43. Oenoe (Οίνόη), which must be distinguished from a demus of the same name in the Marathonian plain, was situated upon the confines of Boeotia and Attica, near Etentherae, and upon the regular road to Plataea and Thebes. (Strab. yiii. p. 375; Herod. v.74; Thuc. ii. 18; Diod. iv. 60.) Hysiae and Oenoe are mentioned as the frontier demi of Attica in B.C. 507, when they were both taken by the Boeotians. (Herod. l. c.) From this time Hysiae continued to be a Boeotian town; but Oenoe was recovered by the Athenians, and was fortified by them before the commencement of the Peloponnesian war (Thuc l. c.) In B.C. 411 the Boeotians again obtained posssession of Oenoe (Thuc. viii. 98); but it must have been recovered a second time by the Athenians, as it continues to be mentioned as an Attic demus down to the latest times. Oenoe was situated on the Pythian Way, so called because it led from Athens to Delphi (Strab. x. p. 422): this road apparently branched off from the Sacred Way to Kleusis, near the tomb of Strato. Near Oenoe was a Pythium, or temple of Apollo Pythius, in consequence of the sanctity of which Oenoe obtained the epithet of the Sacred. (Liban. Declam. 16, in Dem. Apol. i. p. 451.) This Pythium is said to have formed the northern boundary of the kingdom of Nisus, when Attica and the Megaris were divided between the four sons of Pandion. (Strab. ix. p. 392.) At the NW. extremity of Attica there is a narrow pass through Mount Cithaeron, through which ran the road from Thebes and Plataeae to Elcusis. This pass was known in antiquity by the name of the Three Heads, as the Boeotians called it, or the Oak's Heads, according to the Athenians. (Herod, ix. 38.) On the Attic side this pass was guarded by a strong fortress, of which the ruins form a conspicuous object, on the summit of a height, to the left of the road. They now bear the name of Ghyftó-kastro, or gipsy castle, a name frequently given to such buildings among the modern Greeks. Leake supposes these ruins to be those of Oenoe, and that Eleutherae was situated at Myúpoli, about four miles to the south-eastward of Ghyftó-kastro, The objection to this hypothesis is, that Eleutherae was originally a member of the Boeotian confederacy, which originally joined the Athenians, and never became an Athenian demus, and that hence it is improbable that Oenoe, which was always an Attic demus, lay between Plataeae and Eleutherae. To this Leake replies, that, on examining the ruins of Ghyftó-kastro, its position and dimensions evidently show that it was a fortress, not a town, being only 700 or 800 yards in circumference, and standing upon a strong height, at the entrance of the pass, whereas Myúpoli has every appearance of having been a town, with an acropolis placed as usual on the edge of a valley. (Respecting Eleutherae, see Paus. i. 38. § 8; Xen. Hell. v. 4. § 14; Strab. viii. p. 375, ix. p. 412; Plut. Thes. 29; Steph. B.; Plin. iv. 7. s. 12.) The position of these places cannot be fixed with certainty; but we think Leake's opinion is, upon the whole, the most probable. Müller, Kiepert, and others suppose the ruins of Ghyftó-kastro to be those of Panactum, described by Thucydides as a fortress of the Athenians, on the confines of Boeotia, |
44. Eleutherae (Έλευθεραί), not a demus. Respecting its site, see No. 43. 45. Panactum (Πάνακτον), a fortress, also not a demus. Respecting its site, see No. 43. 46. Melaenae (Μέλαιναι), a fortified demus, on the frontier of Attica and Boeotia, celebrated in Attic mythology as the place for which Melanthus and Xanthus fought. It was sometimes called Celaenae. (Polyaen. i. 19; Callim. ap. Steph. B. s. v. Μέλαινείς; Schol. ad Aristoph. Acharn. 146, Pac. 890; Suid. s. v. Άπατούρια, Κελαιναί.) Leake supposes the ruins near the convent of St. Meletius, of which we have just spoken, to be those of Melaenae, and remarks that the groves and fountains, which maintain the verdure of this spot, accord with the epithet bestowed by the Latin poet upon the place (viridesque Melaenae, Stat Theb. xii. 619.). 47. Drymus (Δρυμός), a fortress, not a demus, in the same neighbourhood, but of uncertain site. (Dem. de Fals. Leg. p. 446; Hesych.; Harpocrat.) C. The Demi of Diacria and Mount Parnes. 48. Phyle (Φυλή), still called Fili, a strong fortress, stands on a steep rock, commanding the narrow pass across Mt. Parnes, through which runs the direct road from Thebes to Athens, past Acharnae. On the northern side of the pass was the territory of Tanagra. Phyle is situated at the distance of more than 120 stadia from Athens (Psephisma, ap. Dem. de Cor. p 238), not 100 stadia, as Diodorus states (xiv. 32), and was one of the strongest Athenian fortresses on the Boeotian frontier. The precipitous rock upon which it stands can only be approached by a ridge on the eastern side. It is memorable in history as the place seized by Thrasybulus and the Athenian exiles in B.C. 404, and from which they commenced their operations against the Thirty Tyrants. The height of Phyle commands a magnificent view of the whole Athenian plain, of the city itself, of Mt. Hymettus, and the Saronic Gulf. (Xen. Hell. ii. 4. § 2, seq.; Diod. l. c.; Nep. Thrasyb. 2; Strab. ix. pp. 396, 404.) In Phyle there was a building called the Daplhnephoreion, containing a picture, which represented the Thargelia. (Athen. x. p. 424, f.) 49. Harma (Άρμα), a fortress, but not a demus, near Phyle, situated on a height visible from Athens. (Strab. ix. p. 404; Eustath. ad Il. ii 499.) Leake places it above Phyle, towards the summit of the ridge, and to the left of the modern road, where the ruins of a fortress are visible; but other writers place it south-east of Phyle. 50. Chastieis (Χαστιείς), a demus, mentioned only by Uesychius (s. v.); but in consequence of the similarity of name, it is supposed to have occupied the site of Khassiá, the largest village in Attica, which is the first place met with on descending the pass of Phyle towards Athens. |
Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/347
