Pallene () was a celebrated

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 Athens Athens is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for perhaps 5,000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of ancient Greece in t ...

, frequently mentioned by ancient writers and in inscriptions.

Myth

The location is associated with a number of Greek myths. During the

Gigantomachy In Greek and Roman mythology, the Giants, also called Gigantes (Greek: Γίγαντες, '' Gígantes'', Γίγας, '' Gígas''), were a race of great strength and aggression, though not necessarily of great size. They were known for the Gigant ...

, Athena slew the giant

Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas * Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon Mythology * Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena * Pa ...

at the site, flayed him, and turned his skin into a cloak. Another version says that the victim was the

Gorgon The Gorgons ( ; ), in Greek mythology, are three monstrous sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, said to be the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. They lived near their sisters the Graeae, and were able to turn anyone who looked at them to sto ...

rather than Pallas. Later,

Hephaestus Hephaestus ( , ; wikt:Hephaestus#Alternative forms, eight spellings; ) is the Greek god of artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters, craftsmen, fire, metallurgy, metalworking, sculpture and volcanoes.Walter Burkert, ''Greek Religion'' 1985: III.2. ...

attempted to rape Athena and got his sperm on her thigh. She wiped it off onto the ground, where

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; , a poetic form of ('), meaning 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea (), is the personification of Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (S ...

gave birth to Erichthonius. She put the baby in a basket and entrusted it to the daughters of Cecrops with strict instructions not to open it, then went to Pallene to get a rock that would form the foundations of a temple for her on the Acropolis. As she carried it back, a crow told her that the daughters of Cecrops had opened the basket and, in her rage, she dropped the rock on the ground, where it remains as

Mount Lycabettus Mount Lycabettus (), also known as Lycabettos, Lykabettos or Lykavittos (, ), is a Cretaceous limestone hill in the Greek capital Athens. At 277 meters (908 feet) above sea level, its summit is the highest point in Central Athens and pine tree ...

. At a later stage,

Eurystheus In Greek mythology, Eurystheus (; , ) was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid, although other authors including Homer and Euripides cast him as ruler of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos. Family Eurysthe ...

died fighting against the Athenians and

Heracleidae The Heracleidae (; ) or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles, especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira (Hyllus was also sometimes thought of as Heracles' son ...

at Pallene and was buried in front of the temple of Athena Pallenis. According to myth, the Pallantidae went to war with their cousin

Theseus Theseus (, ; ) was a divine hero in Greek mythology, famous for slaying the Minotaur. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes desc ...

. When

was marching from Sphettus in the Mesogaea against

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 ...

, he placed a body of his troops in ambush at Gargettus, under the command of his two sons, who were ordered, as soon as he was engaged with the army of Theseus, to march rapidly upon Athens and take the city by surprise, But the stratagem was revealed to Theseus by Leos of Hagnus, the herald of Pallas, whereupon Theseus cut to pieces the troops at Gargettus. In consequence of this a lasting enmity followed between the inhabitants of Pallene and Hagnous. After the battle, Theseus married his son Hippolytus to Pallas' sister Aricia.

Location

Pallene was located near the Byzantine church of St. Stavros in the modern Athenian suburb of

Gerakas Gerakas () is a town, a suburb of Athens and a former municipality in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pallini, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. In antiquity Gerakas consti ...

. The road from Sphettus to Athens passed through the opening between

Mount Pentelicus Mount Pentelicus or Pentelikon (, or ) is a mountain in Attica, Greece, situated northeast of Athens and southwest of Marathon. Its highest point is the peak ''Pyrgari'', with an elevation of 1,109 m. The mountain is covered in large part wi ...

and Mount Hymettus. A monastery there by the name of Ieraka (or Hieraka) is the site of Gargettus. We know further that Pallene lay on one of the roads from the city to

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

History

This location at the meeting point of several roads from the Mesogaea to Athens made Pallene strategically significant, and often occupied in military operations.

Peisistratus Pisistratus (also spelled Peisistratus or Peisistratos; ; – 527 BC) was a politician in ancient Athens, ruling as tyrant in the late 560s, the early 550s and from 546 BC until his death. His unification of Attica, the triangular ...

' third attempt to seize control of Athens, culminated in a battle at Pallene in 536BC, in which he defeated the

Alcmaeonidae The Alcmaeonidae (; , ; Attic: , ) or Alcmaeonids () were a wealthy and powerful noble family of ancient Athens, a branch of the Neleides who claimed descent from the mythological Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narrati ...

. Between the monastery of Ieraka and the small village of Charvati, a celebrated inscription respecting money due to temples was discovered, and which was probably placed in the temple of Athena Pallenis. In Ieraka there was also found the

boustrophedon Boustrophedon () is a style of writing in which alternate lines of writing are reversed, with letters also written in reverse, mirror-style. This is in contrast to modern European languages, where lines always begin on the same side, usually the l ...

inscription of Aristocles, which probably also came from the same temple.Böckh, n. 23. In one of the churches nearby,

George Finlay George Finlay (21 December 1799 – 26 January 1875) was a Scottish historian. Biography Finlay was born in Faversham, Kent, where his Scottish father, Captain John Finlay FRS, an officer in the Royal Engineers, was inspector of government pow ...

found an inscription referring to one "Xeophanes of Pallene" (ΞΕΟΦΑΝΗΣ ΠΑΛΛΗΝΕΥΣ).

Sources

*Bultrighini, Ilaria. “Παραλία καì Μεσόγεια: ‘Coastalness’ and ‘Inlandness’ in the Ancient Greek World.” CHS Research Bulletin 1, no. 2 (2013). http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hlnc.essay:BultrighiniI.Paralia_kai_Mesogeia_Coastalness_and_Inlandness.2013 * *ToposText
Pallene (Attica) 22 Stavros - Παλλήνη
*

References

{{coord, 38.066469, N, 23.711488, E, display=title, format=dms, source:http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/31170 Ancient Athens Populated places in ancient Attica Former populated places in Greece Demoi