Cithaeron or Kithairon (Κιθαιρών, -ῶνος) is a mountain and mountain range about sixteen kilometres (ten miles) long in
Central Greece. The range is the physical boundary between
Boeotia in the north and
Attica in the south. It is mainly composed of
limestone and rises to . The north-east side of the range is formed by the mountain
Pastra.
The range was the scene of many events in
Greek mythology and was especially sacred to
Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
.
In Euripides' ''
Bacchae'', Dionysus carries out his dances and rites with his bacchants, his priestesses, on Cithaeron.
Oedipus
Oedipus (, ; grc-gre, Οἰδίπους "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby ...
was exposed on the mountain, while
Actaeon
Actaeon (; grc, Ἀκταίων ''Aktaion''), in Greek mythology, son of the priestly herdsman Aristaeus and Autonoe in Boeotia, was a famous Theban hero. Like Achilles in a later generation, he was trained by the centaur Chiron.
He fell to ...
and
Pentheus
In Greek mythology, Pentheus (; grc, Πενθεύς, Pentheús) was a king of Thebes. His father was Echion, the wisest of the Spartoi. His mother was Agave, the daughter of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, and the goddess Harmonia. His sister was ...
were both dismembered on its slopes. It was also the place where
Heracles or
Alcathous hunted and killed the
Lion of Cithaeron.
In historic times, the mountain acted as a backdrop to the
Battle of Plataea
The Battle of Plataea was the final land battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place in 479 BC near the city of Plataea in Boeotia, and was fought between an alliance of the Greek city-states (including Sparta, Athens, C ...
of 479 BC
[ and was the scene of much skirmishing before the battle itself. In later times, fortifications were built both at ]Plataea
Plataea or Plataia (; grc, Πλάταια), also Plataeae or Plataiai (; grc, Πλαταιαί), was an ancient city, located in Greece in southeastern Boeotia, south of Thebes.Mish, Frederick C., Editor in Chief. “Plataea.” '' Webst ...
and Erythrai as the mountain formed the disputed natural border between Athens and Thebes.
The people of Plataea also personified the mountain as their primal king: "But the Plataeans know of no king except Asopus and Cithaeron before him, holding that the latter gave his name to the mountain, the former to the river". In one tale, Cithairon was said to have engaged in a singing contest against Helikon, which was judged by the Muses. Cithairon won the contest and was adorned with garlands by the Muses, and Helikon became so angry due to his defeat that he smashed one of the large rocks on his slopes.
In the Middle Ages, the village of Myoupolis on its slopes was the site of a monastery founded by Meletios the Younger.[P. Armstrong and A. Kirby, "Text and Stone: Evergetis, Christodoulos and Meletios", in M. Mullett and A. Kirby (eds.), ''The Theotokos Evergetis and Eleventh-Century Monasticism'' (Belfast: Belfast Byzantine Enterprises, 1994), p. 153.]
References
External links
Theoi Project - Kithairon
Kings in Greek mythology
Mountains of Central Greece
Mountain ranges of Greece
Battle of Plataea
Landforms of Boeotia
Landforms of Central Greece
Landforms of West Attica
Landforms of Attica
{{Greek-myth-stub
Mythology of Heracles