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TRIZIN (Ancient city) GREECE
Troezen, also Troizene (Ptol. iii. 16. § 12), Eth. Troizenios. The territory
ge Troizenia (Eurip. Med. 683); he Troizenis ge, (Thuc. ii. 56). A city of Peloponnesus,
whose territory formed the south-eastern corner of the district to which the name
of Argolis was given at a later time. It stood at their distance of 15 stadia
front the coast, in a fertile plain, which is described below. (Strab. viii. p.
373.) Few cities of Peloponnesus boasted of so remote an antiquity; and many of
its legends are closely connected with those of Athens, and prove that its original
population was of the Ionic race. According to the Troezenians themselves, their
country was first called Oraea from the Egyptian Orus, and was next named Althepia
from Althepus, the son of Poseidon and Leis, who was the daughter of Orus. In
the reign of this king, Poseidon and Athena contended, as at Athens, for the land
of the Troezenians, but, through the mediation of Zeus, they became the joint
guardians of the country, Hence, says Pausanias, a trident and the head of Athena
are represented on the ancient coins of Troezen. Althepus was succeeded by Saron,
who built a temple of the Saronian Artemis in a marshy place near the sea, which
was hence called the Phoebaean marsh (Phoibaia limne), but was afterwards named
Saronis, because Saron was buried in the ground belonging to the temple. The next
kings mentioned are Hyperes and Anthas, who founded two cities, named Hypereia
and Antheia. Aetius, the son of Hyperes, inherited the kingdom of his father and
uncle, and called one of the cities Poseidonias. In his reign, Troezen and Pittheus,
who are called the sons of Pelops, and may be regarded as Achaean princes, settled
in the country, and divided the power with Aetius. But the Pelopidae son supplanted
the earlier dynasty; and on the death of Troezen, Pittheus united the two Ionic
settlements into one city, which he called Troezen after his brother. Pittheus
was the grandfather of Theseus by his daughter Aethra; and the great national
hero of the Athenians was born and educated at Troezen. The close connection between
the two states is also intimated by the legend that two important demi of Attica,
Anaphlystus and Sphettus, derived their names from two sons of Troezen. (Paus.
ii. 30. § § 5 - 9.) Besides the ancient names of Troezen already specified, Stephanus
B. (s. v. Troizen) mentions Aphrodisias, Saronia, Poseidonias, Apollonias and
Anthanis. Strabo likewise says (ix. p. 373) that Troezen was called Poseidonia
from its being sacred to Poseidon.
At the time of the Trojan War Troezen was subject to Argos (Hom. Il.
ii. 561); and upon the conquest of the Peloponnesus by the Dorians, it received
a Dorian colony from Argos. (Paus. ii. 30. § 10.) The Dorian settlers appear to
have been received on friendly terms by the ancient inhabitants, who continued
to form the majority of the population; and although Troezen became a Doric city,
it still retained its Ionic sympathies and traditions. At an early period Troezen
was a powerful maritime state, as is shown by its founding the cities of Halicarnassus
and Myndus in Caria. (Paus. ii. 30. § 8; Herod. vii. 99; Strab. viii. p. 374.)
The Troezenians also took part with the Achaeans in the foundation of Sybaris,
but they were eventually driven out by the Achaeans. (Aristot. Pol. v. 3.) It
has been conjectured with much probability that the expelled Troezenians may have
been the chief founders of Poseidonia (Paestum), which Solinus calls a Doric colony,
and to which they gave the ancient name of their own city in Peloponnesus.
In the Persian War the Troezenians took an active part. After the
battle of Thermopylae, the harbour of Troezen was appointed as the place of rendezvous
for the Grecian fleet (Herod. viii. 42); and when the Athenians were obliged to
quit Attica upon the approach of Xerxes, the majority of them took refuge at Troezen,
where they were received with the greatest kindness by the semi-ionic population.
(Herod. viii. 41; Plut. Them. 10.) The Troezenians sent 5 ships to Artemisium
and Salamis, and 1000 men to Plataeae, and they also fought at the battle of Mycale.
(Herod. viii. 1, ix. 28, 102.) After the Persian war the friendly connection between
Athens and Troezen appears to have continued; and during the greatness of the
Athenian empire before the thirty years' peace (B.C. 455) Troezen was an ally
of Athens, and was apparently garrisoned by Athenian troops; but by this peace
the Athenians were compelled to relinquish Troezen. (Thuc. i. 115, iv. 45.) Before
the Peloponnesian War the two states became estranged from one another; and the
Troezenians, probably from hostility to Argos, entered into close alliance with
the Lacedaemonians. In the Peloponnesian War the Troezenians remained the firm
allies of Sparta, although their country, from its maritime situation and its
proximity to Attica, was especially exposed to the ravages of the Athenian fleet.
(Thuc. ii. 56, iv. 45.) In the Corinthian War, B.C. 394, the Troezenians fought
upon the side of the Lacedaemonians (Xen. Hell. iv. 2. 16); and again in B.C.
373 they are numbered among the allies of Sparta against Athens. (Xen. Hell. vi.
2. 3) In the Macedonian period Troezen passed alternately into the hands of the
contending powers. In B.C. 303 it was delivered, along with Argos, from the Macedonian
yoke, by Demetrius Poliorcetes; but it soon became subject to Macedonia, and remained
so till it was taken by the Spartan Cleonymus in B.C. 278. (Polyaen. Strat. ii.
29. § 1; Frontin. Strat. iii. 6. § 7.) Shortly afterwards it again became a Macedonian
dependency; but it was united to the Achaean League by Aratus after he had liberated
Corinth. (Paus. ii. 8. § 5.) In the war between the Achaean League and the Spartans,
it was taken by Cleomenes, in B.C. 223 (Polyb. ii. 52; Plut. Cleom. 19); but after
the defeat of this monarch at Sellasia in B.C. 221, it was doubtless restored
to the Achaeans. Of its subsequent history we have no information. It was a place
of importance in the time of Strabo (viii. p. 373), and in the second century
of the Christian era it continued to possess a large number of public buildings,
of which Pausanias has given a detailed account. (Paus. ii. 31, 32.)
According to the description of Pausanias, the monuments of Troezen
may be divided into three classes, those in the Agora and its neighbourhood, those
in the sacred inclosure of Hippolytus, and those upon the Acropolis. The Agora
seems to have been surrounded with stoae or colonnades, in which stood marble
statues of the women and children who fled for refuge to Troezen at the time of
the Persian invasion. In the centre of the Agora was a temple of Artemis Soteira,
said to have been dedicated by Theseus, which contained altars of the infernal
gods. Behind the temple stood the monument of Pittheus, the founder of the city,
surmounted by three chairs of white marble, upon which he and two assessors are
said to have administered justice. Not far from thence was the temple of the Muses,
founded by Ardalus, a son of Hephaestus, where Pittheus himself was said to have
learnt the art of discourse; and before the temple was an altar where sacrifices
were offered to the Muses and to Sleep, the deity whom the Troezenians considered
the most friendly to these goddesses.
Near the theatre was the temple of Artemis Lyceia, funded by Hippolytus.
Before the temple there was the very stone upon which Orestes was purified by
nine Troezenians. The so-called tent of Orestes, in which he took refuge before
his expiation, stood in front of the temple of Apollo Thearius, which was the
most ancient temple that Pausanias knew. The water used in the purification of
Orestes was drawn from the sacred fountain Hippocrene, struck by the hoof of Pegasus.
In the neighbourhood was a statue of Hermes Polygius, with a wild olive tree,
and a temple of Zeus Soter, said to have been erected by Aetius, one of the mythical
kings of Troezen.
The sacred enclosure of Hippolytus occupied a large space, and was
a most conspicuous object in the city. The Troezenians denied the truth of the
ordinary story of his being dragged to death by his horses, but worshipped him
as the constellation Auriga, and dedicated to him a spacious sanctuary, the foundation
of which was ascribed to Diomede. He was worshipped with the greatest honours;
and each virgin, before her marriage, dedicated a lock of her hair to him. (Eurip.
Hippol. 1424; Paus. ii. 32. § 1.) The sacred enclosure contained, besides the
temple of Hippolytus, one of Apollo Epibaterius, also dedicated by Diomede. On
one side of the enclosure was the stadium of Hippolytus, and above it the temple
of Aphrodite Calascopia, so called because Phaedra beheld from this spot Hippolytus
as he exercised in the stadium. In the neighbourhood was shown the tomb of Phaedra,
the monument of Hippolytus, and the house of the hero, with the fountain called
the Herculean in front of it.
The Acropolis was crowned with the temple of Athena Polias or Sthenias;
and upon the slope of the mountain was a sanctuary of Pan Lyterius, so called
because lie put a stop to the plague. Lower down was the temple of Isis, built
by the Halicarnassians, and also one of Aphrodite Ascraea.
The ruins of Troezen lie west of the village of Dhamala. They consist
only of pieces of wall of Hellenic masonry or of Roman brickwork, dispersed over
the lower slopes of the height, upon which stood the Acropolis, and over the plain
at its foot. The Acropolis occupied a rugged and lofty hill, commanding the plain
below, and presenting one of the most extensive and striking prospects in Greece.
There are in the plain several ruined churches, which probably mark the site of
ancient temples; and several travellers have noticed the remains of the temple
of Aphrodite Calascopia, overlooking the cavity formerly occupied by the stadium.
The chief river of the plain flows by the ruins of Troezen, and is now called
Potamni. It is the ancient Taurius, afterwards called Hyllicus (Paus. ii. 32.
§ 7), fed by several streams, of which the most important was the Chrysorrhoas,
flowing through the city, and which still preserved its water, when all the other
streams had been dried up by a nine years' drought. (Paus. ii. 31. § 10.)
The territory of Troezen was bounded on the W. by that of Epidaurus,
on the SW. by that of Hermione, and was surrounded on every other side by the
sea. The most important part of the territory was the fertile maritime plain,
in which Troezen stood, and which was bounded on the south by a range of mountains,
terminating in the promontories Scyllaeum and Bucephala, the most easterly points
of the Peloponnesus. Above the promontory Scyllaeum, and nearly due E. of Troezen,
was a large bay, protected by the island of Calaureia, named Pogon, where the
Grecian fleet was ordered to assemble before the battle of Salamis (Herod. viii.
42; Strab. viii. p. 373.) The porttown, which was named Celenderis (Pans. ii.
32. § 9), appears to have stood at the western extremity of the bay of Pogon,
where some ancient remains are found. The high rocky peninsula of Methana, which
belonged to the territory of Troezen and is united to the mainland by a narrow
isthmus, is described in a separate article. There were formerly two islands off
the coast of Troezen, named Calaureia and Sphaeria (afterwards Hiera), which are
now united by a narrow sandbank.
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
Now Dhamala; the capital of Troezenia (Troizenia), a district in the southeast of Argolis, on the Saronic Gulf, and opposite the island of Aegina. The town was situated at some little distance from the coast, on which it possessed a harbour called Pogon (Pogon), opposite the island of Calauria. Troezen was a very ancient city, and is said to have been originally called Poseidonia, on account of its worship of Poseidon. It received the name of Troezen from Troezen, one of the sons of Pelops; and it is celebrated in mythology as the place where Pittheus, the maternal grandfather of Theseus, lived, and where Theseus himself was born. In the historical period it was a city of some importance. The Troezenians sent five ships of war to Salamis and 1000 heavy-armed men to Plataea. When the Persians entered Attica the Troezenians distinguished themselves by the kindness with which they received the Athenians, who were obliged to abandon their city. The friendship continued till the Peloponnesian War, when the Troezenians allied themselves with Sparta.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Troezen. City of eastern Peloponnese
on the southern coast of the Saronic
Gulf.
The city was said to have been founded by Pittheus, a son of Pelops
(or by his brother Troezen who gave the city its name). It is in that city that
Theseus was born to Aethra, Pittheus' daughter and that he spent his youth. Later,
Theseus' son Hippolytus was sent there to be reared by Pittheus, who had a great
repute of wisdom.
In historical times, when the Athenians had to flee before Xerxes
in 480, at the start of the second Persian War, it is in Troezen that most of
them seeked refuge for their wives and children. Because of its strategic position
across the Saronic Gulf from
Athens, Troezen was the target
of several Athenian attacks during the Peloponnesian War and had to switch sides
several times.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
The city, ca. 15 stadia from the coast of the Saronic Gulf, was situated
on the N slope of the mountain anciently called Phorbantion. Its territory extended
to the sea and included the island of Calauria, bordered on the W by Epidauros
and on the SW by Hermione. Originally an Ionic city, Troizen was particularly
bound to Athens, united by common traditional mythology concerning both the legend
of the founding of the city and because one of its ancient princes may have been
an ancestor of Theseus, the principal hero of Athens, whose son Hippolytos was
particularly venerated at Troizen. Subjugated to the more powerful Argos, Troizen
nevertheless attempted to sustain its own policies, entering the Peloponnesian
League, and in 480 B.C. welcoming the Athenians in flight from Attica after the
battle of Thermopylai. Reference to these events is found in a recently discovered
inscription of the 3d c. B.C., which is considered an ancient falsification of
the 4th c. In the course of the Peloponnesian War Troizen was initially allied
to Athens, and later to Sparta. The city, because of its favorable geographical
position, enjoyed particular prosperity through the Roman period.
The principal monuments of the city, discovered by French archaeologists
between 1890 and 1899, include the acropolis and the habitation center that extended
into the plain to the N. An encircling wall in polygonal masonry, descending from
the acropolis, constituted the city's defensive system. Not until the 3d c. B.C.,
with contributions of the citizens (Paus. 2.31), was there a defense wall, built
in transversal isodomic masonry, to separate the city from the citadel. Part of
the fortifications are actually visible near the Church of Haghios Georghios,
where there is also a Hellenistic tower restored in modern times. On the acropolis
was a small temple dedicated to a divinity, perhaps Pan, or more probably to Aphrodite
Akraia, whose remains are scarcely visible. It was in antis with rich decoration
of polychromed terracotta dating to the 6th c. B.C. Revealing traces of monuments
also appear in the agora, described by Pausanias (2.31.1). Outside the encircling
wall to the W several monuments dedicated to Hippolytos, whom Greek mythology
places at Troizen, have been discovered: a temple, a gymnasium, and a stadium.
The sources speak also of a statue erected in his honor, and of a temple he dedicated
to Lykeian Artemis in the city's agora. The Temple of Hippolytos (ca. 10 x 12
m), whose remains today are insignificant, was a peripteral temple with 6 x 12
columns, probably dating from the 4th c. B.C. Nearby was the Asklepieion, comprising
a propylon, a small prostyle temple, a monumental fountain, and a sacred refectory.
The latter includes a large hall (hestiatorion) with three central columns which
support the ceiling and a peristyle surrounded by rooms. The complex of monuments
may be placed between the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3d c. B.C. Outside
the city to the E, near the modern village of Damala, there has been discovered
a place sacred to the cult of Demeter, of which Pausanias also speaks (2.32.8),
though its remains are no longer visible. A votive deposit with pottery and votive
terracottas attest to the continuity of the cult from the 7th to the 4th c. B.C.
M. Cristofani, 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 13 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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