Pylos participated in the Trojan War and is listed in the Homeric Catalogue of Ships (Il. 2.591). Homer calls it "imathoenta (=sandy)" (Od. 1.93, 2.326, 4.633, 24.152), "euktimenon ptoliethron (=well-built citadel)" (Od. 3,4).
The kingdom of Nestor included a part of Messene and Triphylia and participated in the Trojan War with 90 ships (Il. 2.591-601). Cities mentioned by Homer are: 1. Cyparisseis, 2. Dorium, 3. Pylos, 4. Arene, 5. Thryum, 6. Aepy, 7. Amphigeneia, 8. Pteleos, 9. Helus.
He was the king of Pylos, son of Neleus and Chloris, famous for his wisdom and his oratorical skill (Il. 2.370), who took part in the Trojan War while being of old age (Il. 1,247-252). His wife was Euridice, daughter of Clymenes (Od. 3.452).
Nestor. Son of Neleus and Chloris, ruler of the Messenian and Triphylian Pylus, and later also, after the extinction of the royal family there, of Messenia. He was married to Eurydice, by whom he had seven sons and two daughters. He was the only one of twelve sons of Neleus who escaped being slain by Heracles, since he was, it is said, living at the time among the Gerenians in Messenia, from whom he derives the name Gerenios, given him in Homer. After this disaster, the king of the Epeans, Augeas, illegally kept back a fourhorse chariot which Neleus had sent to Elis to compete in a contest. Nestor , as yet hardly a youth, retaliated by driving off the herds of the Epeans; upon which the latter with a large army besieged the Pylian fortress of Thyroessa on the Eurotas. Nestor formed one of the relieving army, serving as a foot-soldier, owing to his father's having, from regard to his youth, had the war-horses concealed from him.
He slew in battle Augeas's son-in-law, and, fighting from the dead man's chariot, won a most brilliant victory, so that the Pylians offered thanks to him among men just as they offered them to Zeus among the gods. In like manner in the war against the Arcadians, when he was the youngest of all the combatants, he killed the gigantic and much-dreaded hero Ereuthalion. He also took an important part in the battle between the Centaurs and the Lapithae, and is mentioned as among the Argonauts. In old age, when he was ruling over the third generation of his people, he was involved in the expedition against Troy, owing, as the story went, to the obligation incurred by his son Antilochus as a suitor of Helen; with Odysseus he gained the help of Achilles and Patroclus for the undertaking, and himself sailed, in the company of his sons Antilochus and Thrasymedes, with ninety ships to the seat of war at Ilium.
Here, according to Homer, "Nestor the horseman", in spite of his great age, took a prominent part among the heroes in council and battle alike: the qualities which adorned him were wisdom, justice, eloquence, "from his lips flows language sweeter than honey", experience in war, unwearied activity, and courage. All valued and loved him, and none more than Agamemhon, who wished that he had ten such counsellors: in which case, he said, Troy would soon fall. He is so great a favourite with Homer that in ancient times it was conjectured that the poet was himself a native of Pylos. After the destruction of Troy he returned in safety with his son Thrasymedes to Pylos, Antilochus having for the sake of his father, who was in sore peril, sacrificed his own life in battle against Memnon. Ten years afterwards, Telemachus found him still at Pylos, amidst his children, in the enjoyment of a cheerful and prosperous old age.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities
Cited Aug 2002 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
Anaxibia. Apollodorus mentions that Anaxibia, a daughter of Crateus, was the second wife of Nestor (Apollod. 1,9,9).
A Pylian hero (Il. 4.296).
A comrade of Nestor (Il. 4.296).
He was a son of Nestor, one of the seven leaders of the guardians of the wall and ditch, that protected the Achaeans (Il. 9.81).
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He was a son of Nestor (Od. 3.414).
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Antilochus, son of Nestor, king of Pylus, and Eurydice (Od. 3.452), was a comrade of Achilles (Il. 23.556, also see Paus. 4,31,11) and was slain by Memnon (Od. 4.188).
Antilochus. The son of Nestor , who accompanied his father to the Trojan War, and was distinguished among the younger heroes for beauty and bravery. Homer calls him a favourite of Zeus and Poseidon. The dearest friend of Achilles next to Patroclus, he was chosen by the Greeks to break the news to him of his beloved companion's fall. When Memnon attacked the aged Nestor , Antilochus threw himself in his way, and bought his father's safety with his life. He, like Patroclus, was avenged by Achilles, in whose grave-mound the ashes of both friends were laid; even in the lower world Odysseus beheld the three pacing the asphodel meadow, and in after-times the inhabitants of Ilium offered to them jointly the sacrifices due to the dead on the foreland of Sigeum.
Antilochus (Antilochos), a son of Nestor, king of Pylos, by Anaxibia (Apollod. i. 9.9), or according to the Odyssey (iii. 451), by Eurydice. Hyginus (Fab. 252) states, that as an infant he was exposed on mount Ida, and suckled by a dog. He is mentioned among the suitors of Helen (Apollod. iii. 10.8). According to the Homeric account, he accompanied his father to Troy, but Nestor being advised by an oracle to guard his son against an Ethiopian, gave him Chalion as his constant attendant (Eustath. ad Hom.). Antilochus appears in the Homeric poems as one of the youngest, handsomest, and bravest among the Greeks, and is beloved by Achilles (Od. iii. 112; Il. xxiii. 556, 607, xviii. 16). He fell at Troy by the hands of Memnon, the Ethiopian (Od. iv. 186, &c., xi. 522; Pind. Pyth. vi. 32, &c.). Hyginus, in one passage (Fab. 112) states that he was slain by Memnon, and in another (Fab. 113) he makes Hector his conqueror. The remains of Antilochus were buried by the side of those of his friends Achilles and Patroclus (Od. xxiv. 78), and in Hades or the island of Leuce he likewise accompanied his friends (Od. xxiv. 16; Paus. iii. 19.11). Philostratus (Her. iii. 2) gives a different account of him. When Nestor went to Troy, his son was yet too young to accompany him; but in the course of the war he came to Troy and applied to Achilles to soothe the anger of his father at his unexpected arrival. Achilles was delighted with the beauty and the warlike spirit of the youth, and Nestor too was proud of his son, and took him to Agamemnon. According to Philostratus, Antilochus was not slain by the Ethiopian Memnon, but by a Trojan of that name. Achilles not only avenged his death on Memnon, but celebrated splendid funeral games, and burnt the head and armour of Memnon on the funeral pyre. Antilochus was painted by Polygnotus in the Lesche of Delphi (Paus. x. 30.1; Philostr. Icon. ii. 7).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
He was a son of Poseidon or of Cretheus by Tyro, the daughter of Salmoneus, husband of Chloris, brother of Pelias, father of Nestor (Od. 11.235-258, 3,4 & 409). He had twelve sons, but Heracles slew all of them, except Nestor, when he invaded Pylos, because Neleus refused to purify him from the murder of Iphitus (Il. 11.691).
According to Pausanias, Aratheus, cousin of Neleus, gave him the maritime part of his land, where Pylos was (Paus. 4,2,5). Also, Neleus and his brother Pelias held in common the Olympian games (Paus. 5,8,2).
Neleus, the son of Poseidon and Tyro, daughter of Salmoneus, and brother of Pelias. The brothers were exposed after birth by their mother, who afterwards married Cretheus of Iolcus; they were found by a herdsman and brought up by him until they grew up and were acknowledged by their mother. After Cretheus's death they quarrelled about the possession of Iolcus; and Neleus, together with Melampus and Bias , the sons of his half-brother Amythaon, retired into exile in Messenia, where Aphareus, Tyro's cousin, allowed them to occupy Pylus. By Chloris, daughter of Amphion, the king of the Minyan Orchomenus (it is only a later myth that identifies him with Amphion of Thebes), he became father of twelve sons, of whom Periclymenus and Nestor were the most celebrated, and one daughter, the beautiful Pero, bride of Bias. On his refusing to purify Heracles from the murder of Iphitus, Heracles invaded his country and slew all his sons, except Nestor , who chanced to be absent from home at the time. Nestor became the champion and avenger of the aged Neleus when the Epeans and their king Augeas, emboldened by his misfortune, ventured on acts of injustice towards him. According to one account, it was Neleus who renewed the Olympian Games, and died at Corinth, where, it was said, he was buried at the isthmus; according to others, he was slain along with his sons by Heracles.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Chloris, a daughter of Amphion, the ruler of Orchomenos, by Persephone, the daughter of Minyas. She was the wife of Neleus, king of Pylos, and became by him the mother of Nestor, Chromius, Periclymenos, and Pero. (Hom. Od. xi. 281, &c.; Paus. x. 36.4, x. 29.2; Apollod. i. 9.9.)
A noble of the Pylians (Il. 23.612).
A son of Nestor (Od. 3.36 & 483, 15.131).
Perseus Project
A son of Nestor by Anaxibia.
He was the son of Cretheus by Tyro, brother of Aeson and father of Bias and Melampus (Odl. 11.259). He is considered to be the settler of Pylos. Pausanias mentions that he held the Olympian games (Paus. 5,8,2).
Amythaon (Amuthaon), a son of Cretheus and Tyro (Hom. Od. xi. 235, &c.), and brother
of Aeson and Pheres (Hom. Od. xi. 259). He dwelt at Pylos in Messenia and by Idomene
became the father of Bias, Melampus, and Acolia (Apollod. i. 9.11, 7.7). According
to Pindar (Pyth. iv. 220, &c.), he and several other members of his family went
to Iolcus to intercede with Pelias on behalf of Jason. Pausanias (v. 8.1) mentions
him among those to whom the restoration of the Olympian games was ascribed.
Amythaonius, a patronymic from Amythaon, by which his son, the seer Melampus, is sometimes designated. (Virg. Georg. iii. 550 ; Columell. x. 348.) The descendants of Amythaon in general are called by the Greeks Amythaonidae. (Strab. viii.)
Eidomene, a daughter of Pheres and wife of Amythaon in Pylos, by whom she became the mother of Bias and Melampus. (Apollod. i. 9.11.) In another passage (ii. 2.2) Apollodorus calls her a daughter of Abas.
A son of Neleus by Pero and brother of Nestor, who was killed by Heracles (Il. 11.286).
Son of Neleus and Chloris, brother of Nestor. He is the chief hero of the defence of Pylos against Heracles, to whom he gave much trouble by his prowess as well as by his power of transforming himself, like the sea-gods, into every possible shape. This power had been given him by Poseidon, who was reputed to be his father. Finally he succumbed to the arrows of Heracles, and by his death sealed the doom of Pylos.
Periclymenus : Perseus Encyclopedia
Echephron, a son of Nestor by Eurydice or Anaxibia. (Hom. Od. iii. 413; Apollod. i. 9.9)
A daughter of Nestor by Anaxibia (Od. 3.464).
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A servant of Nestor (Il. 11.620).
Ereuthalion (Ereuthalion), an Arcadian, who, in the armour of Areithous, which Lycurgus had given him, fought against the Pylians, but was slain by Nestor. (Hom. Il. iv. 319, vii. 134, &c.)
Alastor, an Argonaut, son of Neleus and Chloris. When Heracles took Pylos, Alastor and his brothers, except Nestor, were slain by him. (Apollod. i. 9.9; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 156.) According to Parthenius (c. 13) he was to be married to Harpalyce, who, however, was taken from him by her father Clymenus.
A shepherd of Neleus. Apollo turned him to stone because he revealed that the god had stolen Neleus' cattle.
Battus (Battos), a shepherd of Neleus, who saw Hermes driving away the cattle he had stolen from Apollo. The god promised to reward him if he would not betray what he had seen. Battus promised on oath to keep the secret; but as Hermes mistrusted him nevertheless, he assumed a different appearance, returned to Battus, and promised him a handsome present, if he would tell him who had stolen the cattle of Apollo. The shepherd was tempted, and related all he knew, whereupon Hermes touched him with his staff, and changed him into a stone. (Ovid, Met. ii. 688, &c.; Anton. Lib. 22.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Sep 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Son of Cleson, king of Megara, claims kingdom against Nisus, receives Pandion and gives him his daughter to wife, slays his father's brother Bias, gives the kingdom to Pandion, and retires to Peloponnese, founds Pylos.
City of Messenia, called sandy by Homer, founded by Neleus, given to Neleus by Aphareus, captured and ravaged by Herakles, Amythaon in, Hermes brings the stolen kine to, kine of Phylacus brought to, palace of Nestor and his sons at, people of Pylos emigrate from Messenia.
Cape in Messenia.
The poet (Homer) prolongs the Pylian Sea as far as the seven cities which Agamemnon promised to Achilles: "and all are situated near the sea of sandy Pylus;" for this phrase is equivalent to "near the Pylian Sea."
Site of the University of Michigan.
University of Cincinnati
Pulos: Eth. Pulios. A town in Messenia, situated upon the promontory
Coryphasium, which forms the northern termination of the bay of Navarino. According
to Thucydides it was distant 400 stadia from Sparta (Thuc. iv. 3), and according
to Pausanias (v. 36. § 1) 100 stadia from Methone. It was one of the last places
which held out against the Spartans in the Second Messenian War, upon the conclusion
of which the inhabitants emigrated to Cyllene, and from thence, with the other
Messenians, to Sicily. (Paus. iv. 18. § 1, iv. 23. § 1.) From that time its name
never occurs in history till the seventh year of the Peloponnesian War, B.C. 424,
when Demosthenes, the Athenian commander, erected a fort upon the promontory,
which was then uninhabited and called by the Spartans Coryphasium (Koruphasion),
though it was known by the Athenians to be the site of the ancient Pylus. (Thuc.
iv. 3.) The erection of this fort led to one of the most memorable events in the
Peloponnesian War. Thucydides has given a minute account of the topography of
the district, which, though clear and consistent with itself, does not coincide,
in all points, with the existing locality, Thucydides describes the harbour, of
which the promontory Coryphasium formed the northern termination, as fronted and
protected by the island Sphacteria, which stretched along the coast, leaving only
two narrow entrances to the harbour, - the one at the northern end, opposite to
Coryphasium, being only wide enough to admit two triremes abreast, and the other
at the southern end wide enough for eight or nine triremes. The island was about
15 stadia in width, covered with wood, uninhabited and untrodden, (Thuc. iv. 8.)
Pausanias also says that the island Sphacteria lies before the harbour of Pylus
like Rheneia before the anchorage of Delos (v. 36. § 6), It is almost certain
that the fortress erected by the Athenians stood on the site of the ruins of a
fortress of the middle ages, called Paleo-Avarino, which has been changed into
Navarino by the habit of using the accusative case, eis ton Abarinon, and by attaching
the final v of the article to the substantive. The distances of 400 stadia from
Sparta and 100 stadia from Methone, given respectively by Thucydides and Pausanias,
are the correct distances of Old Navarino from those two ancient sites. (Leake,
Peloponnesiaca, p. 191.) Sphacteria (Sphakteria is now called Sphagia, a name
which it also bore in antiquity. (Sphagia, Strab. viii. p. 359; Plat. Menex. p.
242; hai Sphagiai, Xen. Hell. vi. 2. 31; tres Sphagiae, Plin. iv. 12. s. 25.)
The chief discrepancy between the account of Thucydides and the existing
state of the coast is found in the width of the two entrances into the bay of
Navarino, the northern entrance being about 150 yards wide, and the southern not
less than between 1300 and 1400 yards; whereas Thucydides states the former admitted
only two triremes abreast, and the latter only eight or nine. Therefore not only
is the actual width of the two entrances very much greater than is stated by Thucydides,
but this width is not in the proportion of the number of triremes; they are not
as 8 or 9 to 2, but as 17 to 2. To explain this difficulty Col. Leake supposes
that Thucydides was misinformed respecting the breadth of the entrances to the
harbour. But to this a satisfactory reply is given by Dr. Arnold, that not only
could no common false estimate of distances have mistaken a passage of nearly
1400 yards in width for one so narrow as to admit only eight or nine ships abreast,
but still less could it have been supposed possible to choke up such a passage
by a continuous line of ships, lying broadside to broadside, which Thucydides
tells us the Lacedaemonian commanders intended to do. Moreover the northern entrance
has now a shoal or bar of sand lying across it, on which there are not more than
18 inches of water; whereas the narrative of Thucydides implies that there was
sufficient depth of water for triremes to sail in unobstructed. The length of
17 stadia, which Thucydides ascribes to Sphacteria, does not agree with the actual
length of Sphagia, which is 25 stadia. Lastly Thucydides, speaking of the bay
of Pylus, calls it a harbour of considerable magnitude (limeni onti ou smikroi);
an expression which seems strange to be applied to the spacious Bay of Navarino,
which was not only the largest harbour in Greece, but perfectly unlike the ordinary
harbours of the Greeks, which were always closed artificially at the mouth by
projecting moles when they were not sufficiently land-locked by nature.
In consequence of these difficulties Dr. Arnold raised the doubt whether
the island now called Sphagia be really the same as the ancient Sphacteria, and
whether the Bay of Navarino be the real harbour of Pylus. He started the hypothesis
that the peninsula, on which the ruins of Old Navarino stand, is the ancient island
of Sphacteria converted into a peninsula by an accumulation of sand at either
side; and that the lagoon of Osmyn-Aga on its eastern side was the real harbour
of Pylus, into which there was an opening on the north, at the port of Voidho--Kilia,
capable of admitting two triremes abreast, and another at the south, where there
is still a narrow opening, by which eight or nine triremes may have entered the
lagoon from the great harbour of Navarino. Upon this hypothesis Col. Leake observes,
that in itself it is perfectly admissible, inasmuch as there is scarcely a situation
in Greece on the low coasts, near the mouths of rivers, where, by the operation
of waters salt or fresh, or both united, some change has not taken place since
the times of ancient history; and that in the present instance, therefore, there
is no great difficulty in imagining that the lagoon may be an ancient harbour
converted into a lagoon by an accumulation of sand which has separated it from
the sea. But, among the many difficulties which beset this hypothesis, there are
two which seem quite fatal to it; one of which has been stated by Mr. Grote and
the other by Col. Leake. The former writer remarks that, if the peninsula of Old
Navarino was the real ancient Sphacteria, it must have been a second island situated
to the northward of Sphagia; and that, consequently, there must have been two
islands close together and near the scene. This, as Mr. Grote observes, is quite
inconsistent with the narrative of Thucydides, which presupposes that there was
only one island--Sphacteria, without any other near or adjoining to it. Thus the
Athenian fleet under Eurymedon, on first arriving, was obliged to go back some
distance to the island of Prote, because the island of Sphacteria was full of
Lacedaemonian hoplites (Thuc. iv. 13); whereas, if the hypothesis of Dr. Arnold
were admitted, there would have been nothing to prevent them from landing on Sphagia
itself. It is true that Xenophon (Hell. vi. 2. § 3) speaks of Sphagiai in the
plural, and that Pliny (iv. 12. s. 25) mentions tres Sphagiae; but two of them
appear to have been mere rocks. The objection of Col. Leake is still more fatal
to Dr. Arnold's hypothesis. He calls attention to the fact that the French Commission
observed that the walls of the castle of Old Navarino stand in many parts on Hellenic
foundations, and that in some places three courses of the ancient work remain,
consisting of a kind of masonry which seems greatly to resemble that of Messene.
Besides these remains of middle Hellenic antiquity, some foundations are traced
of a more ancient inclosure at the northern end of the peninsula, with a descent
to the little harbour of Voidho - Kilia by means of steps cut in the rock. Remains
of walls of early date are to be seen likewise towards the southern extremity
of the hill, among which is a tumulus; - all tending to prove that the entire
peninsula of Navarino was occupied at a remote period of history by an ancient
city. This peninsula could not, therefore, have been the ancient Sphacteria, which
never contained any ancient town. The only way of reconciling the account of Thucydides
with the present state of the coast is to suppose, with Mr. Grote and Curtius,
that a great change has taken place in the two passages which separate Sphagia
from the mainland since the time of Thucydides. The mainland to the south of Navarino
must have been much nearer than it is now to the southern portion of Sphagia,
while the northern passage also must have been both narrower and clearer.
It is unnecessary to relate here the events which followed the erection
of the Athenian fort at Pylus, and which terminated with the capture of the Spartans
in the island of Sphacteria, as they are given in every Grecian history. The following
extract from Col. Leake illustrates the description of Thucydides in the most
satisfactory manner: The level and source of water in the middle where the Lacedaemonians
encamped, - the summit at the northern end to which they retired, - the landing-places
on the western side, to which the Helots brought provisions,- are all perfectly
recognisable. Of the fort, of loose and rude construction on the summit, it is
not to be expected that any remains should now exist; but there are some ruins
of a signal-tower of a later age on the same site. The summit is a pile of rough
rocks ending in a peak; it slopes gradually to the shore on every side, except
to the harbour, where the cliffs are perpendicular, though here just above the
water there is a small slope capable of admitting the passage of a body of men
active in climbing among rocks and difficult places. By this pass it is probable
the Messenians came upon the rear of the Lacedaemonians on the summit; for just
at the southern termination of the pass there is a passage through the cliffs
which border the greater part of the eastern shore of the island, so that by this
opening, and along the pass under the rocks to the northward of it, the Messenians
had the means of passing unseen from the centre of the island to the rear of the
Lacedaemonians on the summit. Though this hill slopes gradually from its rocky
peak to the shore on every side except towards the harbour, it does not admit
of a landing at its foot, except in the calmest weather; nor is it easily assailed
on any side by land, on account of the ruggedness of the summit, except by the
means to which the Messenians resorted; so that the words of Thucydides respecting
it are perfectly accurate (ek thalasses apokremnon kai e, tes ges hekista epimachon).
The southern extremity of the island is rocky, steep, and difficult of access,
and forms a separate hill; in every other part the ground slopes from the cliffs
on the side of the harbour to the western shore, which, though rocky, is low;
so that when the weather is calm it is more easy in face of an opponent to land,
and to make way into the island on that side than on the eastern shore, where
the cliffs admit of an easy access only in two places, one towards the northern
end, the other in the middle of the island, where an opening in the cliffs leads
immediately into the most level part of it; exactly in the opening stands a small
church of the Panaghia. There are also two small creeks adjacent to each other,
near the southern end of the eastern side of the island, opposite to Neokastro:
near these creeks there is a well. The principal source of water is towards the
middle of the island, at an excavation in the rock 20 feet deep, which seems to
be more natural than artificial; for below a shallow surface of soil, in which
there is a circular peristomium of modern masonry, the excavation in the rock
is irregular and slanting. In one or two places there are groves of high bushes,
and there are low shrubs in every part of it. It often happens, as it did in the
seventh summer of the Peloponnesian war, that a fire, occurring accidentally or
of intention, clears the face of the island during the droughts of that season:
the northern hill exhibits at this moment recent marks of a similar conflagration.
(Morea, vol. i. 408, seq.)
The peninsula of Coryphasium is a precipice on the eastern side or
towards the lagoon; while on the western side or towards the open sea it slopes
gradually, particularly on the SW., where Demosthenes succeeded in preventing
the landing of Brasidas and the Lacedaemonians. The promontory is higher at the
northern end. Below the ruined fortress at the northern end there is a fine cavern,
called Voidho-Kilia (Boido-koilia), the ox's belly, which gives name to the small
circular port immediately below it, which has been already spoken of. This cavern
is 60 feet long, 40 wide, and 40 high, having a roof like a Gothic arch. The entrance
is triangular, 30 feet long and 12 high; at the top of the cavern there is an
opening in the surface of the hill above. This cave was, according to the Peloponnesian
tradition, the one into which the infant Hermes drove the cattle he had stolen
from Apollo. It is mentioned in the Homeric hymn to Hermes as situated upon the
sea-side (v. 341); but in Antoninus Liberalis (c. 23) it is expressly said to
have been at Coryphasium. In Ovid (Met. ii. 684) Mercury is represented as beholding
from Mt. Cyllene the unguarded cattle proceeding into the fields of Pylus. The
bay of Voidho-Kilia is separated by a low semicircular ridge of sand from the
large shallow lagoon of Osmyn-Aga. As neither Thucydides nor Pausanias says a
word about this lagoon, which now forms so striking a feature in the topography
of this district, we may confidently conclude, with Leake, that it is of recent
formation. The peninsula must, in that case, have been surrounded with a sandy
plain, as Pausanias describes it; and accordingly, if we suppose this to have
been the site of the Homeric Pylus, the epithet emathoeis, which the poet constantly
gives to it, would be perfectly applicable.
The Athenians did not surrender their fortress at Pylus to the Lacedaemonians
in accordance with the treaty made in B.C. 421 (Thuc. v. 35), but retained possession
of it for fifteen years, and only lost it towards the close of the Peloponnesian
War. (Diod. xiii. 64.) On the restoration of the Messenians to their country by
Epaminondas, Pylus again appears in history. The remains of the walls already
described belong to this period. On more than one occasion there was a dispute
between the Messenians and Achaeans respecting the possession of this place. (Liv.
xxvii. 30; Polyb. xviii. 25.) It was visited by Pausanias, who saw there a temple
of Athena Coryphasia, the so-named house of Nestor, containing a picture of him,
his tomb, and a cavern said to have been the stable of the oxen of Neleus and
Nestor. He describes the latter as within the city; which must therefore have
extended nearly to the northern end of the promontory, as this cave is evidently
the one described above. (Paus. v. 36.) There are imperial coins of this city
bearing the epigraph Pulion, belonging to the time of Severus. (Eckhel, vol. ii.
p. 277.) It would appear from Leake that the restored city was also called Coryphasium,
since he says that at the time of the Achaean League there was a town of Coryphasium,
as we learn from a coin, which shows that Coryphasium was a member of that confederacy.
(Peloponnesiaca, p. 191.)
The modern name Avarino, corrupted, as already said, into Navarino,
is probably due to the Avars, who settled there in the sixth century of the Christian
era. The mediaeval castle was built by the widow of the Frankish chieftain William
de la Roche. Her descendants sought a more convenient place for their residence,
and erected on the southern side of the harbour the Neokastro or modern Navarino.
It commanded the southern end of the harbour, which became more and more important
as the northern entrance became choked up. Containing, as it does, the best harbour
in the Peloponnesus, Navarino constantly appears in modern history. It was taken
by the Turks in 1500. In 1685 it was wrested from them by the Venetian commander
Morosini, and remained in the hands of the Venetians till 1715. In more recent
times it is memorable by the great battle fought in its bay, on the 20th of October,
1827, between the Turkish fleet and the combined fleets of England, France, and
Russia. (Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 181.)
It remains to speak of the site of the Homeric Pylos. According to
a generally received tradition, Neleus, the son of Poseidon, migrated from Iolcos
in Thessaly, and founded on the west coast of Peloponnesus a kingdom extending
westward as far as that of the Atridae, and northward as far as the Alpheius,
or even beyond this river. Neleus incurred the indignation of Hercules for refusing
to purify him after the murder of his son Iphitus. The hero took Pylus and killed
Neleus, together with eleven of his twelve sons. But his surviving son Nestor
upheld the fame of his house, and, after distinguishing himself by his exploits
in youth and manhood, accompanied in his old age the Grecian chiefs in their expedition
against Troy. Upon the invasion of Peloponnesus by the Dorians, three generations
after Nestor, the Neleids quitted Pylus and removed to Athens, where they obtained
the kingly power. The situation of this Pylus - the Pulos Neleios, as it was called
- was a subject of much dispute among the Grecian geographers and grammarians.
Strabo (viii. p. 339) quotes a proverbial verse, in which three towns of this
name were mentioned - esti Pulos pro Piloio Pulos ge men esti kai allos,- of which
the former half - Esti Pulos pro Puloio - was at least as old as the time of Aristophanes,
when Pylus became famous by the capture of the Spartans at Sphacteria. (Aristoph.
Equit. 1059.) The claims of the Eleian Pylus to be the city of Nestor may be safely
set on one side; and the choice lies between the towns in Triphylia and Messenia.
The ancients usually decided in favour of the Messenian Pylos. This is the opinion
of Pausanias (iv. 36), who unhesitatingly places the city of Nestor on the promontory
of Coryphasium, although, as we have already seen, he agrees with the people of
Elis that Homer, in describing the Alpheius as flowing through the land of the
Pylians (Il. v. 545), had a view to the Eleian city. (Paus. vi. 22. § 6.) It is
however, much more probable that the land of the Pylians was used by the poet
to signify the whole kingdom of the Neleian Pylus, since he describes both Thryoessa
on the Alpheius and the cities on the Messenian gulf as the extreme or frontier
places of Pylus. (Thruoessa polis . . . neate Pulou emathoentos, Il. xi. 712;
neatai Pulou emathoentos, Il. ix. 153.) In this sense these expressions were understood
by Strabo (viii. pp. 337, 350). It is curious that Pausanias, who paid so much
attention to Homeric antiquities, does not even allude to the existence of the
Triphylian Pylus. Pindar calls Nestor the Messenian old man. (Pyth. vi. 35.) Isocrates
mentions Messenia as his birthplace (Panath. § 72); and Pherecydes (ap. Schol.
ad> Hom. Od. xi. 289) and Eustathius (ad Od. iii p: 1454) describes the Messenian
Pylus as the city founded by Peleus. This was also the opinion of Diodorus (xv.
66), and of many others. In opposition to their views, Strabo, following the opinion
of the Homerikoteroi, argues at great length that the Triphylian Elis was the
city of Nestor. (Strab. viii. pp. 339, seq., 348, seq.) He maintains that the
description of the Alpheius flowing through the land of the Pylians (Il. v. 545),
which, as we have already seen, was the only argument which the Eleians could
adduce for their claim, is applicable to the Triphylian Pylus; whereas the poet's
mention of Nestor's exploits against the Epeians (II. xi. 670, seq.) is fatal
to the supposition of the Messenian city being his residence. Nestor is described
as making an incursion into the country of the Epeians, and returning thence with
a large quantity of cattle, which he safely lodges by night in the Neleian city.
The third day the Epeians, having collected their forces on the Alpheius, Nestor
marched forth from Pylus, and at the end of the first day halted at the Minyeius
(subsequently called the Anigrus), where he passed the night; starting from thence
on the following morning, he arrived at the Alpheius at noon. Strabo argues that
neither of these events could have taken place if Nestor had marched from so distant
a city as the one at Coryphasium, while they might easily have happened if the
Neleian city had been situated at the Triphylian Pylus. Again he argues from the
Odyssey that the Neleid Pylus could not have been on the sea-coast, since Telemachus,
after he had disembarked at the temple of Poseidon and had proceeded to Pylus,
sent a courier to his ship to fetch his companions (Od. iii. 423); and on his
return from Sparta to Pylos, he desired Pisistratus to turn off to the sea-side,
that he might immediately embark, as he wished not to be detained in the city
by Nestor. (Od. xv. 199, seq.) These arguments, as well as others, adduced by
Strabo, have convinced K. O. Muller (Orchomenos, p. 357, seq.), Thirlwall (Hist.
of Greece, vol. i. p. 96), and several modern scholars; but Leake, Curtius, and
others have adhered, with much greater probability, to the more common view of
antiquity, that the Neleian Pylus was situated at Coryphasium. It has been shown
that Pylus was frequently used by Homer to signify the Neleid kingdom, and not
simply the city, as indeed Strabo himself had admitted when arguing against the
claims of the Eleian Pylus. Moreover, even if it should be admitted that the account
of Nestor's exploits against the Epeians agrees better with the claim of the Triphylian
Pylus, yet the narrative of the journeys of Telemachus is entirely opposed to
this claim. Telemachus in going from Pylus to Sparta drove his horses thither,
without changing them, in two days, stopping the first night at Pherae (Od. iii.
485); and he returned from Sparta to Pylus in the same manner. (Od. xv. 182, seq.)
Now the Messenian Pylus, Pherae, and Sparta, lie in a direct line, the distance
from Pylus to Pherae being about 35 miles by the road, and from Pherae to Sparta
about 28 miles. On the other hand, the road from the Triphylian Pylus to Sparta
would have been by the valley of the Alpheius into that of the Eurotas; whereas
Pherae would have been out of the way, and the distance to it would have been
much more than a day's journey. Besides which, the position of the Messenian Pylus,
the most striking upon the whole western coast of Peloponnesus, was far more likely
to have attracted the Thessalian wanderers from Iolcos, the worshippers of the
god Poseidon, than a site which was neither strong by nature nor near the coast.
But although we may conclude that the Messenian Pylus was the city
of Nestor, it may admit of doubt whether the city itself existed on the promontory
Coryphasium from the earliest times. The Greeks rarely built a city in the earliest
period immediately upon the coast, and still more rarely chose a site so badly
supplied with water as Coryphasium, of which the Athenians experienced the inconvenience
when they defended it in the Peloponnesian War. There seems much probability in
the account of Strabo (viii. p. 359) that the ancient Messenian Pylus was situated
at the foot of Mt. Aegaleos, and that upon its destruction some of its inhabitants
settled at Coryphasium. If then we suppose the city of Nestor to have stood a
little way inland, and Coryphasium to have been its port-town, the narrative of
Telemachus' return becomes perfectly clear. Not wishing to lose time at the royal
residence, he drives straight to the port and goes quietly on board. Hence, one
of Strabo's most serious objections to the Messenian Pylus disappears. Strabo
was justified in seeking for a separate site for the city and the port, but he
seems to have forgotten the existence of the Old Pylus inland, which he had himself
mentioned. (Leake, Morea, vol. i. p. 416, seq.; Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol. ii.
p. 174, seq.)
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
The Classical town occupied Mt. Koryphasion, a rocky promontory at the N end of the Bay of Navarino. It is chiefly known as the camp fortified by the Athenians in 425 B.C. prior to the battle with the Spartans on the island of Sphakteria. There are traces of Greek walls of various types of masonry both earlier and later than those assigned to the Athenians; some served as foundations for the 13th c. Frankish castle. Also ancient are cisterns and rock-cut steps and the remains of a breakwater at the S tip of the cape. Pausanias (4.36.1-5) mentions a Sanctuary of Athena Koryphasion, unknown today, and within the city a house, tomb, and cave, all supposedly of Nestor. This last has been found to contain sherds dating from Mycenaean to Roman times, but the Mycenaean palace of Nestor has been excavated at Epano Englianos, 10 km to the N.
M. H. McAllister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Sep 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 26 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
In the southwest of Messenia, was situated at the foot of Mount Aegaleos on a promontory at the northern entrance of the basin, now called the Bay of Navarino, the largest and safest harbour in all Greece. This harbour was fronted and protected by the small island of Sphacteria (Sphagia), which stretched along the coast about 1 3/4 miles, leaving only two narrow entrances at each end. Pylos became memorable in the Peloponnesian War, when the Athenians under Demosthenes built a fort on the promontory Coryphasium a little south of the ancient city, and just within the northern entrance to the harbour (B.C. 425). The attempts of the Spartans to dislodge the Athenians proved unavailing; and the capture by Cleon of the Spartans who had landed on the island of Sphacteria was one of the most important events in the whole war.
This text is cited Sep 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
City of Messenia,
along the southwestern coast of Peloponnese,
east of Sparta.
Pylos was founded by Neleus, the son of Tyro and Poseidon who was
raised in Iolcos at the court
of Tyro's husband Chreteus with his twin brother Pelias. He had to move to Messenia
when Pelias took the throne of Iolcos
from Aeson, Jason's father. There, he married Chloris, the only surviving daughter
of Amphion and Niobe, from whom he had a daughter, Pero, and twelve sons. Pero
was very beautiful, and Neleus was reluctant to marry her, even to his nephew
Bias, the son of his brother Amythaon. He put as a condition for the marriage
that Bias bring him back the herds of Phylacus, the father of Aeson's wife Alcimede,
that were kept by a very fierce dog. Bias succeeded with the help of his brother
Melampous and married Pero with whom he had, among other, a son named Talaus,
who was the father of Adrastus, the king of Argos
who led the expedition of the Seven against Thebes
at the request of Polynices, Oedipus' son.
With his sons, Neleus had to sustain a war against Heracles, either
because Neleus had refused tu purify him after the murder of Iphitus, or becase
Neleus has sided with adversaries of Heracles in an earlier campaign waged by
the hero. Anyway, in that war, all of Neleus' sons, except the youngest, Nestor,
were killed, and maybe even Neleus himself (some traditions say that he survived
and later died in Corinth).
Nestor was endowed by Apollo, guilty of having massacred the brothers and sisters
of his mother Chloris, with a very long life. He succeeded his father on the throne
of Pylos, and is shown old in the Iliad playing a leading role as the wise advisor
of the Greeks.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This extract is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
The palace of Nestoras, son of Neleas, was discovered and searched in 1939 by Konstantinos Kourouniotis and excavated by the American Karl Blegen and is found in the region «Eglianos» 4 km south of the borough of Chora. It is a piece of work dating back to the 13th century B.C. and was built by the Dynasty of Neliedon. It consists of five main buildings which take up such a large area that it can only be compared, in terms of size and arrangement of indoor space, to the palaces of Mycaenae and Tiryntha. In two small rooms of the central building there have been found 1250 signs with writing in Grammiki B, one of the oldest kinds of Greek writing, which has been decoded by the architect Michael Ventris, while in the rooms of Kylikeio and the storage rooms there have been found cups and pots and pans.
n an 80 m distance in the north of the palace, there has been found a magnificent domed tomb ascribed to Nestoras and his successor Thrasymides. The palace was destroyed by fire at the end of the ceramic of style IIIB (1200 B.C approximately), when the palaces of Mycaenae and Tiryntha were burnt down too, for unknown reasons. At the same time, in about 1120 B.C. the Dories descended in Messinia due to the weakening of the powerful Kingdoms of the area. The extended area around the hill of Eglianos which was taken up by the palace of Nestoras as well as the royal domed tomb has been formed and welcomes the visits of many tourists.
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
Region: Messenia
Periods: Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age
Type: Settlement
Summary: Mycenaean palace complex and traditional home of Nestor.
Physical Description:
Located near Navarino Bay and modern Pylos (close to village
of Khora) on the hill of Epano Englianos. The site compares in size and richness
with the palace of Mycenae and is believed to be the home of Nestor, the second
most powerful Mycenaean king. The palace consisted of two-storeyed buildings arranged
in three main blocks: the main building with a megaron hall (containing the throne),
propylon, archives (with hundreds of clay tablets preserved), magazines and private
chambers. The SW and NE blocks contained workshops, storerooms and private chambers.
The palace was apparently unfortified. Tholos tombs and a lower town are associated
with the palace.
Description:
The site was occupied at least as early as the Middle Bronze
Age. The Mycenaean palace (which seems to have replaced an earlier fortified palace)
was built near the end of the Late Bronze Age (LH IIIB, ca. 1300 B.C.) and shortly
thereafter the site was destroyed and abandoned. Pylos is the best preserved of
all the Mycenaean palaces and is especially important for the hundreds of Linear
B clay tablets found (accidentally preserved through baking in the fire that destroyed
the palace) at the site.
Exploration:
Site was explored in 1939. Excavations: 1952- C. Blegen
and Kourouniotis.
Donald R. Keller, ed.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 26 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
The city of Neleus contains a sanctuary of Athena with the title Coryphasia.
The city of Neleus contains a house called the house of Nestor, in which there is a painting of him.
There is a cave inside the town, in which it is said that the cattle belonging to Nestor and to Neleus before him were kept.
His (Nestor's') tomb is inside the city.
The tomb at a little distance from Pylos is said to be the tomb of Thrasymedes.
Tel: +30 27230 24100, 22316
Editor’s Information:
Biography, reports and essays on Homer can be found at his birthplace the island of Ios, one of the places that claim the honour of his origin and where is his tomb. There are also other places among the claimants, which are mentioned in an epigram (Gell. III, 11), including the island of Ios: the island of Chios, Smyrna, Rhodes, Colophon, Salamis in Cyprus, Argos, Athens, Cyme in Aeolis, Pylos and Ithaca.
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