Papers of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (4.1885-1886)

2

the theatre of thoricus.

BeAai-ovpi. It presents another example of the remarkable aesthetic
taste which the Greeks displayed in choosing for their public build-
ings sites that commanded magnificent views. The spectators in this
theatre looked out immediately upon the straits and the island of
Helena, while they could see Ceos, Cythnus, and Seriphos, in the
distance. The Laurian mountains bounded the view on the west,
while between these and the islands was a broad expanse of open,
sea.

Thoricus, one of the more populous of the Attic demes, belonged
to the tribe of Acamantis. It was celebrated in fable as the home of
Cephalus and Procris, and is named as one of the twelve Attic cities,
in the time of Cecrops, before the ctvvoikut/io'; of Theseus. The name
has been preserved in the modern village of ©epuco, which is on the
coast, near the harbor of the old city.

Thoricus is seldom mentioned by Greek authors, and what little
they say does not throw much light upon its importance and.
character. Thucydides mentions it once, VIII. 95, i : al tw
IleAo—ovvrjtTiwv yy/es TrapairXeuiraaaL koX 7rept/3aAo9crat "Siowiov bpjxiC,ovT>n
/xeraiv ©opt/cou tc ku.1 11 parr tail', vcrrepov <Se d<f>iKuovvTa.t es 'Opa>-
ttov. Herodotus also mentions the place once, IV. 99 : rbv yowbv
rbv %ovviaKOV pilWov es rbv ttovtov tt)v ixKpqv ave\0VTa rbv d — b 0opi-

kov p-*xPL 'Ai'a^Avo-rou 81/jaoi). In Demosthenes we find the
name more frequently. Cf. Or. XXXIX. § 30: U.66ev rvv 'A/<a-
/i.ai'TiSos <pv\rj<; ye'yoras /cat twv 8rjp.<av & op L k to s; also, § 7 J'
XL. § 52 ; XXI. §§ 82 and 121. Xenophon, Hell. I. 2, 1, says that
in the twenty-second year of the Peloponnesian war (b.c. 410-409)
'kOqvaioi. QopiKov tTn'^ifftti'. He speaks of these fortifications
again, tie Vect. IV. 43 : to~rt pAv yap Sy—ov — ept ru. peraWa iu rrj —pb<i
p.t(T7ip.(3pLiv OaXaTTt/ rayo? iv 'Avatf>XvcrTu>, ecrrt Se iv Tjj Trpbs ApKTOV
tei^os iv ©opt/coj- a—i\u Se ravra Att uXXr'/Xoiv <ip.cf>l ra ei/jKovra
ardSia.1 Of this wall extensive remains are found west and north-
west of the theatre, among them a well-preserved, massive, square

1 For further mention of Thoricus, cf. Scyl. 57; Nonn. XIII. 187; Horn.
Od. XI. 321 ; Schol. Soph. O. C. 1595 ; Etym. Mag. s. v. &6puKos; Hymn. Cer.
126; for @opiK6s in inscriptions, see Ross, Da/ten v. Allika; Pliny mentions
Thoricus as if the silver mines of Laurium were there; and, indeed, there are two
ancient galleries within a stone's throw of the theatre. Cf. Plin. Nat. Hist. XXXVII.
18, 3, and IV. 11.