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

Pisatis Pisa ( grc, Πῖσα) is a modern village situated to the east of Olympia, Greece. 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 ...

in ancient Elis, situated near the sea, upon the

Sacred Way The Sacred Way ( grc, Ἱερὰ Ὁδός, ''Hierá Hodós''), in ancient Greece, was the road from Athens to Eleusis. It was so called because it was the route taken by a procession celebrating the Eleusinian Mysteries. The procession to Eleu ...

leading from

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 ...

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

, 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 agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The wor ...

, for the Achaeans to conquer

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Çan ...

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

Spartan 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 referred ...

king

Agis II Agis II ( grc-gre, Ἄγις; died c. 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.Battle of Nemea The Battle of Nemea (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 (; grc, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies of ...

speaks of Letrini,

Amphidoli Amphidolis ( grc, Ἀμφιδολίς) or Amphidolia (Ἀμφιδολία) was a town of the Pisatis district in ancient Elis. Its territory was probably to the west of Acroreia, and included the town of Marganeae (or Margalae). Amphidolis is menti ...

, and

Marganeis Margana ( grc, Μάργανα) or Margalae or Margalai (Μαργάλαι) or Margaea or Margaia (Μάργαια) was a town in the Pisatis in ancient Elis, in the territory of Amphidolia, was supposed by some to be the Homeric Aepy. The Eleians were ...

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 E ...

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 (; grc-gre, Λυκόφρων ὁ Χαλκιδεύς; born about 330–325 BC) was a Hellenistic Greek tragic poet, grammarian, sophist, and commentator on comedy, to whom the poem ''Alexandra'' is attributed (perhaps falsely). Life and ...

. In the time of

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 ...

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

Pyrgos Pyrgos or Pyrgus (Greek: ''Πύργος'', "tower") may refer to: Places Greece *Chalastra, a village in Thessaloniki regional unit *Myrtos Pyrgos, Minoan archaeological site near Myrtos, Crete *Priniatikos Pyrgos, an archaeological site near ...

and the port of

Katakolo Katakolo ( el, Κατάκολο) is a seaside town 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 Py ...

, where, according to

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

, 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 Locations in Greek mythology {{ancientElis-geo-stub