Pisa ( grc, Πῖσα) is a modern village situated to the east of

Olympia, Greece Olympia ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ολυμπία ; grc, Ὀλυμπία ), officially Archaia Olympia ( el, label=Modern Greek, Αρχαία Ολυμπία; grc, Ἀρχαία Ὀλυμπία, links=no; "Ancient Olympia"), is a small town in ...

. Currently it is not politically independent but is a neighborhood of the village of Archea Olympia, the capital of the Municipality of Ancient Olympia, of which it is a municipal unit, Ancient Olympia, since 2011. Municipality (deme), municipal unit, village, and ancient site, all telescope at the same location under the same Greek name, archaia Olympia, although different English translations provide some diversity at the different levels. They are all in the regional unit of

Elis Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') 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 was ...

, located on the northwest side of the geographic (not political) feature of the

Peloponnesus The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge wh ...

Modern Pisa is the putative location of ancient Pisa. Greek history tells of a contention between Olympia, Pisa, and Elis, a village of

ancient Elis 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 t ...

, for supremacy of the region and management of the sacred precinct. The existence of an ancient district called Pisatis (ἡ Πισᾶτις), which included 8 villages over half of modern Elis, is indicated by many ancient authors. Such a political unit is certain for the 4th century BC. The tradition of an earlier unit is not an unreasonable one. Eventually Olympia was victorious in the contention and Pisa became part of Olympia rather than vice versa.

Pisatis area

The current location thought to be Pisa is about 1km east of Olympia. A confederacy of eight states apparently existed in Pisatis, of which, besides Pisa, the following names are recorded: Salmone, Heracleia, Harpinna,

Cycesium Cicysium or Kikysion ( grc, Κικύσιον) was the largest of the eight towns of Pisatis in ancient Elis. It is located near the Elean towns of Buprasium and Dymaea Dymaea or Dymaia ( grc, Δυμαία) was a town of ancient Elis, located near t ...

, and

Dyspontium Dyspontium ( grc, Δυσπόντιον) was one of the eight towns of Pisatis in ancient Elis. It was situated in the plain between Elis and Olympia, north of the river Alpheus and not far from the sea. It has been identified with the modern villa ...

. The celebration of the festival 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 relig ...

at Olympia had originally belonged to the Pisatans, in the neighbourhood of whose city Olympia was situated.

Legendary foundations

Pisa was said to have been founded by an eponymous hero, Pisus, the son of

Perieres In Greek mythology, Perieres ( grc, Περιήρης) may refer to these two distinct individuals. * Perieres, king of Messenia and son of Aeolus. * Perieres, Theban charioteer of Menoeceus (father of Creon). He was the one who wounded Clymenus, ...

, and grandson of

Aeolus In Greek mythology, Aeolus or Aiolos (; grc, Αἴολος , ) is a name shared by three mythical characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which A ...

; but others derived its name from a fountain Pisa. Modern writers connect its name with Πῖσος, a low marshy ground, or with Πίσσα, the name of the black fir or pinetree. It was celebrated in mythology as the residence of

Oenomaus In Greek mythology, King Oenomaus (also Oenamaus; grc-gre, Οἰνόμαος, ''Oἱnómaos'') of Pisa (Greece), Pisa, was the father of Hippodamia and the son of Ares. His name ''Oinomaos'' denotes a wine man. Family Oenomaeus' mother was ei ...

and

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 O ...

. The Virgilian commentator Servius wrote that the Teuti, or Pelops, the king of the Pisatans, arrived on the Tyrrhenian coast after the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans ( Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...

and founded the Italian (and more famous)

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ci ...

in the 13th century BCE. These traditions are regarded as having no merit of historical truth today, but are classed as folk-etymologies.

Early Olympic Games

In the eighth

Olympiad An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not unti ...

(747 BCE) the Pisatans succeeded in depriving the Eleians of the presidency by calling in the assistance of Pheidon I, tyrant of Argos, in conjunction with whom they celebrated the festival. But almost immediately afterwards the power of Pheidon was destroyed by the

Spartans 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 referr ...

, who not only restored to the Eleians the presidency, but are said even to have confirmed them in the possession of the Pisatis and

Triphylia Triphylia ( el, Τριφυλία, ''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 El ...

. In the

Second Messenian War The Second Messenian War was a war which occurred ca. 660–650 BC between the Ancient Greek states of Messenia and Sparta, with localized resistance possibly lasting until the end of the century. It started around 40 years after the end of the F ...

the Pisatans and Triphylians revolted from Elis and assisted the Messenians, while the Eleians sided with the Spartans. In this war the Pisatans were commanded by their king

Pantaleon Pantaleon, also known as Panteleimon, (Greek: ) was a Greek king who reigned some time between 190–180 BC in Bactria and India. He was a younger contemporary or successor of the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius, and is sometimes believed to ha ...

, who also succeeded in making himself master of Olympia by force, during the 34th Olympiad (644 BCE), and in celebrating the games to the exclusion of the Eleians. The conquest of the Messenians by the Spartans must also have been attended by the submission of the Pisatans to their former masters. In the 48th Olympiad (588 BCE) the Eleians, suspecting the fidelity of Damophon, the son of Pantaleon, invaded the Pisatis, but were persuaded by Damophon to return home without committing any further acts of hostility. But in the 52nd Olympiad (572 BCE), Pyrrhus, who had succeeded his brother Damophon in the sovereignty of Pisa, invaded Elis, assisted by the Dyspontii in the Pisatis, and by the Macistii and Scilluntii in Triphylia. This attempt ended in the ruin of these towns, which were razed to the ground by the Eleians. From this time Pisa disappears from history; and so complete was its destruction that the fact of its ever having existed was disputed in later times. Although Pisa ceased to exist as a city from this time, the Pisatans, in conjunction with the Arcadians, celebrated the 104th Olympic festival in 364 BCE.

Later testimonies

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 ...

found its site converted into a vineyard. Its situation, however, was perfectly well known to

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar ...

and

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...

. Pindar frequently identifies it with Olympia; and Herodotus refers to Pisa and Olympia as the same point in computing the distance from the altar of the twelve gods at Athens.

References

Attribution

External links

Mait Kõiv, Early History of Elis and Pisa: Invented or Evolving Traditions?
{{Archaia Olympia div Populated places in ancient Elis Cities in ancient Peloponnese Former populated places in Greece Ancient Olympia Populated places in Elis