Thelpusa or Thelpousa ( grc, Θέλπουσα), or Telphusa or Telphousa (Τέλφουσα), was a town in the west of

ancient Arcadia Arcadia ( el, Ἀρκαδία) is a region in the central Peloponnese. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas, and in Greek mythology it was the home of the gods Hermes and Pan. In European Renaissance arts, Arcadia was celebr ...

, situated upon the left or eastern bank of the river Ladon. Its territory was bounded on the north by that of

Psophis Psophis (Ancient Greek: , '' Eth.'' ) was an ancient Greek city in the northwest end of Arcadia, bounded on the north by Arcadia, and on the west by Elis. It was located near the modern village Psofida, part of the municipality Kalavryta. City ...

, on the south by that of Heraea, on the west by the

Eleia 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 th ...

and Tisatis, and on the east by that of

Cleitor Cleitor or Kleitor ( grc, Κλείτωρ or Κλήτωρ), also known as Clitorium, was a town in ancient Arcadia. Situation It possessed a small territory called Cleitoria or Kleitoria (Κλειτορία), bounded on the east by the territory of ...

, Tripolis, and Theisoa. The town is said to have derived its name from a

nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label= Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...

, the daughter of the Ladon, which nymph was probably the stream flowing through the lower part of the town into the Ladon. It is first mentioned in history in 352 BCE, when the

Lacedaemonians Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred ...

were defeated in its neighbourhood by the

Thebans Thebes (; ell, Θήβα, ''Thíva'' ; grc, Θῆβαι, ''Thêbai'' .) is a city in Boeotia, Central Greece. It played an important role in Greek myths, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus, Heracles and others. Archaeolo ...

. In 222 BCE, it was taken by Antigonus Doson, in the war against

Cleomenes III Cleomenes III ( grc, Κλεομένης) was one of the two kings of Sparta from 235 to 222 BC. He was a member of the Agiad dynasty and succeeded his father, Leonidas II. He is known for his attempts to reform the Spartan state. From 229 to ...

, and it is also mentioned in the campaigns of

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 ...

. Its coins show that it belonged to the

Achaean League The Achaean League ( Greek: , ''Koinon ton Akhaion'' "League of Achaeans") was a Hellenistic-era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea in the northwestern P ...

. When

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 t ...

visited Thelpusa in the second century, the city was nearly deserted, so that the agora, which was formerly in the centre of the city, then stood at its extremity. He saw a temple of

Asclepius Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis, or Arsinoe, or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represe ...

, and another of the twelve gods of Olympus, of which the latter was nearly leveled with the ground. Pausanias also mentions two temples of some celebrity in the neighbourhood of Thelpusa, one above and the other below the city. The one above was the temple of Demeter Eleusinia, containing statues of Demeter,

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...

and

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...

, made of stone. The temple below the city was also sacred to Demeter, whom the Thelpusians called

Erinys The Erinyes ( ; sing. Erinys ; grc, Ἐρινύες, pl. of ), also known as the Furies, and the Eumenides, were female chthonic deities of vengeance in ancient Greek religion and mythology. A formulaic oath in the ''Iliad'' invokes ...

(Fury). This temple is alluded to by Lycophron and

Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide varie ...

. It was situated at a place called Onceium, where Oncus, the son of

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

, is said once to have reigned. Below this temple stood the temple of Apollo Oncaeates, on the left bank of the Ladon, and on the right bank that of the boy Asclepius, with the sepulchre of Trygon, said to have been the nurse of Asclepius. The ruins of Thelpusa stand upon the slope of a considerable hill near the village of Vánena (or Vanaina), north of Toubitsi. When visited in the 19th century, it was described as bearing only few traces of the walls of the city. At the ruined church of St. John, near the rivulet, there were some Hellenic foundations and fragments of columns. The saint is probably the successor of Asclepius, whose temple, as we learn from Pausanias, stood longest in the city. There were likewise the remains of a Roman building, about 12 yards (metres) long and 6 wide, with the ruins of an arched roof. There are also near the Ladon some Hellenic foundations, and the lower parts of six columns. Below Vánena there stands upon the right bank of the Ladon the ruined church of St. Athanasius the Miraculous, where

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 ...

found the remains of several columns. Pausanias, in describing the route from Psophis to Thelpusa, after mentioning the boundaries between the territories of the two states, first crosses the river

Arsen Arsen (in Armenian, Արսեն; Georgian, არსენ; Russian, ; Ukrainian, ) is a given name, a diminutive of Greek ''Arsenios''. Notable people with the name include: * Arsen Akayev (born 1970), Kumyk-Russian professional football coach an ...

, and then, at the distance of 25

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 ...

, arrives at the ruins of a village Caus and a temple of Asclepius Causius, erected upon the roadside. From this place the distance to Thelpusa was 40 stadia.

, ''Morea'', vol. ii. pp. 97, ''et seq.'', 250, ''et seq.'', ''Peloponnesiaca'', pp. 205, 222, 228.

References

External links

Theoi Project - Thelpousa
Arcadian city-states Arcadian Azania Populated places in ancient Arcadia Former populated places in Greece Locations in Greek mythology {{AncientArcadia-geo-stub