Alalcomenae or Alalkomenai ( grc, Ἀλαλκομέναι), or Alalcomenium or Alalkomenion (Ἀλαλκομένιον), was a town in

ancient Boeotia 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 lar ...

, situated at the foot of

Mount Tilphossium Tilphossium or Tilphossion ( grc, Τιλφώσσιον or Τιλφωσσαῖον), or Tilphusium or Tilphousion (Τιλφούσιον), was a mountain on the southern side of Lake Copais, between the plains of Haliartus and Coroneia, maybe regard ...

, a little to the east of

Coroneia Koroneia ( el, Κορώνεια, before 1915: Κουτουμουλάς - ''Koutoumoulas'') is a village and a former municipality in Boeotia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Livadeia, of which it is a ...

, and near

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. ...

. It was celebrated for the worship of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

, who was said to have been born there, and who is hence called Alalcomeneis (Ἀλαλκομενηΐς) in Homer's ''

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 ''Odysse ...

''. The temple of the goddess stood, at a little distance from the town, on the

Triton River The Triton River in Boeotia, Greece ran into Lake Copais. The towns of Athenae and Eleusis were located on the river and were both destroyed in an inundation. A temple to Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ...

, a small stream flowing into Lake Copais. The town was by a hill which

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

calls Mount Tilphossium (named for Telphousa, the spring visited by the god

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

). Strabo also records that the tomb of the seer

Teiresias In Greek mythology, Tiresias (; grc, Τειρεσίας, Teiresías) was a blind prophet of Apollo in Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph ...

, and the temple of Tilphossian Apollo, were located just outside Alalcomenae. Ancient sources preserve three accounts of the origin of the town's name: *

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...

and the geographer

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC *Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...

— and probably

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 ...

— preserve the story that it was named after

Alalcomenes Alalcomenes (Ancient Greek: means 'guardian') or Alalcomeneus was in Greek mythology, a Boeotian autochthon who was believed to have given the name to the Boeotian town of Alalcomenae. Mythology Alalcomeneus was also said to have brought-up/ ...

(or Alalkomenes, in Stephanus), who raised the goddess

there. * Pausanias also records an account that it was named after

Alalcomenia Alalcomenia (Ancient Greek: ) was, in Greek mythology, one of the daughters of Ogyges and the eponym of Alalcomenae. She and her two sisters, Thelxionoea and Aulis, were regarded as supernatural beings who watched over oaths and saw that they we ...

, daughter of

Ogygus Ogyges, also spelled Ogygos or Ogygus (Ancient Greek: Ὠγύγης or Ὤγυγος), is a primeval mythological ruler in ancient Greece, generally of Boeotia, but an alternative tradition makes him the first king of Attica. Etymology Though th ...

, King of the

Ectenes The Ectenes or Hectenes ( grc, Ἑκτῆνες) were, in Greek mythology, the autochthones or earliest inhabitants of Boeotia, where the city of Thebes would later be founded. According to Pausanias, writing from his travels in Boeotia in the 2n ...

, the people to first occupy the land of Thebes. * According to Stephanus of Byzantium, the Alexandrian scholar

Aristarchus of Samothrace Aristarchus of Samothrace ( grc-gre, Ἀρίσταρχος ὁ Σαμόθραξ ''Aristarchos o Samothrax''; c. 220 – c. 143 BC) was an ancient Greek grammarian, noted as the most influential of all scholars of Homeric poetry. He was the h ...

believed the town was named from the Greek verb "to protect" (< ), to reflect Athena's role as defender of the town. The early "D"

scholia Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of th ...

on the ''Iliad'' also reflect this account, so the idea may pre-date Aristarchus. In view of the cult of Athena there, presumably local myth in Alalcomenae followed the first of these theories. Beyond the modern village of Solinari (Solinarion), the site of Alalcomenae, are some polygonal foundations, apparently those of a single building, which are probably remains of the

peribolus In ancient Greek and Roman architecture, a peribolos was a court enclosed by a wall, especially one surrounding a sacred area such as a temple, shrine, or altar. This area, however, is not a necessary element to these structures since those built ...

of the temple. Both the town and the temple were plundered by the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

general

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had ...

, who carried off the statue of the goddess. Pausanias recalls a story after Sulla stole the statue of Athena from the temple, in revenge Athena sent a plague of lice upon him; but afterwards the temple was neglected.

William Martin Leake William Martin Leake (14 January 17776 January 1860) was an English military man, topographer, diplomat, antiquarian, writer, and Fellow of the Royal Society. He served in the British military, spending much of his career in the Mediterrane ...

, ''Northern Greece'', vol. ii. p. 135; Forchhammer, ''Hellenica'', p. 185. The nearby Alalkomenes was renamed in 1928 to reflect association with the ancient town.

References

{{coord, 38.385259, N, 23.00169, E, display=title, format=dms, source:http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/29293 Cities in ancient Boeotia Former populated places in Greece Locations in Greek mythology Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Central Greece