Teumessus or Teumessos ( grc, Τευμησσός) 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 in the plain of Thebes, upon a low rocky hill of the same name. The name of this hill appears to have been also given to the range of mountains separating the plain of Thebes from the valley of the

Asopus Asopus (; grc, Ἀ̄σωπός ''Āsōpos'') is the name of four different rivers in Greece and one in Turkey. In Greek mythology, it was also the name of the gods of those rivers. Zeus carried off Aegina, Asopus' daughter, and Sisyphus, who had ...

. Teumessus was upon the road from Thebes to

Chalcis Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...

, at the distance of 100

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 ...

from the former. It is mentioned in one of the

Homeric hymn The ''Homeric Hymns'' () are a collection of thirty-three anonymous ancient Greek hymns celebrating individual gods. The hymns are "Homeric" in the sense that they employ the same epic meter—dactylic hexameter—as the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'', ...

s with the epithet λεχεποίη or grassy, an epithet justified by the rich plain which surrounds the town. Teumessus is celebrated in the epic legends, especially on account of the

Teumessian fox In Greek mythology, the Teumessian fox, or Cadmean vixen, was a gigantic fox that was destined never to be caught. (''Teumēs(s)íā alôpēx''), ''gen''.: Τευμησίας ἀλώπεκος, also known as ἀλώπηξ τῆς Τευμησσοῦ ...

, which ravaged the territory of Thebes. The only building at Teumessus mentioned by

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 ...

was a, temple of Athena Telchinia, without any statue. The torrent

Thermodon The Terme River ( tr, Terme Çayı; la, Thermeh; el, Θερμώδων, rendered Thermodon) is a short river in Samsun Province, Turkey draining into the Black Sea. Its sources are in the Pontic Mountains. It runs through the fertile Çarşam ...

ran down Mount Hypatus on its way to Teumessus. Its site is located near modern Mesovouni.

References

Populated places in ancient Boeotia Former populated places in Greece Locations in Greek mythology {{AncientBoeotia-geo-stub