Halae Araphenides or Halai Araphenides () was a
deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or (, plural: ''demoi'', δήμοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Classical Athens, Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, bu ...
of
ancient Attica
The regions of ancient Greece were sub-divisions of the Hellenic world as conceived by the ancient Greeks, shown by their presence in the works of ancient historians and geographers or in surviving legends and myths.
Conceptually, there is no cl ...
, situated on its eastern coast between
Brauron and
Araphen
Araphen () was the name of a deme of ancient Athens, situated on the eastern coast to the north of Brauron and Halae Araphenides, on the west of the current village of Rafina, located near the mouth of the river of the same name.
The area was ...
, and was the harbour of Brauron, whence persons crossed over to
Marmarium in
Euboea.
Etymology
The deme draws the first part of its name from the saltiness along the coast, while the second part was introduced to distinguish it from the deme of
Halae Aexonides.
History
Halae was mentioned by
Euripides
Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...
as close to the chain of
Karystia. In this place was conserved a statue of
Artemis
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...
Tauria brought from
Tauris by
Iphigenia and
Orestes.
In the deme, expiatory rites were held which consisted of withdrawing drops of blood from the throat of a man by means of a knife; furthermore, they had midnight feasts and
Pyrrhic dances.
Its port was also used by citizens of a Brauron and for the marble quarries of
Karystos, near the island of
Euboea, being the closest port of Attica.
Location
The site of Halae Araphenides is located near modern
Artemida, Attica (formerly, Loutsa).
Notes
Bibliography
;Primary sources
*
here
;Secondary sources
*
*
External links
Halai Araphenides
Populated places in ancient Attica
Former populated places in Greece
Demoi
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