Trachis ( grc-gre, , ''Trakhís'') was a region in ancient

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

. Situated south of the river Spercheios, it was populated by the Malians. It was also a

polis ''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...

(city-state). Its main town was also called ''Trachis'' until 426 BC, when it was refounded as a Spartan colony and became Heraclea Trachinia. It is located to the west of

Thermopylae Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: (''Thermopylai'') , Demotic Greek (Greek): , (''Thermopyles'') ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur ...

. Trachis is located just west of the westernmost tip of the island of

Euboea Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poi ...

, north of

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The orac ...

. Near this place archaeologists discovered tombs from the Mycenaean period. According to

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

Trachis was the home of Ceyx and

Alcyone In Greek mythology, Alcyone or Halcyone (; grc, Ἀλκυόνη, Alkyónē derived from grc, ἀλκυών, alkyṓn, kingfisher, label=none) and Ceyx (; grc, Κήϋξ, Kḗÿx) were a wife and husband who incurred the wrath of the god Zeu ...

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

went to Trachis after the death of Eunomus. The town is mentioned by

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

(as one of the cities subject to Achilles) and for the last time in antiquity by Pausanias.

Trachis/Heraclea in ancient and modern times

In antiquity the settlement was famous for being at the base of the mountain where

is said to have died (

Mount Oeta Mount Oeta (; el, Οίτη, polytonic , ''Oiti'', also transcribed as ''Oite'') is a mountain in Central Greece. A southeastern offshoot of the Pindus range, it is high. Since 1966, the core area of the mountain is a national park, and much of ...

) as well as being the place where the descendants of Heracles settled. During the

Greco-Persian wars The Greco-Persian Wars (also often called the Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of th ...

, the fertile plains of Heraclea saw the landing and encampment of the Persian army as they marched to

. The settlement formerly known as "Trachis" was renamed " Heraclea in Trachis/Trachinia" 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 sent a garrison in 427 BC to guard the Trachinian plain against the marauding highland tribes of Oeta, and built a citadel close by the

Asopus Asopus (; grc, Ἀ̄σωπός ''Āsōpos'') is the name of four different rivers in Greece and one in Turkey. In Greek mythology, it was also the name of the gods of those rivers. Zeus carried off Aegina, Asopus' daughter, and Sisyphus, who h ...

gorge. But their attempted settlement during the

Peloponnesian war The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of ...

failed, due to the hostility of the Thessalians.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) William Smith, LLD, E

citing Thucydides 3.92 http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Thuc.%203.92&lang=original and Diodorus 2.59 http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Diod.%2012.59&lang=original For a short time the Spartans were displaced by the Thebes, Greece, Thebans. After a bloody defeat at the hands of the neighbouring mountaineers in 409, the Spartan governor quarrelled with the native settlers, whom he expelled in 399. Four years later Thebes used her new predominance in central Greece to restore the Trachinians, who retained Heraclea until 371, when the Thessalonian ruler Jason of Pherae seized and dismantled it. The fortress was rebuilt, and after 280 served the Aetolians as a bulwark against

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

and Macedonians. It was captured in 191 by the Romans, but restored to the

Aetolian League The Aetolian (or Aitolian) League ( grc-gre, Κοινὸν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν) was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered in Aetolia in central Greece. It was probably established during the early Hellen ...

until 146, after which it fell into obscurity, and

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 " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...

described it as mostly deserted. During the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

the area was famous for its resistance fighters or ''klephts'', a term which means mountain fighters or bandits, and includes those who opposed the Turkish ''

Haraç Haraç ( hy, խարջ, kharj, mk, арач, arač, gr, χαράτσι, charatsi, sh-Cyrl-Latn, харач, harač) was a land tax levied on non-Muslims in the Ottoman Empire. ''Haraç'' was developed from an earlier form of land taxation, ' ...

'' poll tax upon agricultural commodities. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the area saw significant resistance to the Germans. A vital railroad bridge linking southern and northern Greece was destroyed here. Today the village of Heraclea is a thriving agricultural community. Recent excavations have also revealed a series of small tombs at the foothills of Oeta near the banks of the Asopus river.

References

Populated places in ancient Thessaly Locations in Greek mythology Cities in ancient Greece Spercheios Valley Mycenaean sites in Central Greece Former populated places in Greece Thessalian city-states Malis (region) {{AncientThessaly-geo-stub