Erchia or Erkhia (; also spelled Ἔρχεια and Ἑρχιά) 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 ...

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 ...

, of the ''

phyle ''Phyle'' (, ; pl. ''phylai'', ; derived from Greek , ''phyesthai'' ) is an ancient Greek term for tribe or clan. Members of the same ''phyle'' were known as ''symphyletai'' () meaning 'fellow tribesmen'. During the late 6th century BC, Cleist ...

'' of

Aegeis Aigeis () was a tribe (phyle) of Ancient Athens which contained twenty demes: Lower and Upper Ankyle, Araphen, Bate, Diomeia, Erchia, Erikeia, Gargettos, Halae Araphenides, Hestiaia, Ikarion, Ionidai, Kollytos, Kolonos, Kydantidai, Myrrhi ...

, sending six or seven delegates to the Athenian Boule, but eleven delegates after 307/6 BCE. According to

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 ...

, in

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 ...

, the name comes from an inhabitant of the deme who hosted

Demeter In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over cro ...

History

Much of what is known about Erchia comes from a ''lex sacra'' (sacred law) of the deme. In it are listed 59 annual sacrifices to 46 divinities (gods, nymphs and heroes), for a total cost of 547

drachma Drachma may refer to: * Ancient drachma, an ancient Greek currency * Modern drachma The drachma ( ) was the official currency of modern Greece from 1832 until the launch of the euro in 2001. First modern drachma The drachma was reintroduce ...

e; 21 of these sacrifices were made in the deme itself, the other 38 in the neighboring demoi or in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. From its central location within Attica, and the wealth and positions held by many of its inhabitants (whose peak period, judging by the information available, seems to be between approximately 450 BCE and 200 BCE) and from the number of its delegates to the Athenian Boule, more than any other deme of the phyle Aegeis, it can be assumed that Erchia was one of the most important demoi. In Erchia there was a shrine of

Hecate Hecate ( ; ) is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, or snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depicted as three-formed or triple-bodied. She is variously associat ...

Location

Its position is known thanks to the discovery of the ''lex sacra'', and the construction of the modern Athenian airport, which was built over the deme.

Notable people

Isocrates Isocrates (; ; 436–338 BC) was an ancient Greek rhetorician, one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education through his teaching and writte ...

, rhetorician, and orator *

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 ...

, philosopher, historian, soldier, mercenary, and student of

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

Diogenes Laërtius Diogenes Laërtius ( ; , ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Little is definitively known about his life, but his surviving book ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal source for the history of ancient Greek ph ...

, ''

Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers Diogenes Laërtius ( ; , ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Little is definitively known about his life, but his surviving book ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal source for the history of ancient Greek phi ...

'' 2.48

References

Populated places in ancient Attica Former populated places in Greece Demoi {{AncientAttica-geo-stub