HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Medeon () was a town of
ancient Phocis Phocis was an ancient region in the central part of ancient Greece, which included Delphi. A modern administrative unit, also called Phocis, is named after the ancient region, although the modern region is substantially larger than the ancient o ...
, destroyed by
Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon (; 382 BC – October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...
along with the other Phocian towns at the termination of the
Third Sacred War The Third Sacred War ( 356– 346 BC) was fought between the forces of the Delphic Amphictyonic League, principally represented by Thebes, and latterly by Philip II of Macedon, and the Phocians. The war was caused by a large fine imposed in 35 ...
(in 346 BCE), and never again restored.
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 ...
places it on the
Crissaean Gulf The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf (, ) is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the Isthmus of Corinth which includes the shipping-designed Corinth Canal and ...
(in the sense of the
Gulf of Corinth The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf (, ) is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the Isthmus of Corinth which includes the shipping-designed Corinth Canal and ...
), at the distance of 160 stadia from
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 ...
; and Pausanias says that it was near
Antikyra Antikyra or Anticyra () is a port on the west coast of the Gulf of Antikyra named after it. That gulf is a north-coast bay of the Gulf of Corinth. The settlement was made basically on a floor and beach fringing the northeast side of the mountaino ...
. According to ancient writers it was named after Medeon the son of
Electra Electra, also spelt Elektra (; ; ), is one of the most popular Greek mythology, mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, ''Electra (Sophocles play), Electra'' by Sophocles and ''Ele ...
and
Pylades In Greek mythology, Pylades (; Ancient Greek: Πυλάδης) was a Phocis (ancient region), Phocian prince as the son of King Strophius and Anaxibia who is the daughter of Atreus and sister of Agamemnon and Menelaus. He is mostly known for his ...
.


Geography of the site

The certain remains of the town's fortified acropolis have been discovered on a steep hill called Agioi Theodoroi from the church also on the hill (not to be confused with the town of
Agioi Theodoroi Agioi Theodoroi () is a town and a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Loutraki-Perachora-Agioi Theodoroi, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal u ...
in
Corinthia Corinthia (; ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese. It is situated around the city of Corinth, in the north-eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Ge ...
). The hill is an outcrop on the east side of the Gulf of Antikyra with a view across the water to
Antikyra Antikyra or Anticyra () is a port on the west coast of the Gulf of Antikyra named after it. That gulf is a north-coast bay of the Gulf of Corinth. The settlement was made basically on a floor and beach fringing the northeast side of the mountaino ...
, also a town of ancient Phocis. Today, however, since the 2011 Kallikrates reform, both locations are in the newly created prefecture of
Voiotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia (; modern: ; ancient: ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its largest city is Thebes. Boeotia was also a ...
,
Distomo-Arachova-Antikyra Distomo-Arachova-Antikyra () is a municipality in the Boeotia regional unit, Central Greece, Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares ...
. The ruins of Medeon are in the village of
Steiri Steiri () is a village in Boeotia, Greece. It is situated at the western end of Mount Helicon, the mythical mountain of the Muses, at 450 m elevation. The 10th century Hosios Loukas monastery, a World Heritage Site, is situated near Steiri. Steiri ...
, a part of
Distomo :"Distomo" ''may also refer to a work by Federico García Lorca'' Distomo () is a town in western Boeotia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Distomo-Arachova-Antikyra, of which it is the seat and a muni ...
. The east side of the gulf is a steeply rising wall. A floor along the gulf supports the road from Paralia Distomou ("Beach of Distomo") to an aluminum factory that mines
bauxite Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...
from the hills and renders it into the metal. Agioi Theodoroi is the bottom of a ridge of Mount Amalia extending into the gulf and abrogating the narrow floor region, which begins again on the other side of the ridge. The road is thus forced to cross the ridge, which it does to the east of the archaeological site. East of the road, the slopes of Mount Amalia rise to a knob of about , around which are buildings and roads. The hilly terrain is open forest laced with olive.


Excavation of the site

The first excavations on the hill were carried out by Georgios Sotiriadis in 1907. Additional rescue archaeology was carried out for several months of 1962-63 by the French School of Archaeology (which had also excavated Delphi) under a Greek official, the ephor, J. Constantinou. The need came from the
bauxite mining Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...
operations of the then newly constructed aluminum factory in the valley to the south of the hill. The 1960s excavation did not include the acropolis but concentrated on an ancient cemetery near it, which turned out to contain artifacts from the
Middle Helladic period Helladic chronology is a relative dating system used in archaeology and art history. It complements the Minoan chronology scheme devised by Sir Arthur Evans for the categorisation of Bronze Age artefacts from the Minoan civilization within a his ...
(2100-1600 BCE) to the 2nd century BCE. A
beehive tomb A beehive tomb, also known as a tholos tomb (plural tholoi; from , ''tholotoi táphoi'', "domed tomb(s)"), is a burial structure characterized by its false dome created by corbelling, the superposition of successively smaller rings of mudb ...
(''tholos'') with a small side room has also been discovered. Additionally, the fortification walls, which were built in the 4th century BCE, were examined.


History of the ancient settlement


Partial sympoliteia of Medeon and Stiris

An inscription is preserved dating from the 2nd century BCE regarding a political and religious union (''
sympoliteia A ''sympoliteia'' (), anglicized as sympolity, was a type of treaty for political organization in ancient Greece. By the time of the Hellenistic period, it occurred in two forms. In mainland Greece, the term was often used for a federal state co ...
'') between Medeon and
Stiris Stiris () or Steiris (Στείρις) was a town of ancient Phocis situated 120 ''stadion (unit), stadia'' from Chaeroneia, the road between the two places running across the mountains. The inhabitants of Stiris claimed descent from an ancient A ...
, in which both cities had the approval of the Phocian League. The agreement was inscribed on a
stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...
inside the temple of Athena Cranea, in the city of
Elateia Elateia (; ) was an ancient Greek city of Phthiotis, and the most important place in that region after Delphi. It is also a modern-day town that is a former municipality in the southeastern part of Phthiotis. Since the 2011 local government reform ...
. The stele preserves the name of the League's ''
strategos ''Strategos'' (), also known by its Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek language, Greek term to mean 'military General officer, general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also use ...
'', Zeuxis; in addition a sealed copy was to be guarded by a citizen of
Lilaea In Greek mythology, Lilaea or Lilaia (Ancient Greek: Λίλαια) may refer to two different women: * Lilaea, a Naiad of a spring of the same name. She was the daughter of the river god Cephissus. The ancient ''polis'' of Lilaea, and the moder ...
named Trason and there were three persons who acted as witnesses from different Phocian cities:
Tithorea Tithorea (), is an ancient place with more than 4,000 years of human history. A part of the municipality of Amfikleia-Elateia, in Phthiotis, Greece, it had a population of 561 in 2021, and is situated 156 km from Athens. Geography Tithore ...
, Elateia, and Lilaea. The union included the sanctuaries, the territory, the ''
polis Polis (: poleis) means 'city' in Ancient Greek. The ancient word ''polis'' had socio-political connotations not possessed by modern usage. For example, Modern Greek πόλη (polē) is located within a (''khôra''), "country", which is a πατ ...
'' and the ports. From the formalization of the treaty, the Medeonites will be with the Stirisians in conditions of equality and will have assemblies and common magistrates. It is not a complete merger of both cities: Stiris is the main city but the citizens of Medeon could designate a '' hierotamias'' who would make sacrifices according to the law of Medeon and who would have judicial competency together with the
archon ''Archon'' (, plural: , ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem , meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same ...
s of Stiris and could vote. Those who have been magistrates in Medeon will not be required to be so in Stiris unless they decided voluntarily. The administration of the Medeonite sanctuaries will be carried out according to the law of Medeon, and the territory will be common.


Gallery

Acropolis of Medeon 6.jpg, Background:Gulf of Antikyra. Foregound, left to right, aluminum factory, hill of Agioi Theodoroi, Mount Amalia Acropolis of Medeon 7.jpg, City wall, south flank of Agioi Theodoroi Tholos of Medeon 1.JPG, Remains of tholos tomb, south flank of Mount Amalia


References


Attribution


External links

{{commonscat-inline, Acropolis of Medeon Populated places in ancient Phocis Former populated places in Greece Destroyed populated places Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Central Greece