Lesche () is an

Ionic Greek Ionic or Ionian Greek () was a subdialect of the Eastern or Attic–Ionic dialect group of Ancient Greek. The Ionic group traditionally comprises three dialectal varieties that were spoken in Euboea (West Ionic), the northern Cyclades (Centr ...

word, signifying ''council'' or ''conversation'', and a ''place for council or conversation''. There is frequent mention of places of public resort, in the Greek cities, by the name of ''leschai'' (, the Greek plural of ''lesche''), some set apart for the purpose, and others so called because they were so used by loungers; to the latter class belong the

agora The agora (; , romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Ancient Greece, Greek polis, city-states. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center ...

and its porticoes, the gymnasia, and the shops of various tradesmen, especially those of the smiths, which were frequented in winter on account of their warmth, and in which, for the same reason, the poor sought shelter for the night. In these passages, however, in which are the earliest examples of the use of the word, it seems to refer to places distinct from the smiths' workshops, though resorted to in the same manner; and we may gather from the grammarians, that there were in the Greek cities numerous small buildings or porticoes, furnished with seats, and exposed to the sun, to which the idle resorted to enjoy conversation, and the poor to obtain warmth and shelter, and which were called ''leschai'': at

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

alone there were 360 such. The

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

, referring to a passage in Hesiod, explains ''lesche'' () by means of the word ''kaminos'' (, "oven" or "furnace"). By

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

and

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

the word is used for a solemn council; but elsewhere the same writers, as well as

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

, employ it to signify common conversation. In the

Dorians The Dorians (; , , singular , ) were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Greeks, Hellenes (or Greeks) of Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the Aeolians, Achaeans (tribe), Achaeans, and Ionians). They are almost alw ...

states the word retained the meaning of a place of meeting for deliberation and intercourse, a council-chamber or club-room. At

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

every

phyle ''Phyle'' (, ; pl. ''phylai'', ; derived from Greek , ''phyesthai'' ) is an ancient Greek term for tribe or clan. Members of the same ''phyle'' were known as ''symphyletai'' () meaning 'fellow tribesmen'. During the late 6th century BC, Cleist ...

had its ''lesche'', in which and in the gymnasium the elders passed the greater part of the day in serious and sportive conversation, and in which the newborn children were presented for the decision of the elders as to whether they should be brought up or destroyed. Some of these Spartan ''leschae'' seem to have been halls of some architectural pretensions: Pausanias mentions two of them, the ''lesche krotanon'' () and the ''lesche poikile'' (). They were also used for other purposes. There were generally chambers for council and conversation, called by this name, attached to the temples of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

, one of whose epithets was Apollo Leschenorios (). Of such ''leschae'' the chief was the Lesche of the Knidians, which was erected at

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

by the Cnidians, and which was celebrated throughout Greece, less for its own magnificence, than for the paintings with which it was adorned by Polygnotus. Karl Böttiger, ''Archaeol. d. Malerci'', p. 296, &c.

References

{{SmithDGRA Greek words and phrases Ancient Greek leisure Ionia