![Αταλαντονήσι](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/%CE%91%CF%84%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%B1%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%BD%CE%AE%CF%83%CE%B9.jpg)
Atalanti ( el, Αταλάντη) or Atalantonisi (Αταλαντονήσι) or Talandonísi (Ταλαντονήσι) is a small uninhabited island in the
North Euboean Gulf
The North Euboean Gulf ( el, Βόρειος Ευβοϊκός Κόλπος, ''Voreios Evvoïkos Kolpos'') is a gulf of the Aegean Sea. It separates the northern part of the island Euboea from the mainland of Central Greece. The narrow Euripus Strai ...
, about 600 m off the coast near the town
Atalanti
Atalanti ( el, Αταλάντη '' Atalantē'') is the second largest town in Phthiotis, Greece. It is located southeast of Lamia, north of Livadeia and northwest of Chalcis. In 2011, it was incorporated into the municipality of L ...
,
Phthiotis
Phthiotis ( el, Φθιώτιδα, ''Fthiótida'', ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. The capital is the city of Lamia. It is border ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
. There are several small islets next to Atalanti island, including the islet of Agios Nikolaos.
Anciently, the island was known as Atalanta or Atalante ( grc, Ἀταλάντη). It was noted by ancient geographers and historians as a small island off
Locris
Locris (; el, label=Modern Greek, Λοκρίδα, Lokrída; grc, Λοκρίς, Lokrís) was a region of ancient Greece, the homeland of the Locrians, made up of three distinct districts.
Locrian tribe
The city of Locri in Calabria (Italy), a ...
, in the
Opuntian Gulf
Opuntian Locris or Eastern Locris was an ancient Greek region inhabited by the eastern division of the Locrians, the so-called tribe of the Locri Epicnemidii ( el, ) or Locri Opuntii (Greek: ).
Geography
Opuntian Locris consisted of a narrow ...
, said to have been torn asunder from the mainland by an
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
. In the first year of the
Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...
this previously uninhabited island was fortified by the
Athenians
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
to prevent
Locrian pirates attacking
Euboea
Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poin ...
. In the sixth year of the war a part of the Athenian works was destroyed by the sea, with half the ships on the beach destroyed.
Thucydides
Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...
reports that following an earthquake, the sea receded from the shore before returning in a huge wave. Citing similar events at
Peparethus
Skopelos ( el, Σκόπελος) is the main town on the island of Skopelos. The island is located east of mainland Greece, northeast of the island of Euboea and is part of the regional unit of the Sporades in the region of Thessaly. It has a port ...
and
Orobiae Orobiae or Orobiai ( grc, Ὀρόβιαι) was a town on the western coast of ancient Euboea, between Aedepsus and Aegae, which possessed an oracle of Apollo Selinuntius. The town was partly destroyed by an earthquake and an inundation of the sea ...
, he suggests that earthquakes and such "sea events" are linked—we now know that such
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...
are in fact caused by earthquakes. In 421 BCE, the
Peace of Nicias
The Peace of Nicias was a peace treaty signed between the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta in March 421 BC that ended the first half of the Peloponnesian War.
In 425 BC, the Spartans had lost the battles of Pylos and Sphacteria, a severe d ...
returned Atalanta to Sparta. Aside from Thucydides, the island is noted by
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 ...
,
Diodorus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
,
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 ...
,
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...
,
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
,
Seneca
Seneca may refer to:
People and language
* Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname
* Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America
** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people
Places Extrat ...
, and
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 ...
.
References
*
External links
Atalanti (island) on GTP Travel Pages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atalanti Island
Landforms of Phthiotis
Islands of Central Greece
Uninhabited islands of Greece
Peloponnesian War
Opuntian Locris