In Antiquity, Pelodes ( grc, Πηλώδης) or Palodes ( grc, Παλῶδες) was a site that cannot be identified with any certainty. One obscure Palodes was a minor port site on the eastern side of the

Bosporus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern T ...

, about halfway up, a little south of

Amycus In Greek mythology, Amykos ( grc, Ἄμυκος), Latinized as Amycus, was the king of the Bebryces, a mythical people in Bithynia. Family Amycus was the son of Poseidon and the Bithynian nymph Melia. Mythology Amycus was a doughty man but ...

. A reference to another Palodes is in

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

's ''De defectu oraculorum'' ("Obsolescence of Oracles")In his ''Moralia'', Book 5:17 of which a common reading is that the Greek god Pan is dead. During the reign of

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

(AD 14-37), Plutarch records, the news of Pan's death came to one Thamus, a sailor on his way to Italy by way of the islands of

Paxi Paxos ( gr, Παξός) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, lying just south of Corfu. As a group with the nearby island of Antipaxos and adjoining islets, it is also called by the plural form Paxi or Paxoi ( gr, Παξοί, pronounced in Engli ...

. A divine voice hailed him across the salt water, "Thamus, are you there? When you reach Palodes, take care to proclaim that the great god Pan is dead." Which Thamus did, and the news was greeted from shore with groans and laments. But see

Pan (mythology) In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Pan (; grc, Πάν, Pán) is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, rustic music and impromptus, and companion of the nymphs. He has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat, in the same manner ...

. In Plutarch's context, Epitherses was sailing up the western coast of Greece, presumably intending to cross to Italy once he reached

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

, following a standard Roman sea-route between Italy and Greece. The ship had already drifted from the

Echinades The Echinades (; Greek: per Herodotus, Thucydides, and Strabo, per Homer Echinae (, it, Curzolari) are a group of islands in the Ionian Sea, off the coast of Acarnania, Greece. The archipelago is commonly subdivided into three groups: the Drakon ...

(near Ithaca) up to Paxi.

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 ...

(7.7.5) mentions "the mouth of the so-called Pelodes Limen ( grc, Πηλώδης λιμήν) as the location of Buthrotum (modern

Butrint Butrint ( el, Βουθρωτόν and Βουθρωτός, ''Bouthrōtón'', la, Buthrōtum) was an ancient Greek and later Roman city and bishopric in Epirus. "Speakers of these various Greek dialects settled different parts of Greece at differen ...

in southern

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, opposite the northern end of Corfu.

Notes

References

"Where or what was Palodes?"
{{Authority control Roman towns and cities in Turkey Former populated places in Turkey