having Mount Bragus on the W. and Massicytes on the E., towards the sea, into which it discharges itself about 70 stadia S. of the city of Xanthus, and a little to the NW. of Pinara. (Herod. l. c.; Ptol. v. 3. § 2; Dion. Per. 848; Ov. Met. ix. 645; Mela, i. 15; Plin. v. 28.) Now the Etshen or Essenide. (Fellows, Lycia, pp. 123, 278.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
TROY (Ancient city) TURKEY
A region in Troy (Il. 10.430).
The acropolis of Ilios (Il. 4.508, 5.446 & 460, 6.512).
They were the western gates of Troy, which constituted the main entrance to the city (Il. 3.145, 6.237, 11.170). They were also called "Dardanian gates" (Il. 5.789, 22.194 & 413).
Scaean gate: Perseus Encyclopedia
VITHYNIA (Ancient country) TURKEY
A river in Bithynia (Il. 3.187, 16.719).
(Sangarios), Sangaris (Sangaris), or Sagaris (Sagaris). Now Sakariyeh. The largest river of Asia Minor after the Halys; it had its source in a mountain called Adoreus, near the little town of Sangia, on the borders of Galatia and Phrygia, whence it flowed first north through Galatia, then west and northwest through the northeastern part of Phrygia, and then north through Bithynia, of which it originally formed the eastern boundary. It fell at last into the Euxine, about half way between the Bosporus and Heraclea.
Sangarius: Perseus Encyclopedia
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