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Orchomenus (Boeotia)
Orchomenus ( grc, Ὀρχομενός ''Orchomenos''), the setting for many early Greek myths, is best known today as a rich archaeological site in Boeotia, Greece, that was inhabited from the Neolithic through the Hellenistic periods. It is often referred to as " Minyan Orchomenus", to distinguish it from a later city of the same name in Arcadia. Ancient history According to the founding myth of Orchomenos, its royal dynasty was established by the Minyans, who had followed their eponymous leader Minyas from coastal Thessaly to settle the site. In the Bronze Age, during the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries BCE, Orchomenos became a rich and important centre of civilisation in Mycenaean Greece and a rival to Thebes. The palace with its frescoed walls and the great beehive tomb show the power of Orchomenos in Mycenaean Greece. A massive hydraulic undertaking drained the marshes of Lake Kopaïs, making it a rich agricultural area. Like many sites around the Aegean Sea, Orcho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Greece
Continental Greece ( el, Στερεά Ελλάδα, Stereá Elláda; formerly , ''Chérsos Ellás''), colloquially known as Roúmeli (Ρούμελη), is a traditional geographic region of Greece. In English, the area is usually called Central Greece, but the equivalent Greek term (Κεντρική Ελλάδα, ''Kentrikí Elláda'') is more rarely used. It includes the southern part of the Greek mainland (sans the Peloponnese), as well as the offshore island of Euboea. Since 1987, its territory has been divided among the administrative regions of Central Greece and Attica, and the regional unit (former prefecture) of Aetolia-Acarnania in the administrative region of Western Greece. Etymology The region has traditionally been known as ''Roúmeli'' (Ρούμελη), a name deriving from the Turkish word '' Rūm-eli'', meaning "the land of the Rūm he Romans, i.e. the Byzantine Greeks">Byzantine_Greeks.html" ;"title="he Romans, i.e. the Byzantine Greeks">he Romans, i.e. the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Copais
Lake Copais, also spelled Kopais or Kopaida ( grc, Κωπαΐς; ell, Κωπαΐδα), was a lake in the centre of Boeotia, Greece, west of Thebes. It was drained in the late 19th century. It is now flat dry land and is still known as Kopaida. A one-time island in the lake was modified in ancient times into a megalithic citadel, now called Gla, though its ancient name is not known. It may be the city of Arne mentioned by Homer. Drainage When the lake existed, the towns of Haliartus, Orchomenus, and Chaeronea were on its shores. Rivers feeding the lake included the Cephissus, Termessus and Triton. The lake was (and is) surrounded by fertile land, but the lake increasingly encroached on the surrounding land because of inadequate drainage. In response to this, in 1867–1887 Scots and French engineers reclaimed the land for the British Lake Copais Company, by building channels to drain water from the lake to the Cephissus and from there to Lake Yliki (Ylíki Limní, ancient Hy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charites
In Greek mythology, the Charites ( ), singular ''Charis'', or Graces, were three or more goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, goodwill, and fertility. Hesiod names three – Aglaea ("Shining"), Euphrosyne ("Joy"), and Thalia ("Blooming")Hesiod, ''Theogony''907 ff – and names Aglaea as the youngest and the wife of Hephaestus. In Roman mythology they were known as the , the "Graces". Some sources use the appellation "Charis" as the name of one of the Charites, and equate her with Aglaea, as she too is referred to as the wife of Hephaestus. The Charites were usually considered the daughters of Zeus and Oceanid Eurynome. Rarely, they were said to be daughters of Dionysus and Coronis or of Helios and the Naiad AeglePausanias, ''Description of Greece''9.35.5 or of Hera by an unnamed father. Other possible names of their mother by Zeus are Eurydome, Eurymedousa, or Euanthe. Homer identified them as part of the retinue of Aphrodite. The Charites were also associa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boeotian League
Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its largest city is Thebes. Boeotia was also a region of ancient Greece, from before the 6th century BC. Geography Boeotia lies to the north of the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It also has a short coastline on the Gulf of Euboea. It bordered on Megaris (now West Attica) in the south, Attica in the southeast, Euboea in the northeast, Opuntian Locris (now part of Phthiotis) in the north and Phocis in the west. The main mountain ranges of Boeotia are Mount Parnassus in the west, Mount Helicon in the southwest, Cithaeron in the south and Parnitha in the east. Its longest river, the Cephissus, flows in the central part, where most of the low-lying areas of Boeotia are found. Lake Copais was a large lake in the center of Boeotia. It was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphictyony
In Archaic Greece, an amphictyony ( grc-gre, ἀμφικτυονία, a "league of neighbors"), or amphictyonic league, was an ancient religious association of tribes formed before the rise of the Greek ''poleis''. The six Dorian cities of coastal southwest Anatolia and the twelve Ionian cities to the north that formed the Ionian League after a Meliac war in the mid-7th century BC, were already of considerable antiquity when the first written records emerge. An amphictyony consisting of polities under the aegis of Apollo's shrine at Delos was apparently well-established in the seventh century, as the Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo of that approximate date lists them, those cities and islands that trembled and refused to offer themselves for the birthplace of Apollo when pregnant Leto went to each in turn; the Homeric hymn presents an origin myth for the cult of Apollo on Delos. The joint Ionian festival celebrated there was the Delia. The Delian Amphictyony arose in the 4th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalaureia
Kalaureia ( grc, Καλαυρεία) or Calauria or Kalavria ( ell, Καλαυρία) is an island close to the coast of Troezen in the Peloponnesus of mainland Greece, part of the modern island-pair Poros. Strabo describes the coastwise journey along the Hermionic Gulf: :The gulf begins at the town of Asine. Then come Hermione and Troezen; and, as one sails along the coast, one comes also to the island of Calauria, which has a circuit of one hundred and thirty stadia and is separated from the mainland by a strait four stadia wide. Pre-classical asylum On Calauria a Doric temple of Poseidon was built in the ancient sanctuary, possibly around 520 BCE. The dimensions of the temple are 27.4 by 14.4 m. There are six columns on each short side and twelve on each long side. There is strong evidence that the epithet of Poseidon at Kalaureia was ''Geraistos'' (Γεραιστός), a word from an unknown pre-Hellenic language. A 6th century A.D. dictionary by Stephanus of Byzantium giv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City-state
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as Rome, Athens, Sparta, Carthage, and the Italian city-states during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, such as Florence, Venice, Genoa and Milan. With the rise of nation states worldwide, only a few modern sovereign city-states exist, with some disagreement as to which qualify; Monaco, Singapore and Vatican City are most commonly accepted as such. Singapore is the clearest example, with full self-governance, its own currency, a robust military and a population of 5.5 million. Several non-sovereign cities enjoy a high degree of autonomy and are sometimes considered city-states. Hong Kong, Macau, and members of the United Arab Emirates—most notably Dubai and Abu Dhabi—are often cited as such. Historical background Ancient and medi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aspledon
Aspledon ( grc, Ἀσπληδών), also called Spledon (Σπληδών), was a city of ancient Boeotia, mentioned by Homer in the Catalogue of Ships of the ''Iliad'', distant 20 stadia from Orchomenus. The river Melas flowed between the two cities. Strabo says that it was subsequently called Eudeielus or Eudeielos (Εὐδείελος), from its sunny situation; but Pausanias relates that it was abandoned in his time from a want of water. The town took its name from Aspledon, a son of Poseidon and the nymph Mideia In Greek mythology, Mideia or Midea (Ancient Greek: Μιδειη) may refer to: *Midea, a Phrygian slave, mother of Licymnius by Electryon. *Midea, a nymph, mother of Aspledon by Poseidon. The town Lebadea was believed to have previously been name .... Its site is near modern Pirgos. References Populated places in ancient Boeotia Former populated places in Greece Locations in the Iliad {{AncientBoeotia-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and contains 15,693 lines in its most widely accepted version, and was written in dactylic hexameter. Set towards the end of the Trojan War, a ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Mycenaean Greek states, the poem depicts significant events in the siege's final weeks. In particular, it depicts a fierce quarrel between King Agamemnon and a celebrated warrior, Achilles. It is a central part of the Epic Cycle. The ''Iliad'' is often regarded as the first substantial piece of European literature. The ''Iliad'', and the ''Odyssey'', were likely written down in Homeric Greek, a literary amalgam of Ionic Greek and other dialects, probably around the late 8th or early 7th century BC. Homer's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catalogue Of Ships
The Catalogue of Ships ( grc, νεῶν κατάλογος, ''neōn katálogos'') is an epic catalogue in Book 2 of Homer's ''Iliad'' (2.494–759), which lists the contingents of the Achaean army that sailed to Troy. The catalogue gives the names of the leaders of each contingent, lists the settlements in the kingdom represented by the contingent, sometimes with a descriptive epithet that fills out a half-verse or articulates the flow of names and parentage and place, and gives the number of ships required to transport the men to Troy, offering further differentiations of weightiness. A similar, though shorter, Catalogue of the Trojans and their allies follows (2.816–877). A similar catalogue appears in the Pseudo-Apollodoran ''Bibliotheca''. Historical background In the debate since antiquity over the Catalogue of Ships, the core questions have concerned the extent of historical credibility of the account, whether it was composed by Homer himself, to what extent it reflec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the most revered and influential authors in history. Homer's ''Iliad'' centers on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles during the last year of the Trojan War. The ''Odyssey'' chronicles the ten-year journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, back to his home after the fall of Troy. The poems are in Homeric Greek, also known as Epic Greek, a literary language which shows a mixture of features of the Ionic and Aeolic dialects from different centuries; the predominant influence is Eastern Ionic. Most researchers believe that the poems were originally transmitted orally. Homer's epic poems shaped aspects of ancient Greek culture and education, fostering ideals of heroism, glory, and honor. To Plato, Homer was simply the one who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's ''Iliad''. The core of the ''Iliad'' (Books II – XXIII) describes a period of four days and two nights in the tenth year of the decade-long siege of Troy; the ''Odyssey'' describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the war's heroes. Other parts of the war are described in a cycle of epic poems, which have survived through fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets including Virgil and Ovid. The ancient Greeks believed that Troy was located near the Dardanelles and that the Trojan War was a historical event of the 13th or 12th century BC, but by the mid-19th century AD, both the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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