DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4098#0287
RUINS OF THESPEIA. 255
which were of bronze. There is a fine and plentiful fountain near
the ruins, which forms a stream called Kanabari, that winds its way
to the Ismenos, with which it enters the lake Hylika in the Theban
territory. This fountain may be the same which Pausanias calls
Donakon, in whose limpid waters Narcissus was captivated by the
vanity of his own form. Though many circumstances lead us to
suppose that these ruins are the remains of Thespeia, no positive
proof of it has yet occurred; nor has any inscription been dis-
covered on the spot, in which the name of the city is contained. A
small village called Leuka is seen in the vicinity, the inhabitants of
which, in tilling the ground, find a great many small copper coins of
Thespeia. I bought several of them; one side has the head of a
female in profile; the reverse is the %eXu?, or testado,1 or tortoise
harp, with three strings, and round it 0EZI1IEX1N, all within an olive
wreath. The head probably represents Thespeia, foundress of the
town, and daughter of Asopos.2 The Thespeians sent 1,800 men
into the field at the battle of Plataea, to defend the common cause
of Greece.
Strabo says Thespeia is near Helicon, forty stadia from Askra :
Pausanias, in his way from Thebes to Lebadeia, visits Onchestos,
from which he says Thespeia is distant fifty stadia towards the left,
which corresponds with the relative situations of Eremo-Kastro, and
the ruins at the foot of Mount Phoinikios. The ruins which I con-
ceive to be Thespeia are about three miles from the foot of Helicon;
and some way up the mountain is a village called Neochorio,3 where
ancient traces may be seen, and where Wheler noticed an in-
scription in which the word Thespeia was contained. This how-
ever is no proof that Neochorio is the town in question ; it is pro-
bably Askra, which being in the Thespeian territory,4 all public
decrees or acts in which it was interested, would be in the name of
1 Sono testudinis, Horace de Arte Poet. v. 395. 2 Pausan. b. 9. c. Q6.
3 Signifying the new town. * Strabo, b. 9. p. 409.
which were of bronze. There is a fine and plentiful fountain near
the ruins, which forms a stream called Kanabari, that winds its way
to the Ismenos, with which it enters the lake Hylika in the Theban
territory. This fountain may be the same which Pausanias calls
Donakon, in whose limpid waters Narcissus was captivated by the
vanity of his own form. Though many circumstances lead us to
suppose that these ruins are the remains of Thespeia, no positive
proof of it has yet occurred; nor has any inscription been dis-
covered on the spot, in which the name of the city is contained. A
small village called Leuka is seen in the vicinity, the inhabitants of
which, in tilling the ground, find a great many small copper coins of
Thespeia. I bought several of them; one side has the head of a
female in profile; the reverse is the %eXu?, or testado,1 or tortoise
harp, with three strings, and round it 0EZI1IEX1N, all within an olive
wreath. The head probably represents Thespeia, foundress of the
town, and daughter of Asopos.2 The Thespeians sent 1,800 men
into the field at the battle of Plataea, to defend the common cause
of Greece.
Strabo says Thespeia is near Helicon, forty stadia from Askra :
Pausanias, in his way from Thebes to Lebadeia, visits Onchestos,
from which he says Thespeia is distant fifty stadia towards the left,
which corresponds with the relative situations of Eremo-Kastro, and
the ruins at the foot of Mount Phoinikios. The ruins which I con-
ceive to be Thespeia are about three miles from the foot of Helicon;
and some way up the mountain is a village called Neochorio,3 where
ancient traces may be seen, and where Wheler noticed an in-
scription in which the word Thespeia was contained. This how-
ever is no proof that Neochorio is the town in question ; it is pro-
bably Askra, which being in the Thespeian territory,4 all public
decrees or acts in which it was interested, would be in the name of
1 Sono testudinis, Horace de Arte Poet. v. 395. 2 Pausan. b. 9. c. Q6.
3 Signifying the new town. * Strabo, b. 9. p. 409.