Pyrrhichus or Pyrrhichos () was a town of

ancient Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

, situated about the centre of the promontory ending in Cape Taenarum, and distant 40 '' stadia'' from the river Scyras. According to some it derived its name from Pyrrhus, the son of

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

, according to others from Pyrrhichus, one of the Curetes.

Silenus In Greek mythology, Silenus (; , ) was a companion and tutor to the wine god Dionysus. He is typically older than the satyrs of the Dionysian retinue ('' thiasos''), and sometimes considerably older, in which case he may be referred to as a Pa ...

was also said to have been brought up here. It contained temples of Artemis Astrateia and of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

Amazonius – the two surnames referring to the tradition that the Amazons did not proceed further than this place. There was also a well in the ''

agora The agora (; , romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Ancient Greece, Greek polis, city-states. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center ...

''. The ruins of this town have been discovered by the French Commission near the village of Kavalos near Kotronas, where they found the well of which Pausanias speaks, the torso of a female statue, the remains of baths, and several Roman ruins. Its site is located near the modern Kotronas.

References

Populated places in ancient Laconia Former populated places in Greece Places in Greek mythology Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Greece {{ancientLaconia-geo-stub