Psophis (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: , '' Eth.'' ) was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

city in the northwest end of

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

, bounded on the north by Arcadia, and on the west by Elis. It was located near the modern village

Psofida Psofida (Greek: Ψωφίδα) is a village and a community in the municipal unit of Aroania in the southern part of Achaea, Greece. The community consists of the villages Psofida, Ano Psofida, Tripotama, Ano Tripotama, Kato Tripotama and Vasiliki. ...

, part of the municipality Kalavryta.

City name and mythology

Psophis was said to have been originally called Erymanthus, and its territory to have been ravaged by the Erymanthian Boar. Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' viii. 24. § 2-10 It afterwards received the name of Phegia or Phegeia ( or ), apparently from the oaks ( Gr. ''phegoi'', ) which at least up until the 19th century could still be found upon the site of the town. The ancients, as usual, derived the name from an

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous founder, Phegeus. The city was said to have been renamed "Psophis" by Echephron and

Promachus In Greek mythology and history, Promachus (; Ancient Greek: Πρόμαχος; English translation: "who leads in battle" or "champion") is a name that refers to several different people. ''Mythology'' *Promachus, son of Aeson. King of Iolcus, and ...

, two sons of

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

, who are said to have come from

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, and who named the town after their mother, Psophis. The city, while still called "Phegia", was celebrated as the residence of Alcmaeon, who fled here from

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses * ...

after murdering his mother. Here Alcmaeon married Arsinoe (named

Alphesiboea Alphesiboea (Ancient Greek: Ἀλφεσιβοίας) was the name of several characters in Greek mythology: *Alphesiboea, mother of Adonis with Phoenix. *Alphesiboea, a Psophian princess as the daughter of King Phegeus in Arcadia. She was the sis ...

in some versions), daughter of Phegeus. In consequence of their connection with Alcmaeon, the Psophidians took part in the second expedition against Thebes, and refused to join the other Greeks in the

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 ...

History

Psophis is rarely mentioned in history. In 219 BC, it was in the possession of the

Eleians Elis () or Eleia ( el, Ήλιδα, Ilida, grc-att, Ἦλις, Ēlis ; Elean: , ethnonym: ) is an ancient district in Greece that corresponds to the modern regional unit of Elis. Elis is in southern Greece on the Peloponnese, bounded on ...

, and was taken by

Philip V of Macedon Philip V ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 238–179 BC) was king ( Basileus) of Macedonia from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of the Roman Republic. He would lead Macedon ag ...

, who was then in alliance with the

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The ...

ns. In narrating this event,

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

gives a detailed description of the town: About 300 feet below the junction of the two rivers the united stream is joined by a third, smaller river, called the ''Lopesi'', or ''Skupi'', which rises on the frontiers of Cleitor near Seirae. From these three rivers the place is now called Tripotama. The banks of the Erymanthus are precipitous, but not very high; and between them and the steep summit of the hill upon which the town stood there is a small space of level or gently-rising ground. The summit is a sharp ridge, sending forth two roots, one of which descends nearly to the angle of junction of the two streams, the other almost to the bank of the Erymanthus at the eastern extremity of the city.

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

, in his attack on Psophis, crossed the bridge over the Erymanthus, and then drew up his men in the narrow space between the river and the walls. While the

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...

ians were attempting to scale the walls in three separate parties, the

made a sally from the gate in the upper part of the town. Euripidas and the garrison then retreated into the Citadel of Zakynthos, and shortly afterwards surrendered to Philip.

Ruins

In the 2nd century, Pausanias saw at Psophis a ruined temple of Aphrodite Erycina, heroa of Echephron and

, the tomb of Alcmaeon, and near the Erymanthus a temple sacred to that stream. In the early 19th century,

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 ...

also noticed a part of a theatre unmentioned by Pausanias, on the side of a hill. Nine hundred feet upstream from the junction of the two rivers, and near the walls on the bank of the Erymanthus, Leake also found some remains of a public building, 96 feet in length, below which there is a source of water in the bank. He conjectured that they may be the remains of the temple of Erymanthus. Psophis was about two miles in circumference. The town walls followed the crest of the ridge to the north, and the bank above the two rivers on the opposite side; and at least up through the 19th century they were traceable nearly throughout the entire circuit of the place. On the north-eastern side of the town, which is the only part not protected by the two rivers or by the precipices at the back of the hill, there was a double enclosure surrounding the citadel, although this has since entirely disappeared. At a distance of 30

stadia Stadia may refer to: * One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums" * The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes''). * Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey * Stadi ...

(roughly 3.4 miles) from Psophis was the Seirai (), which Pausanias describes as the boundary of the Psophians and the Clitorians. On the road from Psophis to

Thelpusa Thelpusa or Thelpousa ( grc, Θέλπουσα), or Telphusa or Telphousa (Τέλφουσα), was a town in the west of ancient Arcadia, situated upon the left or eastern bank of the river Ladon. Its territory was bounded on the north by that of Pso ...

lay Tropaea, upon the left bank of the

Ladon River The Ladon (Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: , ''Ládōn''; Demotic Greek: , ''Ládōnas'') is a river in the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It features in Greek mythology. It is a tributary to the river Alfeios, which empties into the Ionian Se ...

, near which was the grove Aphrodisium, after which came a column with an ancient inscription upon it, marking the boundaries of Psophis and Thelpusa. Ernst Curtius, ''Peloponnesos'' (1851) vol. i. p. 384, seq.

Notable residents

Aglaus Aglaus ( Gr. ) was a semi-mythological poor citizen of Psophis in Arcadia. When King Gyges, king of Lydia asked the Delphic oracle whether any man was happier than he was, the oracle pronounced Aglaus to be happier on account of his contentedness ...

, a peasant found in mythology, was from Psophis.

References

Sources

External links

{{coord, 37.8717, N, 21.8929, E, format=dms, display=title, source:http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/24868.html Populated places in ancient Arcadia Arcadian city-states Former populated places in Greece Locations in Greek mythology