Listed 46 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "ARGOS - MYKINES Municipality ARGOLIS" .
MALADRENI (Village) KOUTSOPODI
Malantreni is a natural northern boundary at Nemea's side, a village
the links Argolida and Corinthia
Counties. It is semi-mountainous, 16km from the city of Argos.
It is as lively as Schinochori
but with a more lyrical character.
The locals are also hard-working and they mostly deal with olive and
citrus trees, apricot trees and produce. Malantreni is well known for its vineyards
and it produces fine quality wines.
(text: Alexis Totsikas)
This text (extract) is cited March 2004 from the Prefecture
of Argolis tourist pamphlet.
ALCYONIA (Lake) LERNA
Alcyonia (Alkuonia), a lake in Argolis, near the Lernaean grove, through which
Dionysus was said to have descended to the lower world, in order to bring back
Semele from Hades. Pausanias says that its depth was unfathomable, and that Nero
had let down several stadia of rope, loaded with lead, without finding a bottom.
As Pausanias does not mention a lake Lerna, but only a district of this name,
it is probable that the lake called Alcyonia by Pausanias is the same as the Lerna
of other writers. (Paus. ii. 37. § 5, seq.; Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 473.)
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
ALEA (Ancient city) ARGOLIS
Alea (Eth. Aleos, Aleates). A town of Arcadia, between Orchomenus and Stymphalus,
contained, in the time of Pausanias, temples of the Ephesian Artemis, of Athena
Alea, and of Dionysus. It appears to have been situated in the territory either
of Stymphalus or Orchomenus. Pausanias calls Alea a town of the Maenalians; but
we ought probably to read Asea in this passage, instead of Alea. The ruins of
Alea have been discovered by the French Commission in the middle of the dark valley
of Skotini, about a mile to the NE. of the village of Buyati. Alea was never a
town of importance; but some modern writers have, though inadvertently, placed
at this town the celebrated temple of Athena Alea, which was situated at Tegea.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ARGOS (Ancient city) ARGOLIS
Argos ( to Argos: Eth. Argeios, Argivus, and in the poets Argeus), is said by
Strabo (viii) to have signified a plain in the language of: the Macedonians
and Thessalians; and it is
therefore not improbable that it contains the same root as the Latin word ager.
There were several places of the name of Argos. Two are mentioned in Homer, who
distinguishes them by the names of the Pelasgic
Argos (to Pelasgikon Argos, Il. ii. 681), and the Achaean Argos (Argos Achaiikon,
Il. ix. 141, Od. iii. 251). The
Pelasgic Argos was a town or district in Thessaly. The Achaean Argos, or Argos
simply, is used by Homer in three different significations:
1. To indicate the city of Argos where Diomedes reigned (Il. ii. 559, vi. 224,
xiv. 119).
2. Agamemnon's kingdom, of which Mycenae
was the capital (Il. i. 30, ii. 108, 287, iii. 75, vi. 152).
3. The whole of Peloponnesus,
in opposition to Hellas, or Greece north of the Isthmus
of Corinth (kath Hellada
kai meson Argos, Od. i. 344; comp. Od. iv. 726, Il. ix. 141, 283; Strab. viii.
pp. 369, 370).
In this sense Homer calls it the lasian Argos (Iason Argos, Od. xviii.
246), from an ancient king Iasus, son of Argus and Evadne (Apollod. ii. 1.2).
In consequence of this use of Argos, Homer frequently employs the word Argeioi
to signify the whole body of the Greeks; and the Roman poets, in imitation, use
Argivi in the same manner.
In the Greek writers Argos is used to signify both the territory of
the city of Argos, and more frequently the city itself.
I. Argos, the district. (See Argolis)
II. Argos, the City.
Argos (to Argos), usually called Argi(-orum) by the Romans, was situated
about three miles from the sea, in the plain which has already been described.
Its citadel, called Larisa
or Larissa, the Pelasgic name for a citadel (Larisa, Larissa, Pans. ii. 23.8;
Strab. viii; Dionys. i. 21), was a striking object, being built on an insulated
conical mountain of 900 feet in height, with steep rocky sides, diversified with
grassy slopes. A little to the E. of the town flowed the river Charadrus,
a tributary of the Inachus.
According to the general testimony of antiquity, Argos was the most
ancient city of Greece. It was originally inhabited by Pelasgians, and is said
to have been built by the Pelasgic chief Inachus, or by his son Phoroneus, or
by his grandson Argus. Phoroneus, however, is more commonly represented as its
founder; and from him the city was called astu Phoronikon (Paus. ii. 15.5). The
descendants of Inachus ruled over the country for nine generations; but Gelanor,
the last king of this race, was deprived of the sovereignty by Danaus, who is
said to have come from Egypt.
From this Danaus was derived the name of Danai, which was applied to the inhabitants
of the Argeia and to the Greeks in general (Apollod. ii.1). Danaus and his two
successors Lynceus and Abas ruled over the whole of the Argeia; but Acrisius and
Proetus, the two sons of Abas, divided the territory between them, the former
ruling at Argos, and the latter at Tiryns.
Perseus, the son of Danae, and grandson of Acrisius, founded the city of Mycenae,
which now became the chief city in the Argeia (Paus. ii.15.4, 16.5; Apollod. ii.2).
Eurystheus, the grandson of Perseus, was succeeded in the kingdom of Mycenae
by Atreus, the son of Pelops. The latter transmitted his power to his son or grandson
Agamemnon, king of men, who exercised a kind of sovereignty over the whole of
the Argeian territory, and
a considerable part of Peloponnesus.
Homer represents Mycenae
as the first city in Peloponnesus,
and Argos, which was then governed by Diomedes, as a subordinate place. Orestes,
the son of Agamemnon, united under his sway both Argos and Mycenae,
and subsequently Lacedaemon
also, by his marriage with Hermione, the daughter of Menelaus. Under Orestes Argos
again became the chief city in the Argeian territory. In the reign of his successor
Tisamenus, the Dorians invaded Peloponnesus,
expelled Tisamenus, and became the rulers of Argos. In the three.. fold division
of Peloponnesus, among the
descendants of Hercules, Argos fell to the lot of Temenus.
We now come to the first really historical event in the history of
Argos. The preceding narrative belongs to legend, the truth of which we can neither
deny nor affirm. We only know that before the Dorian invasion the Argeian territory
was inhabited by Achaeans, who, at some period unknown to history, had supplanted
the original Pelasgic population. According to the common legend, the Dorians
conquered the Peloponnesus
at once, and drove out the Achaean population; but it is now generally admitted
that the Dorians only slowly and gradually made themselves masters of the countries
in which we find them subsequently settled; and we know in particular that in
the Argeia, most of the towns, with the exception of Argos, long retained their
original Achaean population.
Even after the Dorian conquest, Argos appears as the first state in
Peloponnesus, Sparta
being second, and Messene
third. Herodotus states (i. 82), that in ancient times the whole eastern coast
of Peloponnesus down to Cape
Malea, including Cythera
and the other islands, belonged to Argos; and the superiority of the latter is
also indicated by the legend, which makes Temenus the eldest of the three Heracleids.
The power of Argos, however, was not derived exclusively from her
own territory, but also from the fact of her being at the head of a league of
several other important Doric cities. Cleonae,
Phlius, Sicyon,
Epidaurus, Troezen,
Hermione, and Aegina
were all members of this league, which was ostensibly framed for religious purposes,
though it in reality gave Argos a political ascendency. This league, like others
of the same kind, was called an Amphictyonia (Paus. iv. 5.2); and its patron god
was Apollo Pythaeus. There was a temple to this god in each of the confederated
cities, while his most holy sanctuary was on the Larissa,
or acropolis of Argos. This league continued in existence even as late as B.C.
514, when the power of Argos had greatly declined, since we find the Argives in
that year condemning both Sicyon
and Aegina to pay a fine of
500 talents each, because they had furnished the Spartan
king Cleomenes with ships to be employed against the Argeian territory (Herod.
vi. 92). The religious supremacy continued till a later time; and in the Peloponnesian
war the Argives still claimed offerings from the confederate states to the temple
of Apollo Pythaeus on the Larissa
(Thuc. v. 53; comip. Miller, Dorians, i. 7.1.)
The great power of Argos at an early period is attested by the history
of Pheidon, king of Argos, who is represented as a lineal descendant of Temenus,
and who reigned between B.C. 770 and 730. He attempted to establish his sway over
the greater part of Peloponnesus, and, in conjunction with the Pisatans,
he seized upon the presidency of the Olympic games in the 8th Olympiad (B.C. 747);
but he was subsequently defeated by the Spartans
and the Eleans.
After the time of Pheidon the power of Argos gradually declined, and
Sparta eventually became
the first power in Peloponnesus.
The two states had long contended for the possession of the district Cynuria
or Thyreatis, which separated
the frontiers of Laconia
and Argos. Several battles between the Lacedaemonians
and Argives are recorded at an early period, and particularly a victory gained
by the latter near Hysiae,
which is assigned to B.C. 669 (Paus. ii. 24.7). But about B.C. 547 the Spartans
obtained permanent possession of Cynuria
by the memorable combat of the 300 champions, in which the Spartan
Othryades earned immortal fame (Herod. i. 82;)
But the great blow, which effectually humbled the power of Argos,
and gave Sparta the undisputed
pre-eminence in Peloponnesus,
was dealt by the Spartan
king Cleomenes, who defeated the Argives with such slaughter near Tiryns,
that 6000 citizens perished in the battle and the retreat (Herod. vi. 76) According
to later writers, the city was only saved by the patriotism of the Argive women,
who, headed by the poetess Telesilla, repulsed the enemy from the walls (Paus.
ii. 20.8; Polyaen. viii. 33; Plut. de Virt. Mul. p. 245; Suid. s. v. Telesilla);
but we know, from the express statement of Herodotus, that Cleomenes never attacked
the city. This great defeat occurred a few years before the Persian wars (comp.
Herod. vii. 148), and deprived Argos so completely of men, that the slaves got
the government into their own hands, and retained possession of it till the sons
of those who had fallen were grown into manhood. It is further related, that when
the young citizens had grown up, they expelled the slaves, who took refuge at
Tiryns, where they maintained
themselves for some time, but were eventually subdued (Herod. vi. 83). These slaves,
as Muller has remarked (Dorians, iii. 4.2), must have been the Gymnesii or bondsmen
who dwelt in the immediate neighbourhood of the city; since it would be absurd
to suppose that slaves bought in foreign countries could have managed a Grecian
state. The Argives took no part in the Persian wars, partly on account
of their internal weakness, and partly through the jealousy of the Spartans;
and they were even suspected of remaining neutral, in consequence of receiving
secret offers from Xerxes (Herod. vii. 150). But even after the expulsion of the
bondsmen, the Dorian citizens found themselves compelled to give the citizenship
to many of the Perioeci, and to distribute them in the immediate neighbourhood
of the city (Aristot. Pol. v. 2.8). Further, in order to increase their numbers
and their power, they also dispeopled nearly all the large cities in the surrounding
country, and transplanted the inhabitants to Argos. In the Persian wars Tiryns
and Mycenae were independent
cities, which followed the command of Sparta
without the consent of Argos. The Argives destroyed Mycenae
in B.C. 468 (Diod. xi. 65; comp. Paus. viii. 16.5); and about the same time we
may place the destruction of Tiryns,
Hysiae, Midea,
and the other towns in the Argeia (Paus. viii. 27.1).
The introduction of so many new citizens gave new life and vigour
to Argos, and soon re-established its prosperity and wealth (Diod. xii. 75); but
at the same time it occasioned a complete change in the constitution. Up to this
time Argos had been essentially a Doric state. It contained three classes of persons:
1. The inhabitants of the city, consisting for the most part of Dorians, originally
divided into three tribes, to which a fourth was afterwards added, named Hyrnathia,
containing families not of Doric origin (Muller, Dorians, iii. 5.1, 2).
2. A class of Perioeci, consisting of the ancient Achaean inhabitants. Muller
(Ibid. iii. 4.2) supposes that these Perioeci were called Orneatae from the town
of Orneae; but there are good reasons for questioning this
statement.
3. A class of bondslaves, named Gymnesii, corresponding to the Helots of Sparta,
and of whom mention has been made above.
There was a king at the head of the state. All the kings were descendants
of the Heracleid Temenus down to Meltas, who was the last king of this race (Paus.
ii. 19.2; Plut. Alex. Virt. 8); and after him another dynasty reigned down to
the time of the Persian wars. Herodotus (vii. 149) mentions a king of Argos at
this period; but the royal dignity was abolished soon afterwards, probably when
the inhabitants of the neighbouring towns were received as citizens (Hermann,
Griech. Staatsalt. 23. n. 6).
The royal power, however, was always very limited (Paus. ii. 9.2);
for the Council (boule) possessed extensive authority. At the time of the Peloponnesian
war we find Argos in the enjoyment of a democratic constitution; but of the details
of this constitution we possess hardly any accounts (Thuc. v. 29, 41, 44). In
the treaty of alliance between Argos and Athens,
which Thucydides (v. 47) has preserved, we find mention at Argos of the Boule,
the Eighty, and the Artynae (Artunai). It has been conjectured that the Eighty
was a more aristocratical council, and that the Artynae may have acted as presidents
to this council (Arnold, ad Thuc. l. c.); but nothing is really known of these
two bodies except their names. The ostracism was one of the democratical institutions
of Argos (Aristot. Pol. v. 2.5; Schol. ad Aristoph. Eq. 851). Another democratical
institution was a military court, which the soldiers, on returning from an expedition,
held on the river Charadrus
before entering the city, in order to inquire into the conduct of their generals
(Thuc. v. 60).
The Argives remained neutral during the first ten years of this war,
in consequence of a truce for 30 years which they had previously formed with the
Spartans (Thuc. v. 14).During
this time they had increased in numbers and wealth; while Sparta
had been greatly exhausted by her contest with Athens.
Moreover, shortly before the expiration of the truce, the Spartans
had given great offence to her Peloponnesian
allies by concluding the peace with Athens,
usually called the peace of Nicias (B.C. 421). The time seemed favourable to Argos
for the recovery of her former supremacy in the Peloponnesus;
and she accordingly formed a league against Sparta,
which was joined by the Mantineians,
Corinthians and Eleians,
B.C. 421 (Thuc. v. 31). In the following year (B.C. 420) the Athenians
also were persuaded by Alcibiades to form a treaty with Argos (Thuc. v. 43-47);
but the disastrous battle of Mantineia
(B.C. 418), in which the Argives and their confederates were defeated by the Spartans,
not only broke up this alliance, but placed Argos in close connection with Sparta.
There had always been an oligarchical party at Argos in favour of
a Lacedaemonian alliance.
About the time of the peace of Nicias, the Argive government had formed a separate
regiment of a thousand select hoplites, consisting of young men of wealth and
station, to receive constant military training at the public expense (Diod. xii.
75; Thuc. v. 67). At the battle of Mantineia
this regiment had been victorious over the troops opposed to them, while the democratical
soldiers had been put to the rout by the enemy. Supported by this regiment, the
oligarchical party obtained the upper hand at Argos, and concluded a treaty of
peace with Sparta; and in
the following year (B.C. 417), assisted by some Spartan
troops, they overthrew the democratical form of government by force (Thuc. v.
71--81). But they did not retain their power long. At the end of four months the
people rose against their oppressors, and after a sharp contest expelled them
from the city.
The Argives now renewed their alliance with the Athenians,
and commenced erecting long walls, in order to connect their city with the sea;
but before they had time to finish them, the Lacedaemonians
invaded their territory, and destroyed the walls (Thuc. v. 82, 83). During the
remainder of the Peloponnesian
war the Argives continued faithful to the Athenian
alliance, and sent troops to the Athenian
armies (Thuc. vi. 29, vii. 57, viii. 25).
At a later time the Argives were always ready to join the enemies
of Sparta. Thus they united
with Athens, Thebes,
Corinth, and the other states
to oppose Sparta in the war
which was set on foot by the Persian king in B.C. 395; and even when Athens
assisted Sparta against the
Thebans, the Argives would
not make cause with their old allies, but fought on the side of the Thebans
against their ancient enemy, B.C. 362 (Xen. Hell. vii. 5. 5) It was about this
time that party hatred perpetrated the greatest excesses at Argos. The oligarchical
party having been detected in an attempt to overthrow the democracy, the people
became so exasperated that they put to death most of the men of wealth and influence
in the state. On this occasion 1200 men, or, according to another statement, 1500,
were slain; and even the demagogues shared the same fate. This state of things
was called by the name of Skutalismos, or club-law (Diod. xv. 58; Plut. Praec.
Reip. Ger. p. 814, b.; Muller, Ibid. iii. 9.1)
Little requires to be said respecting the subsequent history of Argos.
The most memorable occurrence in its later history is the attempt of Pyrrhus to
surprise the city, in which he met with his death (Plut. Pyrrh. 34;). Like many
of the other cities in Peloponnesus,
Argos was now governed by tyrants, who maintained their power by the support of
the Macedonian kings; but
when Aratus had succeeded in liberating Sicyon
and Corinth, he persuaded
Aristomachus, the tyrant of Argos, voluntarily to resign his power; and the Argives
then joined the Achaean league, B.C. 229 (Pol. ii. 44; Plut. Arat. 35). Argos
fell for a time into the hands of Cleomenes (Pol. ii. 52), and subsequently into
those of Nabis, tyrant of Sparta,
and his cruel wife (Pol. xvii. 17; Liv. xxxii. 18); but. with the exception of
these temporary occupations, it continued to belong to the Achaean league till
the final conquest of Greece by the Romans, B.C. 146 (Strab. viii).
Argos was one of the largest and most populous cities in Greece. We
have already seen that in the war with Cleomenes it lost 6000 of its citizens;
but at the time of the Peloponnesian war it had greatly increased in numbers.
Lysias, in B.C. 402, says that Argos equalled Athens
in the number of her citizens (Dionys. Lys. p. 531); and there were probably not
less than 16,000 Athenian
citizens at that time. But 16,000 citizens will give a total free population of
66,000. If to these we add the slaves and the Perioeci, the aggregate calculation
cannot have been less than 110,000 persons for Argos and its territory (Clinton,
F. H. vol. ii. p. 424, seq.)
Few towns in Greece paid more attention to the worship of the gods
than Argos. Hera was the deity whom they reverenced above all others. This goddess
was an Achaean rather than a Dorian divinity, and appears in the Iliad as the
guardian deity of the Argives; but her worship was adopted by the Dorian conquerors,
and was celebrated with the greatest honours down to the latest times. Even in
B.C. 195 we find Aristaenus, the general of the Achaean league, invoking, Juno
regina, cujus in tutela Argi sunt (Liv. xxxiv. 24). The chief temple of this goddess,
called the Heraeum, was situated
between Argos and Mycenae,
but much nearer to the latter than to the former city; and in the heroic age,
when Mycenae was the chief
city in the Argeia, the inhabitants of this city probably had the management of
the temple (Grote, vol. i. pp. 226, 227). In the historical age the temple belonged
to the Argives, who had the exclusive management of its affairs. The high priestess
of the temple held her office for life; and the Argives counted their years by
the date of her office (Thuc. ii. 2). Once in four years, probably in the second
year of every Olympiad, there was a magnificent procession from Argos to this
temple, in which almost the whole population of the city took part. The priestess
rode in a chariot, drawn by two white oxen (Herod. i. 31; Cic. Tusc. i. 4. 7;).
Respecting the site of this temple, which was one of the most magnificent in Greece,
some remarks are made...(see Heraeum).
In the city itself there were also two temples of Hera, one of Hera
Acraea on the ascent to the Acropolis (Paus. ii. 24.1), and the other of Hera
Antheia in the lower part of the city (Paus. ii. 22.1). But the temple of Apollo
Lyceius is described by Pausanias (ii. 19.3) as by far the most celebrated of
all the temples in the city. Tradition ascribed its foundation to Danaus. It stood
on one side of the Agora (Thuc. v. 47), which Sophocles therefore calls the Lyceian
Agora of the wolf-slaying god (tou lukoktonou theou agora Lukeios, Soph. Electr.
6; comp. Plut. Pyrrh. 31; Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 401, seq.). There was also
a temple of Apollo Pythaeus on the Acropolis,which, as we have already seen, was
a common sanctuary for the Dorian states belonging to the ancient Argive confederacy
(Paus. ii. 24.1; Thuc. v. 53.) There were temples to several other gods in Argos;
but we may pass them over, with the exception of the temples of Zeus Larissaeus
and of Athena, both of which crowned the summit of the acropolis (Paus. ii. 24.3;
Strab. viii.6).
The great number of temples, and of statues with which they were adorned,
necessarily led to the cultivation of the fine arts. Argos became the seat of
one of the most celebrated schools of statuary in Greece. It rose to the greatest
renown in the 5th century, B.C., under Ageladas, who was the teacher of Pheidias,
Myron, and Polycleitus, three of the greatest sculptors in antiquity. Music was
also cultivatedwith success at Argos at an early period ; and in the reign of
Darius the Argives were reckoned by Herodotus (iii. 131) the best musicians in
Greece. Sacadas, who flourished about this period (B.C. 590--580), and who was
one of the most eminent of the Greek musicians, was a native of Argos. Sacadas
obtained distinction as a poet as well as a musician; and the Argive Telesilla,
who was contemporary with Cleomenes, was so celebrated as a poetess as to be classed
among those who were called the Nine Lyric Muses (Dict. of Biogr. art. Sacadas
and Telesilla). But after this time we find no trace of the pursuit of literature
at Argos. Notwithstanding its democratical constitution, and the consequent attention
that was paid to public affairs, it produced no orator whose fame descended to
posterity (Cic. Brut. 13). The Argives had the character of being addicted to
wine (Aelian, V. H. iii. 15; Athen. x. d).
The remains of Argos are few, but still sufficient to enable us to
fix the position of some parts of the ancient city, of which Pausanias has left
us a minute account. The modern town of Argos is situated wholly in the plain,
but it is evident from the existing remains of the ancient walls, that the mountain
called Larissa was included within the ancient city. On the summit of this mountain
there are the ruins of a Gothic castle, the walls of which are built upon those
of the ancient acropolis. The masonry of the ancient parts of the building is
solely or chiefly in the more regular or polygonal style. There are, however,
considerable vestiges of other lines of wall, of massive Cyclopian structure,
on the sides and base of the hill connecting the citadel with the lower town (Mure,
vol. ii. p. 184). Euripides, in more than one passage, alludes to the Cyclopian
walls of Argos (Argos, hina teiche laina Kuklopi ourania nemontai, Troad. 1087;
Argeia teiche kai Kuklopian polin, Here. Fur. 15). It appears from the ancient
substructions that the ancient acropolis, like the modern citadel, consisted of
an outer wall or rampart, and of an inner keep or castle. The latter occupied
a square of about 200 feet.
From either end of the outer fortification, the city walls may be traced on the
descent of the hill. As no remains of the city walls can be traced in the plain,
it is difficult to form an estimate of the dimensions of the ancient city; but
Leake conjectures that it could not have been less than 5 miles in circumference.
We learn from Livy that Argos had two citadels ( nam duas [arces]
habent Argi, Liv. xxxiv. 25). This second citadel was probably situated at the
extremity of the hill, which forms the north-eastern projection of the mountain
of Larissa, and which rises
to about one-third of the height of the latter. The ridge connecting this hill
with the Larissa is called
Deiras (Deiras) by Pausanias (ii. 24.1). The second citadel was called Aspis
(Aspis, Plut. Pyrrh. 32, Cleom. 17, 21), since a shield was suspended here as
the insignia of the town; whence the proverb hos ten en Argei aspida kathelon
(Zenob. vi. 52; Plut. Prove. Alexand. 44; Suid.; Muller, Doricans, App. vi.9).
There are considerable remains of the theatre, which was excavated
on the southern slope of the Larissa. In front of the western wing of the theatre
there are some brick ruins of the Roman period. At the south-western end of the
Larissa there are remains
of an aqueduct, which may be traced two miles beyond the village of Belissi
to the NW.
The Agora appears to have stood nearly in the centre of the city.
In the middle of the Agora was the monument of Pyrrhus, a building of white marble;
on which were sculptured the arms worn by this monarch in his wars, and some figures
of elephants. It was erected on the spot where the body of Pyrrhus was burnt;
but his remains were deposited in the neighbouring temple of Demeter, where he
died, and his shield was affixed above the entrance (Paus. ii. 21.4). A street
named Coele (Koile, Pans. ii. 23.1) appears to have led from the Agora to the
Larissa, the ascent to which
was by the ridge of Deiras. At the foot of the hill Deiras was a subterraneous
building, which is said to have once contained the brazen chamber (ho chalkous
thalamos) in which Danae was confined by her father Acrisius (Paus. ii. 23.7;
comp. Soph. Antig. 948; comp. Hor. Carm. iii. 16. 1). The gymnasium, called Cylarabis
(Kularabis), from the son of Sthenelus, was situated outside the city, at a distance
of less than 300 paces according to Livy (Paus. ii. 22.8; Liv. xxxiv. 26; Plut.
Cleom. 17). The gate which led to it was called Diamperes (Diamperes). It was
through this gate that Pyrrhus entered the city on the night of his death (Plut.
Pyrrh. 32) The king fell near the sepulchre of Licymnius in a street leading from
the agora to the gymnasium. (Plut. Pyrrh. 34; Paus. ii. 22.8)
The principal gates of Argos appear to have been:
1. The gate of Eileithyia, so called from a neighbouring temple of this goddess,
leading to Mycenae and Cleonae
(Paus. ii. 18.3)
2. The gate of Deiras (hai pulai hai pros te Deiradi), leading to Mantineia.
In the ridge, called Deiras, Leake observed an opening in the line of the ancient
walls, which marks precisely the position of this gate (Paus. ii. 25.1)
3. The gate leading to Tegea (Paus.
ii. 24.5)
4. The gate leading to Temenium.
5. The gate Diamperes, leading to Tiryns,
Nauplia and Epidaurus.
6. A gate leading to the Heraeum.
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ARTEMISSION (Mountain) LYRKIA
Artemisium. A mountain forming the boundary between Argolis and Arcadia, with a temple of Artemis on its summit. It is 5814 feet in height, and is now called the Mountain of Turniki. (Paus. ii. 25.3, viii. 5.6; Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 203.)
CHARADROS (Tributary) ARGOS - MYKINES
Between Inachus and the city of Argos
is the mountain-torrent named Charadrus
(Charadros: Xeria), which also rises in Mt. Artemisium,
and which, from its proximity to Argos,
has been frequently mistaken for the Inachus by modern travellers. It flows over
a wide gravelly bed, which is generally dry in the summer, whence its modern name
of Xeria, or the Dry River. It flows into the Inachus a little below Argos. It
was on the banks of the Charadrus
that the armies of Argos,
on their return from military expeditions, were obliged to undergo a court of
inquiry before they were permitted to enter the city. (Thuc. v. 60; comp. Paus.
ii. 25.2; Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 364, Peloponnesiaca, p. 267; Mure, vol. ii.
p. 161).
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ELEOUS (Ancient city) LERNA
Elaeus, Elaious: Eth. Elaiousios. A town in the Argeia, mentioned only by
Apollodorus (ii. 5.2) and Stephanus B. From the statement of the former writer
we may conclude that it could not have been far from Lerna, since Heracles, after
he had succeeded in cutting off the immortal head of the Hydra, is said to have
buried it by the side of the way leading from Lerna to Elaeus. The remains of
this town have been found in the unfrequented road leading from Lerna to Hysiae.
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ERASSINOS (River) ARGOS - MYKINES
The Erasinus
(Erasinos, also Ardinos, Strab. viii.6: Kephalari) is the only river in the plain
of Argos which flows during the whole year. Its actual course in the plain of
Argos is very short; but it was universally believed to be the same stream as
the river of Stymphalus,
which disappeared under Mt. Apelauron, and made its reappearance, after a subterranean
course of 200 stadia, at the foot of the rocks of Mt. Chaon,
to the SW. of Argos. It issues from these rocks in several large streams, forming
a river of considerable size (hence ingens Erasinus, Ov. Met. xv. 275), which
flows directly across the plain into the Argolic
gulf. The waters of this river turn a great number of mills, from which the
place is now called The Mills of Argos (hoi muloi tou Argous). At the spot where
the Erasinus issues from
Mt. Chaon, there is a fine
lofty cavern, with a roof like an acute Gothic arch, and extending 65 yards into
the mountain (Leake). It is perhaps from this cavern that the mountain derives
its name (from chao, chaino, chasko). The only tributary of the Erasinus
is the Phrixus (Phrixos, Paus. ii. 36.6, 38.1), which joins it near the sea.
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INACHOS (River) ARGOLIS
The Inacus (Inachos: Banitza) rises, according to Pausanias (ii 25.3, viii. 6.6),
in Mt. Artemisium, on the
borders of Arcadia, or, according
to Strabo (viii. p. 370), in Mt. Lyrceium,
a northern offshoot of Artemisium.
Near its sources it receives a tributary called the Cephissus (Kephissos: Xeria),
which rises in Mt. Lyrceium
(Strab. ix. p. 424; Aelian, V. H. ii. 33). It flows in a south-easterly direction,
E. of the city of Argos,
into the Argolic gulf. This river
is often dry in the summer. Between it and the city of Argos
is the mountain-torrent named Charadrus
(Charadros: Xeria), which also rises in Mt. Artemisium,
and which, from its proximity to Argos,
has been frequently mistaken for the Inachus by modern travellers. It flows over
a wide gravelly bed, which is generally dry in the summer, whence its modern name
of Xeria, or the Dry River. It flows into the Inachus a little below Argos. It
was on the banks of the Charadrus
that the armies of Argos,
on their return from military expeditions, were obliged to undergo a court of
inquiry before they were permitted to enter the city. (Thuc. v. 60; comp. Paus.
ii. 25.2; Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 364, Peloponnesiaca, p. 267; Mure, vol. ii.
p. 161).
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INOI (Ancient city) LYRKIA
Or Oene (Oine). A small town in the Argeia, west of Argos, on the
left bank of the river Charadrus, and on the southern (the Prinus) of the two
roads leading from Argos to Mantineia. Above the town was the mountain Artemisium
(Malevos), with a temple of Artemis on the summit, worshipped by the inhabitants
of Oenoe under the name of Oenoatis (Oinoatis). The town was named by Diomedes
after his grandfather Oeneus, who died here. In the neighbourhood of this town
the Athenians and Argives gained a victory over the Lacedaemonians. Leake originally
placed Oenoe near the left bank of the Charadrus; but in his later work he has
changed his opinion, and supposes it to have stood near the right bank of the
Inachus. His original supposition, however, seems to be the correct one; since
there can be little doubt that Ross has rightly described the course of the two
roads leading from Argos to Mantineia.
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IREON (Ancient sanctuary) ARGOS - MYKINES
... Heraeum, which long eluded the researches of all travellers in Greece. Its
remains were discovered for the first time in 1831, by General Gordon, the commander
of the Greek forces in the Peloponnesus.
Pausanias describes (ii. 17.1) the Heraeum as situated at the distance of 15 stadia
from Mycenae, to the left
of the route between that city and Argos,
on the lower declivities of a mountain called Euboea; and he adds, that on one
side of it flowed the Elentherion, and on the other flowed the Asterion, which
disappeared in an abyss. These details are all verified on the ground explored
by General Gordon. It is a. rocky height, rising,. in a somewhat insulated form,
from the base of one of the highest mountains that bound the plain towards the
east, distant about two English miles from Mycenae,
which corresponds nearly to the 15 stadia of Pausanias. The remains of the temple
are distant from Argos between
5 and 6 miles, which correspond to the 45 stadia of Herodotus (i. 31). Strabo
(viii.6) says that the temple was distant 40 stadia from Argos,
and 10 from Mycenae, but
each of these measurements is below the truth. The old Heraeum was burnt in the
ninth year of the Peloponnesian
war (B.C. 423), by the negligence of the priestess (Thuc. iv. 133), whereupon
Eupolemus was employed to erect the new temple, described by Pausanias. The new
Heraeum was built a little below the ancient one; but the substructions of the
latter were still seen by Pausanias (ii. 17.7). The eminence on which the ruins
are situated is an irregular triangular platform, with its apex pointing, towards
Mount Euboea, and its base towards Argos.
The surface is divided into three esplanades or terraces, rising in gradation
one above the other, from the lower to the upper extremity. The central one of
the three is supported by a massive Cyclopian substruction, still in good preservation,
and a conspicuous object from some distance. This Cyclopian wall is a part of
the remains of the ancient temple which Pausanias saw. On the lowest of the terraces
stood the Heraeum built by Eupolemus. Here General Gordon made some excavations,
and discovered, among other things, the tail of a peacock in white marble. This
terrace has substructions of regular Hellenic masonry, forming a breastwork to
the base of the triangle towards the plain. The length of the surface of the hill
is about 250 yards; its greatest breadth about half its length.
Of the two torrents between which the Heraeum stood, the north-western
was the Eleutherion, and the south-eastern the Asterion. Pausanias says that the
river Asterion had three daughters, Euboea, Prosymna,
and Acraea. Euboea was the mountain on the lower part of which the Heraeum stood;
Acraea, the height which rose over against it; and Prosymna
the region below it. (Mure, vol. ii. p. 177, seq.; Leake, Pelopon. p. 258, seq.)
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KECHREES (Ancient city) ARGOS
Kenchreai: Eth. Kenchreates. A town in the Argeia, south of Argos,
and on the road from the latter city to Tegea. Pausanias says that it was to the
right of the Trochus (trochos), which must not be regarded as a place, but as
the name of the carriage road leading to Lerna. Near Cenchreae Pausanias saw the
sepulchral monuments of the Argives, who conquered the Lacedaemonians at Hysiae.
The remains of an ancient place, at the distance of about a mile after crossing
the Erasinus (Kephalari), are probably those of Cenchreae; and the pyramid which
lies on a hill a little to the right may be regarded as one of the sepulchral
monuments mentioned by Pausanias. It is supposed by some writers that the Hellenic
ruins further on in the mountains, in a spot abounding in springs, called ta Nera
or Skcaphidaki, are those of Cenchreae; and the proximity of these ruins to those
of Hysiae is in favour of this view; but on the other hand, the remains of the
pyramid appear to fix the position of Cenchreae at the spot already mentioned
near the Erasinus. The words of Aeschylus (Prom. 676) - eupotoW KerchWeias [al.
Kenchreias] rheos LerWes akreW te - would seem to place Cenchreae near Lerna,
and the stream of which he speaks is perhaps the Erasinus.
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LYKONI (Mountain) ARGOS
Lycone (Lukone), a mountain of Argolis, on the road from Argos to Tegea. (Paus. ii. 24.6.)
LYRKIA (Ancient city) ARGOLIS
Lyrceia, Lyrceium (he Lurkeia, Lurkeion, in Strab. viii. p. 376, Lukourgion
is a false reading for Lurkeion). A town in the Argeia, distant 60 stadia from
Argos, and 60 stadia from Orneae, and situated on the road Climax, which ran from
Argos in a north-westerly direction along the bed of the Inachus. The town is
said to have been originally called Lynceia, and to have obtained this name from
Lynceus, who fled hither when all his other brothers, the sons of Aegyptus, were
murdered by the daughters of Danaus on their wedding night. He gave intelligence
of his safe arrival in this place to his faithful wife Hypermnestra, by holding
up a torch; and she in like manner informed him of her safety by raising a torch
from Larissa, the citadel of Argos. The name of the town was afterwards changed
into Lyrceia from Lyrcus, a son of Abas. It was in ruins in the time of Pausanias.
Its remains may still be seen on a small elevation on the left of the Inachus,
at a little distance beyond Sterna, on the road to Argos.
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MYCENAE (Mycenean palace) ARGOLIS
sometimes Mycene (Mukenai; Mukene, Hom. Il. iv. 52: Eth. Mukenaios,,
Mycenaeus, Mycenensis: Kharvati). One of the most ancient towns in Greece, and
celebrated as the residence of Agamemnon. It is situated at the north-eastern
extremity of the plain of Argos upon a rugged height, which is shut in by two
commanding summits of the range of mountains which border this side of the Argeian
plain. From its retired position it is described by Homer (Od. iii. 263) as situated
in a recess (muchph) of the Argeian land, which is supposed by some modern writers
to be the origin of the name. The ancients, however, derived the name from an
eponymous heroine Mycene, daughter of Inachus, or from the word mukes, for which
various reasons were assigned. (Paus. ii. 17. § 3; Steph. B. s. v.) The position
was one of great importance. In the first place it commanded the upper part of
the great Argeian plain, which spread out under its walls towards the west and
south; and secondly the most important roads from the Corinthian gulf, the roads
from Phlius, Nemea, Cleonae. and Corinth, unite in the mountains above Mycenae,
and pass under the height upon which the city stands. It was said to have been
built by Perseus (Strab. viii. p. 377 ; Paus. ii. 15. § 4, ii. 16. § 3), and its
massive walls were believed to have been the work of the Cyclopes. Hence Euripides
calls Mycenae polisma Perseos, Kuklopion ponon cheron (Iphig. in Aul. 1500). It
was the favourite residence of the Pelopidae, and under Agamemnon was regarded
as the first city in Greece. Hence it is called poluchrusos by Homer (Il. vii.
180, xi. 46), who also gives it the epithets of euruaguia (Il. iv. 52) and euixtimenon
ptoliethron (Il. ii. 569). Its greatness belongs only to the heroic age, and it
ceased to be a place of importance after the return of the Heracleidae and the
settlement of the Dorians in Argos, which then became the first city in the plain.
Mycenae, however, maintained its independence, and sent some of its citizens to
the assistance of the Greeks against the host of Xerxes, although the Argives
kept aloof from the common cause. Eighty Mycenaeans were present at Thermopylae
(Herod. vii. 202), and 400 of their citizens and of the Tirynthians fought at
Plataeae (Herod. ix. 28). In B.C. 468, the Dorians of Argos, resolving to bring
the whole district under their sway, laid siege to Mycenae; but the massive walls
resisted all their attacks, and they were obliged to have recourse to a blockade.
Famine at length compelled the inhabitants to abandon the city; more than half
of them took refuge in Macedonia, and the remainder in Cleonae and Ceryneia. (Diod.
xi. 65; Strab. viii. pp. 372, 377; Paus. ii. 16. § 5, v. 23. § 3, vii. 25. § 3,
viii. 27. § 1.) From this time Mycenae remained uninhabited, for the Argives took
care that this strong fortress should remain desolate. Strabo, however, committed
a gross exaggeration in saying that there was not a vestige of Mycenae extant
in his time (viii. p. 372). The ruins were visited by Pausanias, who gives the
following account of them (ii. 15, 16): Returning to the pass of the Tretus, and
following the road to Argos, you have the ruins of Mycenae on the left hand. Several
parts of the enclosure remain, and among them is the gate upon which the lions
stand. These also are said to be the work of the Cyclopes, who built the walls
of Tiryns for Proetus. Among the ruins of the city there is a fountain named Perseia,
and subterraneous buildings (hupogaia oikodomemata) of Atreus and his sons, in
which their treasures were deposited. There are likewise the tombs of Atreus,
of his charioteer Eurymedon, of Electra, and a sepulchre in common of Teledamus
and Pelops, who are said to have been twin sons of Cassandra. But Clytaemnestra
and Aegisthus were buried at a little distance from the walls, being thought unworthy
of burial where Agamemnon lay.
The ruins of Mycenae are still very extensive, and, with the exception
of those of Tiryns, are more ancient than those of any other city in Greece. They
belong to a period long antecedent to all historical records, and may be regarded
as the genuine relics of the heroic age.
Mycenae consisted of an Acropolis and a lower town, each defended
by a wall. The Acropolis was situated on the summit of a steep hill, projecting
from a higher mountain behind it. The lower town lay on the south-western slope
of the hill, on either side of which runs a torrent from east to west. The Acropolis
is in form of an irregular triangle, of which the base fronts the south-west,
and the apex the east. On the southern side the cliffs are almost precipitous,
overhanging a deep gorge; but on the northern side the descent is less steep and
rugged. The summit of the hill is rather more than 1000 feet in length, and around
the edge the ruined walls of the Acropolis still exist in their entire circuit,
with the exception of a small open space above the precipitous cliff on the southern
side, which perhaps was never defended by a wall The walls are more perfect than
those of any other fortress in Greece; in some places they are 15 or 20 feet high.
They are built of the dark-coloured limestone of the surrounding mountains. Some
parts of the walls are built, like those of Tiryns, of huge blocks of stone of
irregular shape, no attempt being made to fit them into one another, and the gaps
being filled up with smaller stones. But the greater part of the walls consists
of polygonal stones, skilfully hewn and fitted to one another, and their faces
cut so as to give the masonry a smooth appearance. The walls also present, in
a few parts, a third species of masonry, in which the stones are constructed of
blocks of nearly quadrangular shape; this is the case in the approach to the Gate
of Lions. This difference in the masonry of the walls has been held to prove that
they were constructed at different ages; but more recent investigations amidst
the ruins of Greece and Italy has shown that this difference in the style of masonry
cannot be regarded as a decisive test of the comparative antiquity of walls; and
Col. Mure has justly remarked that, as there can be no reasonable doubt that the
approach to the Gate of Lions is of the same remote antiquity as the remainder
of the fabric, it would appear to have been the custom with these primitive builders
to pay a little more attention to symmetry and regularity in the more ornamental
portions of their work.
The chief gate of the Acropolis is at the NW. angle of the wall. It
stands at right angles to the adjoining wall of the fortress, and is approached
by a passage 50 feet long and 30 wide, formed by that wall and by another wall
exterior to it. The opening of the gateway widens from the top downwards; but
at least two-thirds of its height are now buried in ruins. The width at the top
of the door is 9 1/2 feet. This door was formed of two massive uprights, covered
with a third block, 15 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 6 feet 7 inches high in the
middle, but diminishing at the two ends. Above this block is a triangular gap
in the masonry of the wall, formed by an oblique approximation of the side courses
of stone, continued from each extremity of the lintel to an apex above its centre.
The vacant space is occupied by a block of stone, 10 feet high, 12 broad, and
2 thick, upon the face of which are sculptured two lions in low relief, standing
on their hind-legs, upon either side of a covered pillar, upon which they rest
their fore-feet. The column becomes broader towards the top, and is surmounted
with a capital, formed of a row of four circles, enclosed between two parallel
fillets. The heads of the animals are gone, together with the apex of the cone
that surmounted the column. The block of stone, from which the lions are sculptured,
is said by Leake and other accurate observers to be a kind of green basalt; but
this appears to be a mistake. We learn from Mure (Tour in Greece, vol. ii. p.
324) that the block is of the same palombino, or dove-coloured limestone, of which
the native rock mainly consists, and that the erroneous impression has been derived
from the colour of the polished surface, which has received from time and the
weather a blueish green hue. The column between the lions is the customary symbol
of Apollo Agyieus, the protector of doors and gates. (Muller, Dor. ii. 6. § 5.)
This is also proved by the invocation of Apollo in the Agamemnon of Aeschylus
(1078, 1083, 1271), and the Electra of Sophocles (1374), in both of which tragedies
the scene is laid in front of this gate. It has been well observed that this pair
of lions stands to the art of Greece somewhat in the same relation as the Iliad
and the Odyssey to her literature; the one, the only extant specimens of the plastic
skill of her mythical era, the other, the only genuine memorials of its chivalry
and its song. The best observers remark that the animals are in a style of art
peculiar to themselves, and that they have little or nothing of that dry linear
stiffness which characterises the earlier stages of the art of sculpture in almost
every country, and present consequently as little resemblance to the Archaic style
of the Hellenic works of a later period as to those of Egypt itself. The special
peculiarities of their execution are a certain solidity and rotundity amounting
to clumsiness in the limbs, as compared with the bodies. The hind-legs, indeed,
are more like those of elephants than lions; the thighs, especially, are of immense
bulk and thickness. This unfavourable feature, however, is compensated by much
natural ease and dignity of attitude. The turning of the body and shoulders is
admirable, combining strength with elegance in the happiest proportions. The bellies
of both are slender in comparison with the rest of the figure, especially of the
one on the right of the beholder. The muscles, sinews, and joints, though little
detailed, are indicated with much spirit. The finish, both in a mechanical and
artistical point of view, is excellent; and in passing the hand over the surface,
one is struck with the smooth and easy blending of the masses in every portion
of the figure. (Mure, vol. ii. p. 171.) Besides the great Gate of Lions, there
was a smaller gate or postern on the northern side of the Acropolis, the approach
to which was fortified in the same manner as that leading to the great gate. It
is constructed of three great stones, and is 5 feet 4 inches wide at the top.
Near the Gate of Lions the wall of the lower city may be traced, extending
from N. to S. In the lower town are four subterraneous buildings, which are evidently
the same as those described by Pausanias, in which the Atreidae deposited their
treasures. Of these the largest, called by the learned the Treasury of Atreus,
and by the Greek ciceroni the Grave of Agamemnon, is situated under the aqueduct
which now conveys the water from the stream on the northern side of the Acropolis
to the village of Kharvati. This building is in nearly a perfect state of preservation.
It is approached by a passage now in ruins, and contains two chambers. The passage
leads into a large chamber of a conical form, about 50 feet in width and 40 in
height; and in this chamber there is a doorway leading into a small interior apartment.
The doorway terminating the passage, which leads into the large, chamber, is 8
feet 6 inches wide at the top, widening a little from thence to the bottom. On
the outside before each door-post stood a semi-column, having a base and capital
not unlike the Tuscan order in profile, but enriched with a very elegant sculptured
ornament, chiefly in a zigzag form, which was continued in vertical compartments
over the whole shaft. Those ornaments have not the smallest resemblance to anything
else found in Greece, but they have some similitude to the Persepolitan style
of sculpture. (Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 374.) There are remains of a second subterraneous
building near the Gate of Lions (Plan, D); and those of the two others are lower
down the hill towards the west.
There has been considerable discussion among modern scholars respecting
the purpose of those subterraneous buildings. The statement of Pausanias, that
they were the treasuries of the Atreidae, was generally accepted, till Mure published
an essay in the Rheinisches Museum for 1839 (vol. vi. p. 240), in which he endeavoured
to establish that all such buildings were the family vaults of the ancient heroes
by whom they were construeted. In the great edifice at Mycenae he supposes the
inner apartment to have been the burial-place, and the outer vault the heroum
or sanctuary of the deceased. This opinion has been adopted by most modern scholars,
but has been combated by Leake, who adheres to the ancient doctrine. (Peloponnesiaca,
p. 256.) The two opinions may, however, be to some extent reconciled by supposing
that the inner chamber was the burial-place, and that the outer contained the
arms, jewels, and other ornaments most prized by the deceased. It was the practice
among the Greeks in all ages for the dead to carry with them to their tombs a
portion of their property; and in the heroic ages the burial-places of the powerful
rulers of Mycenae may have been adorned with such splendour that the name of Treasuries
was given to their tombs. There is, indeed, good reason for believing, from the
remains of brazen nails found in the large chamber of the Treasury of Atreus,
that the interior surface of the chamber was covered with brazen plates.
At the foot of the lower town stands the modern village of Kharvati.
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PROSYMNA (Archaeological site) MYKINES
Prosumna: Eth. Prosumnaios. An ancient town in the Argeia, in whose territory
the celebrated Heraeum, or temple of Hera, stood. (Strab. viii. p. 373). Statius
gives it the epithet celsa (Theb. iv. 44). Pausanias (ii. 17.2) mentions only
a district of this name.
SAMINTHOS (Ancient city) MYKINES
Saminthus, Saminthos. A town in the Argeia, on the western edge of the Argive
plain, which was taken by Agis, when he marched from Phlius into the territory
of Argos in B.C. 418. (Thuc. v. 58.) Its position is uncertain. Leake, who supposes
Agis to have marched over Mt. Lyrceium and the adjoining hills, places it at Kutzopodhi (Koutsopodi)
(Morea, vol. ii. p. 415), and Ross at the village of Pheklia (Phychtia), on the southern
side of Mt. Tricaranon, across which is the shortest pass from the Phliasia into
the Argive plain.
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TIMENION (Ancient port) ARGOS
Temenium (Temenion), a town in the Argeia, at the upper end of the
Argolic gulf, built by Temenus, the son of Aristomachus. It was distant 50 stadia
from Nauplia (Paus. ii. 38.2), and 26 from Argos (Strab. viii. p. 368). The
river Phrixus flowed into the sea between Temenium and Lerna (Paus. ii. 36.6, ii. 38.1). Pausanias saw at Temenium two temples of Poseidon and Aphrodite
and the tomb of Temenus (ii. 38.1). Owing to the marshy nature of the plain,
Leake was unable to explore the site of Temenium; but Ross identifies it with
a mound of earth, at the foot of which, in the sea, are remains of a dam forming
a harbour, and upon the shore foundations of buildings, fragments of pottery,
&c. (Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 476; Ross, Reisen im Peloponnes, p. 149; Curtius,
Peloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 383.)
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YSSIES (Ancient city) ARGOLIS
Husiai, Husia, Eth. Husiates. A town in the Argeia, on the road from
Argos to Tegea, and at the foot of Mt. Parthenium. (Paus. ii. 24. § 7, viii. 6.
§ 4, 54. § 7; Strab. viii. p. 376.) It appears to have been destroyed by the Argives,
along with Tiryns, Mycenae, and the other towns in the Argeia, after the Persian
wars (Paus. viii. 27. § 1); but it was afterwards restored, and was occupied by
the Argives in the Peloponnesian War as a frontier-fortress, till it was taken
and destroyed a second time by the Lacedaemonians in B.C. 417. (Thuc. v. 83; Diod.
xii. 81.) The defeat of the Lacedaemonians by the Argives, near Hysiae, of which
Pausanias (ii. 24. § 7) speaks, is placed in B.C. 669. The ruins of Hysiae stand
on an isolated hill above the plain of Achladokampos (Achladokampos, from achras,
achlas, a wild pear-tree, and kampos, a plain). They consist of the remains of
the acropolis, which escaped the notice of Leake.
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
INOI (Ancient city) LYRKIA
A town of Argolis, west of Argos. Here the Argives and Athenians defeated the Lacedaemonians, B.C. 388.
MYCENAE (Mycenean palace) ARGOLIS
Mycenae and Mycene (Mukenai, Mukene). A city at the head of
the plain of Argolis, reputed in Greek tradition to have been the residence of
Agamemnon. Its most flourishing period probably fell within the latter half of
the second thousand years before Christ. At that time the seat of wealthy and
powerful chieftains, it subsequently fell under the power of Argos, and was during
the historical period a place of no importance. The wall of the citadel and several
"bee-hive" tombs have always been visible. Excavations, carried on by
Schliemann in 1876, and later by the Greek Arch?ological Society, have enormously
increased our knowledge of Mycenae and of the early civilization which it represents.
The first illustration shows in the middle distance the acropolis
of Mycenae, with a portion of its encompassing wall. This wall, for the most part,
resembles in its construction that of Tiryns, though the blocks are not so gigantic.
In places, however, we find an outer facing of approximately regular ashlar masonry;
in other places, of carefully jointed polygonal work. The principal entrance,
the socalled Lion Gate, is shown in the third illustration. It consists of two
upright posts surmounted by an enormous flat lintel. The relieving triangle above
the lintel is filled by a relief representing two lions (or lionesses) facing
one another, and having between them an object of doubtful interpretation. There
is, in addition, a smaller gate on the north side of the citadel.
Within the Lion Gate is a circular enclosure, nearly ninety
feet in diameter. This was formed by two concentric rows of upright slabs, the
space between the two rows being covered by horizontal slabs. Within the enclosure
are six rectangular graves of various sizes, sunk in the rock at various depths
below the double ring of slabs. The graves when opened contained the remains of
from one to five corpses each (buried unburned), or nineteen in all, together
with gold masks and ornaments, vessels of gold and of bronze, bronze weapons,
pottery of the so-called Mycenae type, etc. Above the graves (in precisely what
positions it is now difficult to make out) stood a number of grave-stones, partly
unsculptured, partly sculptured with rude reliefs.
At the summit of the acropolis remains of a palace, similar
in plan to that of Tiryns, but less well preserved, were discovered in 1886 by
the Greek Archaeological Society. The great megaron or hall, with its circular
hearth surrounded by four pillars and its double vestibule, is easily recognizable.
Above the palace, and partly upon its ruins, are remains of what is thought to
have been an early Doric temple.
Outside the acropolis was the city, consisting apparently of
several detached settlements. In this region eight large subterranean buildings,
doubtless tombs, of bee-hive form, are known to exist. The most imposing of these
is the so-called "Treasury of Atreus" or "Tomb of Agamemnon,"of
which a vertical section is shown on p. 452. It is approached by a passage-way
or dromos, walled at the sides, but open above. Then comes the doorway, once closed
by heavy doors. The principal inner chamber is about fifty feet in diameter at
the bottom and the same in height. It is built of great stones, laid in horizontal
courses, each course pushed a little farther inward than the one below; compare
the construction of the relieving triangle over the Lion Gate. There is, besides,
a smaller side-chamber, cut in the rock. The other seven beehive tombs are built
in a similar fashion, but with smaller stones. In addition to these, upwards of
sixty smaller tomb-chambers, excavated in the solid rock and approached likewise
by dromoi, have been discovered and opened.
The prehistoric civilization to which the Mycenaean remains
bear witness must have been, in comparison with what meets us at the dawn of the
historical period in Greece, a brilliant one. That it was powerfully influenced
by the earlier civilizations of the East, and especially by that of Egypt, there
is abundant evidence to show. But the whole subject of its relations to what went
before and what came after is in too uncertain a state to be treated in a sketch
like the present.
This text is cited Sep 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ARGOS (Ancient city) ARGOLIS
City of northern Peloponnese.
Argos was one of the most important cities of Peloponnese,
rival of Sparta for the leadership
of that region. Indeed, at the start of his Histories, Herodotus presents it as
once a city that had “in every respect the first place in the country nowadays
called Greece” (Histories,
I, 1). And, in the Homeric world, Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek expedition
against Troy, is often presented
as king of Argos, or of the Argives, and the word “Argives (Argeioi)”,
inhabitants of Argos, is often used as synonym of “Greeks”. In fact
it is hard to separate the stories relating to Argos itself from those relating
to Argolis as a whole or
to other cities of Argolis,
such as Tirynthus or Mycenae,
which helps explain why Agamemnon can be seen by Homer as sometimes king of Argos
and at other times as king of Mycenae.
In mythology, the first king of Argos is the River-God Inachus, a
son of the Titans Oceanus and his sister and wife Tethys. He was chosen as arbitrator
between Hera and Poseidon in their fight for the dominion over the country and
decided in favor of Hera. Hera indeed, as she herself claims in the Iliad, was
the protector of Argos, where she had a very ancient temple, the Heraion.
In Peloponnesian legends, Inachus is said to have been the father of Phoroneus,
the first human being, who is sometimes presented as the one who decided between
Hera and Poseidon and introduced the cult of Hera in Peloponnese.
He was also credited for teaching men to gather in cities and use fire. He was
the father of Niobe, the mother of all living beings and the first mortal who
was loved by Zeus, from whom she had a son named Argus, credited for teaching
men how to cultivate wheat, and who became king of Peloponnese,
then called as a whole Argos after him, a name that was later restricted to the
city of Argos and the surrounding region of Argolis.
Among the descendants of Inachus was Io, who is either said to be
the daughter of Iasos, or directly the daughter of Inachus. Epaphus, the son of
Zeus and Io, married Memphis, the daughter of the River-God Nile, from which he
had a daughter named Libya. From Poseidon, Libya had twins, Agenor and Belus.
Agenor became the father of Cadmus, Phoenix and Europa, while Belus had two sons,
Danaus and Aegyptus. Danaus had fifty daughters, the Danaides, while Aegyptus
had fifty sons. Afraid of these boys, Danaus fled with his daughters and reached
Argos where he overthrew the king of the time, Gelanor, last descendant of Phoroneus,
to become king in his place. But, after he had settled in Argos, his fifty nephews
came after him to claim his daughters as wives. Danaus gave his consent, though
he was not convinced by the boy's plea of goodwill, but, during the wedding night,
at their father's command, all the daughters murdered their bridegrooms, except
the first-born, Hypermestra, who spared her husband Lynceus. After that, to find
willing husbands for his daughters, Danaus had to offer them as prizes in games
that he organized. Eventually, the Danaides, along with their father Danaus, were
all killed by Lynceus to avenge his brethren. In Hades, as a penalty for their
crime, the Danaides were condemned to pour eternally water in bottomless vessels.
Danaus was said to have built the citadel of Argos, in which his tomb was still
visible in historical times.
Lynceus then became king of Argos. From Hypermestra he had a son,
Abas, who became the father of twins that reproduced the hatred between their
grandfathers Danaus and Aegyptus: Acrisius and Proetus. They fought for the kingship
of Argos after the death of their father, and Acrisius got Argos, while Proetus
settled in nearby Tirynthus.
Acrisius had a daughter named Danae and, when he asked the oracle for a son, he
was told that it would be his daughter who would have a son and that this son
would kill him. So he jailed Danae, but this didn't prevent Zeus from falling
in love with her and making her pregnant in her jail by taking the form of a shower
of gold. Danae secretly gave birth in her jail to a son named Perseus, and her
father didn't learn of it until one day, the infant made noise while playing and
Acrisius heard him. Unwilling to kill the baby, yet hoping to save his life, Acrisius
put his daughter and her son in a wooden box and abandonned them to the sea. The
raft drifted until it landed in the island of Seriphos,
where the baby and his mother were taken care of by a fisherman named Dictys,
who became Perseus' adoptive father.
From Andromeda Perseus had many children, including Alcaeus and Electryon.
The former was the father of Amphitryon and the later of Alcmene, the earthly
parents of Heracles. Perseus was also, through another of his sons, Sthenelus,
who became king of Mycenae,
the grandfather of Eurystheus, Heracles' rival for the kingdom of Mycenae
who imposed upon him the 12 labors.
Back in Argos, Megapenthes had a son, Anaxagoras, and a daughter,
Iphiarina. Anaxagoras succeeded his father as king of Argos. Anaxagoras was succeeded
on the throne of Argos by his son Alector, then by Alector's son Iphis. Melampous
married Iphianassa, one of Proetus' daughters he had cured, while Bias married
the other, Lysippe, though he had been married earlier to Pero, the daughter of
his uncle Neleus, king of Pylos,
and sister of Nestor, with whom he had had several children. It is a son he had
had with Pero, Talaus, who succeeded him.
Melampous had several sons, including Antiphates who succeeded him,
and Abas, whose daughter Lysimache, in one tradition, married Talaus and was the
mother of Adrastus. When Polybus died without children, he left his throne to
Adrastus. Having become king of Sicyon,
Adrastus made peace with his cousin Amphiaraus and recovered his share of the
throne of Argos; and, though he never completely forgave his cousin, he gave him
his sister Eriphyle in marriage, under the condition that, in case of future disagreement,
they would rely on her arbitration, a condition that turned out to be fateful
to Amphiaraus later. To help Polynices recover his throne, Adrastus asked the
help of members of the three royal families of Argos, the sons of Bias, Melampous
and Proetus. The seven princes who took part in the expedition against Thebes
were, aside from Adrastus, their leader, Polynices and Tydeus: Canapeus, son of
Hipponous, Hippomedon, Parthenopaeus, and finally, Amphiaraus.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1999), ed.
This extract is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
MYKINES (Municipality) ARGOLIS
SCHINOCHORI (Village) KOUTSOPODI
Three kilometres after Koutsopodi
is Schinochori, a lively village situated at the foot of Arkoudovrisi. The locals
are hard-working producers and traders in open markets. They also deal with cattle-raising,
tobacco crops, aviculture and olive trees.
The village’s churches are Zoodochos Pigi and St. Demetrios
and they were rebuilt by the locals in 1925.
At the built-up area of Chelmi
near Schinochori they have discovered two ancient wells and other ancient relics.
(text: Alexis Totsikas)
This text (extract) is cited March 2004 from the Prefecture
of Argolis tourist pamphlet.
VROUSTI (Village) KOUTSOPODI
Vrousti is a mountainous village situated on the southern mountainsides
of mountain range Mpachriami. It is only 16km from Argos
and it is a ‘balcony’ that looks out on the peaks of Artemisio,
Karia, Agrilitsa
and Fregaina. The chapel of
Prophet Helias has a view of Neochori,
Sterna, Malantreni,
Koutsopodi and many other
villages.
The two main characteristics of the village are stone and silence.
It is a combination that creates feelings of peacefulness, tranquility and intangible
fear due to the view of the abandoned houses and the ruins. It used to be a crowded
village once, but all its large families sought for a better future in Australia,
America, Athens
and Argos in 1960’s.
However, some believe that the village has to ‘revive’
again. Thus, they rebuild of renovate their traditional houses and they are ready
to discover the beauty of the village.
(text: Alexis Totsikas)
This text (extract) is cited March 2004 from the Prefecture
of Argolis tourist pamphlet.
MYCENAE (Mycenean palace) ARGOLIS
PROSYMNA (Archaeological site) MYKINES
IREON (Ancient sanctuary) ARGOS - MYKINES
ARGOS (Ancient city) ARGOLIS
Argos. A titular see of Peloponnesian Greece, from the fifth to the twelfth
century, about twenty miles southwest of Corinth.
It was considered the oldest city of Greece
and was once the head of the Doric League, and in its time one of the largest
and most populous of the Greek cities.
Argos was famous in Greek antiquity for the worship of Hera, and her
great temple, the Heraeum
(fully excavated in 1831), was considered one of the most magnificent monuments
of Greek architecture. In the fifth century, B.C., the city was also famous for
its temple of Apollo, the chief Doric sanctuary, and as the seat of celebrated
schools of sculpture and music, especially the flute.
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it was the seat of a diocese,
being then held successively by the French Dukes of Athens
and the Byzantines; in 1463 it passed under Ottoman rule.
Thomas J. Shahan, ed.
Transcribed by: Tim Drake
This extract is cited June 2003 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
The city lies at the foot of two hills a few km from the sea, dominating
the Argive plain. Described by Pausanias, it has been cited many times by historians
and orators, as well as by epic and tragic poets.
The earliest of the Pelasgian settlements, it was also the most important.
Legend very soon associated it with a goddess (Hera), the cow (Io), and the wolf
(Danaos). The Danaans were portrayed as invaders, succeeded in their turn by the
Achaians possibly at the beginning of the second millennium. In any event, the
region was already divided at the time of Perseus the Danaid. Argos still played
a major role in the two campaigns of the Achaians against Thebes; however, the
Trojan expedition was led by Agamemnon, king of Mycenae. The rivalry with Sparta,
which was to dominate the next centuries, may go back to Orestes.
After the Dorian invasions Argos once again flourished under the tyrant
Pheidon; it may have been he who introduced into Greece a sort of money in the
form of spits, or obeloi (second half of the 8th c.). Then when Sparta eclipsed
Argos and grew at its expense, it joined almost every one of the anti-Lakonian
leagues until Flaminus rescued it from Nabis (195 B.C.). Argos does not seem to
have suffered under the Romans, and in spite of the pillaging of the Goths the
life of the city never stopped.
We know nothing of how the city was laid out in any period of antiquity.
There is evidence of a Neolithic settlement in the S region, and of one from the
Early Helladic period on the Aspis (to the N). This hill most probably was the
Middle Helladic acropolis. The Larissa, which dominates the site to the NW, apparently
was fortified only in the Mycenaean period. The only other finds from the 2d millennium
are a few remains of dwellings at the foot of the hills and some tombs, many of
them cut in the rock and particularly rich in Late Helladic III B.
Grave-offerings, the chief evidence of the next centuries, once again
become extremely plentiful about Pheidon's time; the museum has a unique collection
of the original Geometric ware of Argos as well as a cuirass found beside a helmet
with a crest shaped like a crescent, both exceptionally well preserved. On the
other hand, the sculpture schocls of archaic and classical Argos, so renowned
in antiquity, have left practically no trace on the site.
Some topographical locations can be determined: that of the Temple
of Pythian Apollo, with its manteion, and the Temple of Athena Oxyderkes, on the
W flank of the Aspis; that of the temples and citadel of the Larissa; hewn in
the E side of that hill, one of the finest theaters in Greece (end of the 4th
c.); farther S, under a Roman odeum, the remains of a theater with straight banks
of seats, built before the 4th c., perhaps as a meeting place for the assembly.
The discovery of an Aphrodision next to the odeum enables us to interpret Pausanias'
description and to presume that the foundations of a square hypostyle hall (the
boule?) and a long 5th c. portico almost opposite the theater belong to the agora.
Changes made to the theater, the odeum, the building of great baths as well as
villas (mosaics are in the museum) point to sustained activity in the 1st-2d and
4th-5th c. A.D.
J. F. Bommelaer, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 61 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
FYCHTIA (Village) MYKINES
Phyktia. The name of a modern village N of Argos which has been used to identify a blockhouse 4 km beyond it to the NW. 11.6 x 11.8 m in plan, the fort is built of polygonal, conglomerate blocks, with bulging faces and no attempt at coursing. The 3 m high wall rests on a two-course base at the lowest point and is topped with a course of slabs. The entrance door with a horizontal lintel is at the corner; the interior is divided into rooms. There is no evidence concerning the roof or upper story. The masonry and, in particular, projecting stone channels for the entry and exit of the water supply have been dated as no earlier than the 4th c. B.C. There are remains of two other blockhouses nearby.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited June 2003 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
IREON (Ancient sanctuary) ARGOS - MYKINES
Argive Heraion. Accessible by road from Mycenae (5 km) and Argos (10 km). Located
on a hill to the SW of Mt. Euboia, the Heraion commands a view of the Argive plain
and of the citadel of Argos. The Sanctuary of Hera was founded on the site of
a prehistoric settlement. Except for a tholos tomb on a ridge to the W, little
can be seen of the settlement or of the extensive Middle and Late Helladic cemeteries.
In the archaic and Classical periods the Argive cult of Hera assumed major religious
and political importance. Two early 6th c. B.C. statues (now in the Delphi Museum)
commemorated Kleobis and Biton, Argive worshipers of Hera. In the early 5th c.
B.C., the Spartan king Kleomenes seized the sanctuary in a war against Argos.
By ca. 468 B.C., administrative control of the sanctuary had become a source of
dispute between Mycenae and Argos. The cult continued to flourish in the Roman
period, as is evident from Imperial dedications. Discovered in 1831 by Colonel
Gordon, the site has been excavated intermittently. The reconstructions and the
dates proposed for many of the structures are controversial; research on these
problems is now being done at the site.
The earliest and still the most impressive feature at the Heraion
is the Cyclopean wall. Tentatively dated to the Late Geometric period, the massive
wall of conglomerate boulders supports a paved terrace, which was once approached
by a ramp at the SE. No building is clearly contemporary with this terrace, although
a late 8th c. B.C. terracotta model, rectangular in plan and having a gabled roof
and a prostyle porch (displayed along with other finds from the site in the Athens
National Museum) may represent a temple that existed during this period. On the
terrace the stone stylobate of what should be considered a later temple is partially
preserved. The wide spacing of the circular cuttings for columns suggests that
it had a wooden entablature, characteristic of an early stage in the development
of peripteral temples.
This temple was destroyed by fire in 423 B.C. A new temple may already
have been planned in the middle of the 5th c. B.C., at the same time as the construction
of a lower terrace. The extant architectural members, however, seem to date from
the very end of the century. Designed by the Argive architect Eupolemos, the Doric
temple had six columns on the facades and twelve on the flanks; its interior arrangement
is less sure. Some architectural details were Attic in style. The sculptural decoration
included marble metopes, pediments, cornice, and akroteria; Polykleitos made the
chryselephantine cult statue. Only a platform of poros foundations remains in
situ. Fragments of a Hellenistic triglyph altar with a meander pattern in low
relief lie among the blocks to the NE of the temple foundations.
The lower terrace had a monumental stairway or stepped retaining wall
at the S; at the W a road led to Mycenae. At its E edge are the conglomerate foundations
of a large hypostyle hall, the function of which is unknown. Other variously dated
structures line the N side of the terrace. At the NE is a small rectangular building
with both interior column bases and partition walls. To the W of this structure
is a platform reached by a short flight of steps and surmounted by bases for statues
and stelai. Farther to the W is a long stoa dated as early as the 7th c. B.C.
by the column capitals found within it. The W end of the stoa appears to have
undergone an alteration when a tile flooring was installed.
Directly below the temple terrace are two relatively well-preserved
buildings. The structure to the W of the temple is almost square in plan, having
an open court surrounded on three sides by covered porticos and flanked on the
N by an entrance corridor and a row of three dining rooms. Archaic architectural
members have been cited as proof of a late 6th c. B.C. date, but this structure
may more probably have been built after the 5th c. B.C. terrace wall. South of
the temple is a stoa securely dated to the middle of the 5th c. B.C. Its interior
columns, one of which lies fallen at the E, are Doric and extremely slender. Among
its refinements are a stepped back wall which has projecting buttresses and a
W wall which is elaborated with decorative panels.
At the site there are several other structures of which little is
preserved and less is known. To the N of the building with the peristyle court
is a large structure, which has been incorrectly identified as a propylon. To
the W of these foundations are the remains of a Roman bath and of a large L-shaped
gymnasium. Finally, to the S of the temple are traces of a Roman building, which
has been identified as a foundry.
R. S. Mason, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 77 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
KECHREES (Ancient city) ARGOS
Kenchreai. Probably to be identified with a site SW of Argos near the village
of Paleo Skaphidaki, where Frazer saw marble fragments and foundation walls. Pausanias
speaks of several polyandreia near Kenchreai, mass graves of the Argives fallen
in the battle against the Spartans at Hysiai. The socalled Pyramid of Kenchreai
at Helleniko near Cephalan has frequently been proposed as one of these tombs;
it was apparently converted in antiquity to a fort or guard post. About 8.6 x
14.7 m, the limestone walls are preserved in some places to their full height
of 3.4 m. The masonry is polygonal, arranged more or less in courses; above a
low vertical base, the outer surface is dressed to a plane surface in the shape
of a truncated pyramid. The interior was divided into rooms with an entrance passageway
at one side; the outer and inner doors were barred on the inside and there are
cuttings at the top of the wall for ceiling or roof beams.
Pausanias specifically describes another pyramid near the church of
Haghia Marina 1.5 km W of Ligourio on the ancient road from Argos to Epidauros.
There are only two courses remaining, also of limestone, but both show the slope
of the pyramid; the plan, about 12.5 x 14 m overall, is similar to that at Helleniko.
Pausanias says it was decorated with carved shields of Argive (round) shape. The
masonry of both tombs has been dated in the 4th c. B.C. and the unusual shape
explained by the traditional close connection between Egypt and the Argives from
the time of their legendary conqueror Danaos, king of Libya; that 3000 Argive
mercenaries were sent to Egypt in 349 B.C. is still more persuasive evidence.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
MYCENAE (Mycenean palace) ARGOLIS
Located in the NE corner of the region, some 135 km SW of Athens,
it experienced its greatest period of prosperity in the Late Bronze Age. In the
Geometric period only a few people had their small houses on the summit of its
acropolis. Conditions improved in the archaic period (ca. 650-500 B.C.) when a
temple was built on the summit and on a terrace whose retaining wall is preserved.
Of the temple, only a part of the E wall and fragments of sculptured metopes survive.
The Mycenaeans fought at Thermopylai and Plataia, but ca. 468 B.C. their acropolis
was destroyed by the Argives, who after 300 B.C. transformed it into a township.
The fortification walls were then repaired in the polygonal style of masonry,
samples of which can be seen by the Lion Gate. The acropolis itself was filled
with buildings, now preserved in scattered fragments, and a large temple constructed
on the summit was dedicated either to Hera or Athena. The foundations and part
of the floor of the temple survive. Below the acropolis, a lower city was surrounded
by fortification walls, fragments of which exist along the N periphery. In the
lower city remains of a fountain built in poros stone near the Lion Gate and a
theater constructed across the dromos of the Tomb of Klytemnestra date from this
period of reoccupation. Of the theater only a few seats can be seen today. A small
number of graves and fragments of lamps prove that the site was sparsely inhabited
to the end of the 3d c. A.D.
G. E. Mylonas, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 54 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
YSSIES (Ancient city) ARGOLIS
An Argive border citadel S of the modern village of Achladokampos
on the road between Lerna and Tripolis. The town was destroyed by the Lakedaimonians
in 417 B.C.; following the defeat, the Argive dead were buried at Kenchreai. The
ruins of Hysiai were seen by Pausanias and the walls were described by Curtius
as polygonal on ashlar foundations, and flanked by round towers.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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