Dodona ( grc, Δωδώνη) was a city of Perrhaebia in

ancient Thessaly Thessaly or Thessalia ( Attic Greek: , ''Thessalía'' or , ''Thettalía'') was one of the traditional regions of Ancient Greece. During the Mycenaean period, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, a name that continued to be used for one of the major tribe ...

, situated near

Scotussa Scotussa or Skotoussa ( grc, Σκοτοῦσσα or Σκοτοῦσα or Σκοτοτοῦσαι) was a town and polis (city-state) of Pelasgiotis in ancient Thessaly, lying between Pherae and Pharsalus, near the frontiers of Phthiotis. Scotussa ...

. There is a more famous

Dodona Dodona (; Doric Greek: Δωδώνα, ''Dōdṓnā'', Ionic and Attic Greek: Δωδώνη, ''Dōdṓnē'') in Epirus in northwestern Greece was the oldest Hellenic oracle, possibly dating to the second millennium BCE according to Herodotus. T ...

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

, the site of a famous oracle of

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, ...

. The ancients wrote that there were two places of the name of Dodona, one in Thessaly, in the district of Perrhaebia near

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...

, and the other (the Thesprotian Dodona) in Epirus in the district of

Thesprotia Thesprotia (; el, Θεσπρωτία, ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital and largest town is Igoumenitsa. Thesprotia is named after the Thesprotians, an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the re ...

. The Thessalian Dodona is mentioned in the

Catalogue of Ships The Catalogue of Ships ( grc, νεῶν κατάλογος, ''neōn katálogos'') is an epic catalogue in Book 2 of Homer's ''Iliad'' (2.494–759), which lists the contingents of the Achaean army that sailed to Troy. The catalogue gives the nam ...

in the Homer's ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

'' along with

Cyphus Cyphus or Kyphos ( grc, Κύφος) was a town of Perrhaebia in ancient Thessaly, which, according to Homer's Catalogue of Ships in the ''Iliad'', supplied 22 ships for the Trojan War. It is placed by Strabo at the foot of Mount Olympus. According ...

Gonnos Gonnus or Gonnos ( grc, Γόννος) or Gonni (Γόννοι) was a town and polis (city-state) of the Perrhaebi in ancient Thessaly, which derived its name, according to the later Greek critics, from Gonneus, mentioned in the ''Iliad''. Its po ...

, and the "banks of the

Titaresius ''Titaresius jeanneli'' is a species of beetle in the family Carabidae, the only species in the genus ''Titaresius''. It is found in Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It i ...

", all ruled by

Guneus In Greek mythology, the name Guneus (; Ancient Greek: Γουνεὐς derived from ''gounos'' "fruitful land") may refer to: *Guneus, a man from Pheneus and father of Laonome, wife of Alcaeus. Through his daughter, he was the grandfather of Amph ...

, and belonging to the

Enienes Ainis (Ancient Greek Αἰνίς, , Modern Greek Αινίδα, ) or Aeniania, was a region of ancient Greece located near Lamia in modern Central Greece, roughly corresponding to the upper Valley of Spercheios. Name The region takes its name fr ...

and

Peraebi The Perrhaebi () were an ancient Greek people who lived on the western slopes of Olympus, on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia. They took part in the Trojan War under Guneus and also fought in the Battle of Thermopylae. History Still ...

. These places and ethnic groups are all located in ancient Thessaly, not Epirus; and thus, there can be no doubt, that this passage in Homer refers to the Dodona in Thessaly. However, the other Dodona, and its oracle which Odysseus consulted, is mentioned by Homer in the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

''. There is another mention by Homer in the ''Iliad'' of Dodona, with a difference of opinion concerning which Dodona is meant; some supposing that

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pe ...

prayed to Zeus in the Thessalian Dodona as the patron god of his native country; but others maintaining that the mention of Selli, whose name elsewhere occurs in connection with the Thesprotian Dodona, points to the place in Epirus. As there is no evidence of the existence of an oracle at the Thessalian Dodona, it is probable that the prayer of Achilles was directed to the god in Epirus, whose oracle had already acquired great celebrity, as we see from the passage in the Odyssey. The Thessalian Dodona is said to have been also called Bodona (Βωδώνη); and from this place the Thesprotian Dodona is said to have received a colony and its name.

References

Populated places in ancient Thessaly Former populated places in Greece Perrhaebia Lost ancient cities and towns Locations in the Iliad Cities in ancient Greece {{AncientThessaly-geo-stub