Rhaucus or Rhaukos ( grc, Ῥαῦκος) was a town of
ancient Crete
The history of Crete goes back to the 7th millennium BC, preceding the ancient Minoan civilization by more than four millennia. The palace-based Minoan civilization was the first civilization in Europe.
After the Minoan civilization was devastat ...
. From the story told about the Cretan bees by
Antenor
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Antenor ( grc-gre, Ἀντήνωρ, ''Antḗnōr''; BC) was an Ancient Athens, Athenian Ancient Greek sculpture, sculptor. He is recorded as the creator of the Harmodius and Aristogeiton (sculpture), joint statues of the tyrannic ...
in his ''Cretica'' it seems that there were two cities of this name in Crete. The existence of two places so called in the island might give rise to some such legend as that which he mentions.
The site of one Rhaucus is at or near modern
Agios Myronas
Agios Myronas (Άγιος Μύρωνας, formerly Άγιος Μύρων ''Agios Myron'') is a village in the Heraklion regional unit of Crete, Greece named for Saint Myron of Crete. In 2011, its population was 612.
Agios Myronas is built on two ...
,
between
Knossos
Knossos (also Cnossos, both pronounced ; grc, Κνωσός, Knōsós, ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city.
Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the na ...
and
Gortyna
Gortyna ( grc, Γόρτυνα; also known as Gortyn (Γορτύν)) was a town of ancient Crete which appears in the Homeric poems under the form of Γορτύν; but afterwards became usually Gortyna (Γόρτυνα). According to Stephanus of ...
, and from its proximity to
Mount Ida
In Greek mythology, two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida, the "Mountain of the Goddess": Mount Ida in Crete, and Mount Ida in the ancient Troad region of western Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), which was also known as the '' Phrygian Ida'' ...
, we can infer that it is the more ancient.
References
Populated places in ancient Crete
Former populated places in Greece
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