Alalcomenae or Alalkomenai (), or Alalcomenium or Alalkomenion (Ἀλαλκομένιον), was a town in

ancient Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia (; modern Greek, modern: ; ancient Greek, ancient: ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Central Greece (adm ...

, situated at the foot of Mount Tilphossium, a little to the east of Coroneia, and near

Lake Copais Lake Copais, also spelled Kopais or Kopaida (; ), was a lake in the centre of Boeotia, Greece, west of Thebes. It was first drained in the Bronze Age, and drained again in the late 19th century. It is now flat dry land and is still known as Kop ...

. It was celebrated for the worship of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

, who was said to have been born there, and who is hence called Alalcomeneis (Ἀλαλκομενηΐς) in Homer's ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

''. The temple of the goddess stood, at a little distance from the town, on the Triton River, a small stream flowing into Lake Copais. The town was by a hill which

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 ...

calls Mount Tilphossium (named for Telphousa, the spring visited by the god

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 ...

). Strabo also records that the tomb of the seer Teiresias, and the temple of Tilphossian Apollo, were located just outside Alalcomenae. Ancient sources preserve three accounts of the origin of the town's name: *

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephen of Byzantium (; , ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD) was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epit ...

and the geographer Pausanias — and probably

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient 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. Despite doubts about his autho ...

— preserve the story that it was named after Alalcomenes (or Alalkomenes, in Stephanus), who raised the goddess

there. * Pausanias also records an account that it was named after Alalcomenia, daughter of Ogygus, King of the Ectenes, the people to first occupy the land of Thebes. * According to Stephanus of Byzantium, the Alexandrian scholar

Aristarchus of Samothrace Aristarchus of Samothrace ( ''Aristarchos o Samothrax''; BC) was an ancient Greek grammarian, noted as the most influential of all scholars of Homeric poetry. He was the head librarian of the Library of Alexandria and seems to have succeeded hi ...

believed the town was named from the Greek verb "to protect" (< ), to reflect Athena's role as defender of the town. The early "D"

scholia Scholia (: scholium or scholion, from , "comment", "interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of the manuscript of ancient a ...

on the ''Iliad'' also reflects this account, so the idea may pre-date Aristarchus. In view of the cult of Athena there, presumably local myth in Alalcomenae followed the first of these theories. Beyond the modern village of Solinari (Solinarion), the site of Alalcomenae, are some polygonal foundations, apparently those of a single building, which are probably remains of the peribolus of the temple. Both the town and the temple were plundered by the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

general

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...

, who carried off the statue of the goddess. Pausanias recalls a story after Sulla stole the statue of Athena from the temple, in revenge Athena sent a plague of lice upon him; but afterwards the temple was neglected.

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 ...

, ''Northern Greece'', vol. ii. p. 135; Forchhammer, ''Hellenica'', p. 185. The nearby Alalkomenes was renamed in 1928 to reflect its association with the ancient town.

References

{{coord, 38.385259, N, 23.00169, E, display=title, format=dms, source:http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/29293 Cities in ancient Boeotia Former populated places in Greece Places in Greek mythology Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Central Greece