Letrini or Letrinoi () ''et seq.'' or Letrina (Λετρίνα) was a town of

Pisatis Pisa () is a village situated to the east of Olympia, Greece, located on the northwest side of the Peloponnesus peninsula. Currently it is not politically independent but it is a community of the municipality of Ancient Olympia, in the regional ...

ancient Elis Elis () or Eleia (; ; Elean: ; ) 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 the north by Achaea, east by Arcadia, south by Messen ...

, situated near the sea, upon the

Sacred Way A sacred way, spirit way, spirit road, spirit path, etc. (, ''shéndào'') is the ornate road leading to a Chinese tomb of a major dignitary. The sacred way is lined on both sides by a succession of statues, pillars, and stelae. The statues al ...

leading from

Elis Elis also known as Ellis or Ilia (, ''Eleia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it ...

to Olympia, at the distance of 180 stadia from Elis, and 120 from Olympia. According to

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, it was said to have been founded by Letreus, a son of

Pelops In Greek mythology, Pelops (; ) was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus region (, lit. "Pelops' Island"). He was the son of Tantalus and the father of Atreus. He was venerated at Olympia, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the ...

. There was a tradition that said that the bones of Pelops - necessary, according to the

oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

, for the Achaeans to conquer

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

- were at Letrini. Together with several of the other dependent townships of Elis, it joined

Spartan 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 valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern Pe ...

king

Agis II Agis II (; died 399 BC) was the 18th Eurypontid king of Sparta, the eldest son of Archidamus II by his first wife, and half-brother of Agesilaus II. He ruled with his Agiad co-monarch Pausanias.

, when he invaded the territories of Elis; and the Eleians were obliged to surrender their supremacy over Letrini by the peace which they concluded with the Spartans in 400 BCE. Later, the townsmen of Letrini formed part of the Spartan army that fought at the

Battle of Nemea The Battle of Nemea of 394 BC, also known in ancient Athens as the Battle of Corinth, was a battle in the Corinthian War, between Sparta and the coalition of Argos, Athens, Corinth, and Thebes. The battle was fought in Corinthian territory, ...

in 394 BCE.

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

speaks of Letrini, Amphidoli, and Marganeis as

Triphylia Triphylia (, ''Trifylia'', "the country of the three tribes") was an area of the ancient Peloponnese. Strabo and Pausanias both describe Triphylia as part of Elis, and it fell at times under the domination of the city of Elis, but Pausanias ...

n places, although they were on the right bank of the Alpheius; and if there is no corruption in the text, the word Triphylian must be used in a loose sense to signify the dependent townships of Elis. The Λετριναῖαι γύαι are mentioned by

Lycophron Lycophron ( ; ; born about 330–325 BC) was a Hellenistic Greek tragic poet, grammarian, and commentator on comedy, to whom the poem ''Alexandra'' is attributed (perhaps falsely). Life and miscellaneous works He was born at Chalcis in Euboea, a ...

. In the time of Pausanias nothing remained of Letrini except a few houses and a temple of Artemis Alpheiaea; the epithet ''Alpheiaea'' was due to a tradition that the river god Alpheus fell in love with Artemis and tried to seduce her in the vicinity of Letrini. It remains doubtful whether this temple is the same as that mentioned by

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

as located near the mouth of the Alpheius. Letrini may be placed at the village and monastery of Agios Ioannis (St John), between Pyrgos and the port of

Katakolo Katakolo () is a seaside village in the municipality of Pyrgos in western Elis, Greece. It is situated on a headland overlooking the Ionian Sea and separating the Gulf of Kyparissia from the rest of the Ionian. It is west of Pyrgos. The small v ...

, where, according to

William Martin Leake William Martin Leake FRS (14 January 17776 January 1860) was an English soldier, spy, topographer, diplomat, antiquarian, writer, and Fellow of the Royal Society. He served in the British Army, spending much of his career in the Mediterrane ...

, among many fragments of antiquity, a part of a large statue was found in the early 19th century. Some modern scholars accept the identification, while others treat it as tentative.

References

Populated places in ancient Elis Former populated places in Greece Places in Greek mythology {{ancientElis-geo-stub