Thalamae or Thalamai ( or Θαλάμη) 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 ...

, which at various times belonged to

Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a prefecture (''nomos' ...

. According to

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, Thalamae was founded by

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 ...

, who, after his sister

Niobe Niobe (; : Nióbē) was in Greek mythology a daughter of Tantalus and of either Dione or of Eurythemista or Euryanassa. She was the wife of Amphion and the sister of Pelops and Broteas. Niobe is mentioned by Achilles in Homer's ''Iliad ...

married

Amphion There are several characters named Amphion in Greek mythology: * Amphion, son of Zeus and Antiope, and twin brother of Zethus (see Amphion and Zethus). Together, they are famous for building Thebes. Pausanias recounts an Egyptian legend acco ...

, brought colonists 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 was called in the time of Strabo the Boeotian Thalamae. It stood 80 stadia north of

Oetylus Oetylus or Oitylos (), also known as Beitylus or Beitylos (Βείτυλος), or Bityla (Βίτυλα), was a town of ancient Laconia on the eastern side of the Messenian Gulf, at the modern settlement of Oitylo. Pausanias (geographer), Pausanias s ...

, and 20 stadia from Pephnus., 2 Pephnus was on the coast, on the eastern side of the

Messenian Gulf The Messenian Gulf (, ''Messiniakós Kólpos'') is a sea that is part of the Ionian Sea. The gulf is circumscribed by the southern coasts of Messenia and the southwestern coast of the Mani peninsula in Laconia. Its bounds are Venetiko Island ...

, and Thalamae was situated inland, upon the river Miléa, the minor Pamisus of

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 ...

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

also calls it one of the inland towns of Laconia.

Theopompus Theopompus (, ''Theópompos''; 380 BC 315 BC) was an ancient Greek historian and rhetorician who was a student of Isocrates. Biography Early life and education Theopompus was born on the Aegean island of Chios in 378 or 377 BCE. In his ear ...

called Thalamae a Messenian town, and we know that the Messenians said that their territory originally extended as far as the minor Pamisus. Indeed, when

Hippocoon In Greek mythology, the name Hippocoön (; , ''Hippokóōn'') refers to several characters: *Hippocoon, in one account, father of Neleus, who is otherwise called son of Cretheus or Poseidon. * Hippocoon, a Spartan king, father of Enarephoros an ...

usurped the throne of

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

Tyndareus In Greek mythology, Tyndareus (; Ancient Greek: Τυνδάρεος, ''Tundáreos''; Attic Greek, Attic: Τυνδάρεως, ''Tundáreōs''; ) was a Spartan king. Family Tyndareus was the son of Oebalus (or Perieres (king of Messenia), Perieres ...

fled to his brother

Aphareus of Messenia In Greek mythology, Aphareus (Ancient Greek: Ἀφαρεύς), was a Messenian king. Family Aphareus was the son of Gorgophone and Perieres and brother of Leucippus. He was the husband of Arene (Arena or Arenae), daughter of Oebalus, and by h ...

where he settled in Thalamae and while living there, children were born to him. Thalamae is mentioned by

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

. It was subsequently one of the

Eleuthero-Laconian The League of Free Laconians () was established in southern Greece in 21 BC by the Emperor Augustus,Greenhalgh and Eliopoulos. ''Deep into Mani: Journey to the southern tip of Greece'', 21 giving formal structure to a group of cities that had been ...

towns. In the territory of Thalamae, on the road to Oetylus was a temple and oracle of Ino or

Pasiphaë In Greek mythology, Pasiphaë (; , derived from πᾶσι (dative plural) "for all" and φάος/φῶς ''phaos/phos'' "light") was a queen of Crete. The daughter of Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse (mythology), Perse, Pasiphaë is notable a ...

, in which the future was revealed to those that slept in the temple. Even the Spartan kings sometimes slept in the temple for this purpose. The site of Thalamae is located with the modern village of Thalames (formerly Koutiphari, but renamed to reflect the historical association).

References

Populated places in ancient Laconia Populated places in ancient Messenia Former populated places in Greece Places in Greek mythology Classical oracles {{AncientLaconia-geo-stub