DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4265#0057
56
LIST OF ANCIENT NAMES OF PLACES IN ATTICA.
TI0PA2.
TITAKIAAI,
" TPIKOPT0ON.
TPINEME12a.
TPOIA.
TTPMIAAI.
TAKIN0O2.
" TBAAAI."
TAPOT2A c.
"TMHTT02.""
from Steph. Byz., in the former List of Modern Names. Art.
Bi^oc^i, and note d, p. 37."
" Steph. Byz. Suidas. Aristoph. Athen."
" Steph. Byz."
« Steph. Byz."
" Steph. Byz."
Eta-) KCU clXkat Tpolar h 'ArrtKy kw^, % rig vuv "Evitirn ^n^og
Ktihiircu. Steph. " Byz. ' There are also other Troys ; in
Attica is a village (so named), which is now called Xypete.'"
" Steph. Byz."
Ylctyog vtcip rSv ~2(psvdonuv- Suidas b.
" Spon Liste de l'Attique, Ins. Ant."
An island, and may possibly be called Ytuba$w<rq; it lay off the
Aixonians.
" Steph. Byz., Strabo, and Pliny, speak of Hymettus only as a
mountain."
tpXva-To; xai £$tjto; ^E-roixoiJa-iv e; t>iv ' Attikw, xai oi $rif/.oi ra ovipara
iyovcnv cctzo toiItwv. Paus. L. II. C. XXX. Ted."]
" Strabo says the source of the Cephissus was ix T^ti^tm,
consequently, Trinemeis must have been near Cephissia. CED-!]
b it to 'TaxivSw x.u'hovfj.ivui •K&.yw fori* iui X^e»Jovi'w». Suidas in voce
'Yax»»9i&?. The entire passage relates to the tradition that two
daughters of Erechtheus sacrificed themselves as an offering for
their country, on an invasion from Bceotia, at a place called
Hyacinthus, whence they were called Hyacinthides. 2#»Jov{»»
may perhaps be a misreading of Xp#r$*^t«», relating to Sphen-
dale, a demos of the tribe Hippothoontis. [ed.]
c Stuart has already mentioned a place near Athens, called
Axaona, which he seems to have thought to have been Aixone.
Strabo states Hydrusa to be an island off Aixone, (ko.) Kara, mvq
Al!-ui><at; M lartv (viio-os) TJfitra,) and he describes the positions of
the demos of the Aixonenses, in naming the towns on the coast
from the Piraeeus to Sunium, evidently the second from Phalcrus
and intervening between that port and Cape Zoster. Now, the
Guadaronisi (or Asino) above alluded to by Stuart, is a barren
island very near the main land, about three miles westward of
the promontory of Sunium, consequently it was not the Hy-
drusa of Strabo. Dr. Spon in his Liste des CLXXIV Peuples
de TAttique, says, on 'r^cvaa, " Je ne puis me resoudre a mettre
Hydrousa qui n'etoit qu'un ecueil proche d'Athenes, entre ses
peuples, comme fait Meursius sans aucune preuve." EED-n
d Although there be no evidence to prove that any demos was
named Hymettus, yet the ancient and modern interest at-
tached to this mountain has caused it to be here inserted with
names of other places in Attica, towards which the probability is
less of their having been enrolled in the tribes. There was a
statue of Hymettian Jupiter, which was invoked at Athens in
time of drought, and its locality may have been the place of a town.
Hymettus was famous for its honey and its marble; the former
resulting from the copious growth of wild thyme (ipffvXAov, thymus
scrpyllum, Linn.), the favorite food of the bees, with which the
mountains of Attica, and particularly Hymettus, are clad, the
fragrance of which is perceptible to the traveller on his ascent of
this mountain, in accordance with the epithet of Statius:
"-------olenlis arator Hymetti."
The chief produce of the apiaries of Hymettus was of late trans-
mitted to the seraglio at Constantinople. The quarries of Hy-
mettus had an early celebrity at Rome ; according to Pliny, the
orator, L. Crassus first decorated his house with six columns of
Hymettian marble; afterwards Greek and other exotic marbles
were used by the Roman patricians in profusion. Horace, ex-
emplifying his moderate fortune and desires, says,
" Non trabes Hymettiae
Premunt columnas ultima recisas
Africa."— Carm. L. II. XVIII.
The marble of Hymettus is in general gray, striated, and abounds
in mica, and little of it appears to have been used as statuary
marble. The highest point of Hymettus bears s. 60° e. from
the Monument of Philopappus. The traveller now frequents
this eminence for the sole purpose of enjoying a scene combining
the most unrivalled picturesque and classic interest. All Attica
is beneath him, as on a map ; his eye can expatiate over the
Archipelago glittering witli islands; the promontories and moun-
tains of Peloponnesus captivate his regard; the Piraeeus, Corinth,
Megara, Eleusis, the summits of the Phocian mountains, Panics,
the Cynosure of Marathon, and Eubeea, alternately arrest his
attention.
Regarding the plain of Athens itself, the following observa-
tions of Dr. E. D. Clarke, made from this spot, are of so much
interest, that we will take this opportunity to introduce them.
" In the plain of this fine valley, thus surrounded by vast natural
ramparts, there are other very remarkable geological features.
A series of six insular mountain rocks, of breccia, surmounted by
limestone, rise in the plain in very regular succession, from the
cast towards the west (that is to say, from Pentelicus towards the
sea), gradually diminishing in that direction. The Hill of-Mu-
sceus is the last of the succession, that is to say, it is the sixth in
the series towards Phalerum. The Acropolis of Athens stands upon
iheffth, or the last but one, towards the sea. The fourth is the
lofty rock called Mount Anchesmus, and this rock, by some con-
vulsion of nature, has been separated into two parts: farther to-
wards the east are three others, carrying on the series towards
Pentelicus."
Ovid selects a fountain in a glade of Hymettus, as the scene
where the jealous Procris fell by the too unerring dart of Ce-
phalus, of which he thus commences the beautiful description:—
" Est, prope purpureos colics florentis Hymetti
Pons sacer, et viridi ccspite mollis humus."
De Art. Aman. L. in.
The singular propriety of the epithet 'purpureos' is perfectly
felt by the scholar or artist, who has viewed the delightful
scenery of Attica, and this purple effect is particularly impres-
sive on this mountain, opposite the refulgence of a declining
sun.
From the pinnacle of Hymettus, more forcibly may suggest it-
self the emotion felt by Whelerwhen on the summit of Anchesmus.
" Here", he observed, " a Democritus might sit and laugh at the
pomps and vanities of the world, whose glories so soon vanish ;
or an Heraclitus weep over its manifold misfortunes, telling sad
stories of the various changes and events of fate."
Dodvvell's Travels, Vol. I. p. 483. Clarke's Travels, Part II.
Sect. II. C. VI. Stat. Theb. L. XII. 622. Wheler's Journey
into Greece, p. 374. [ed.]
LIST OF ANCIENT NAMES OF PLACES IN ATTICA.
TI0PA2.
TITAKIAAI,
" TPIKOPT0ON.
TPINEME12a.
TPOIA.
TTPMIAAI.
TAKIN0O2.
" TBAAAI."
TAPOT2A c.
"TMHTT02.""
from Steph. Byz., in the former List of Modern Names. Art.
Bi^oc^i, and note d, p. 37."
" Steph. Byz. Suidas. Aristoph. Athen."
" Steph. Byz."
« Steph. Byz."
" Steph. Byz."
Eta-) KCU clXkat Tpolar h 'ArrtKy kw^, % rig vuv "Evitirn ^n^og
Ktihiircu. Steph. " Byz. ' There are also other Troys ; in
Attica is a village (so named), which is now called Xypete.'"
" Steph. Byz."
Ylctyog vtcip rSv ~2(psvdonuv- Suidas b.
" Spon Liste de l'Attique, Ins. Ant."
An island, and may possibly be called Ytuba$w<rq; it lay off the
Aixonians.
" Steph. Byz., Strabo, and Pliny, speak of Hymettus only as a
mountain."
tpXva-To; xai £$tjto; ^E-roixoiJa-iv e; t>iv ' Attikw, xai oi $rif/.oi ra ovipara
iyovcnv cctzo toiItwv. Paus. L. II. C. XXX. Ted."]
" Strabo says the source of the Cephissus was ix T^ti^tm,
consequently, Trinemeis must have been near Cephissia. CED-!]
b it to 'TaxivSw x.u'hovfj.ivui •K&.yw fori* iui X^e»Jovi'w». Suidas in voce
'Yax»»9i&?. The entire passage relates to the tradition that two
daughters of Erechtheus sacrificed themselves as an offering for
their country, on an invasion from Bceotia, at a place called
Hyacinthus, whence they were called Hyacinthides. 2#»Jov{»»
may perhaps be a misreading of Xp#r$*^t«», relating to Sphen-
dale, a demos of the tribe Hippothoontis. [ed.]
c Stuart has already mentioned a place near Athens, called
Axaona, which he seems to have thought to have been Aixone.
Strabo states Hydrusa to be an island off Aixone, (ko.) Kara, mvq
Al!-ui><at; M lartv (viio-os) TJfitra,) and he describes the positions of
the demos of the Aixonenses, in naming the towns on the coast
from the Piraeeus to Sunium, evidently the second from Phalcrus
and intervening between that port and Cape Zoster. Now, the
Guadaronisi (or Asino) above alluded to by Stuart, is a barren
island very near the main land, about three miles westward of
the promontory of Sunium, consequently it was not the Hy-
drusa of Strabo. Dr. Spon in his Liste des CLXXIV Peuples
de TAttique, says, on 'r^cvaa, " Je ne puis me resoudre a mettre
Hydrousa qui n'etoit qu'un ecueil proche d'Athenes, entre ses
peuples, comme fait Meursius sans aucune preuve." EED-n
d Although there be no evidence to prove that any demos was
named Hymettus, yet the ancient and modern interest at-
tached to this mountain has caused it to be here inserted with
names of other places in Attica, towards which the probability is
less of their having been enrolled in the tribes. There was a
statue of Hymettian Jupiter, which was invoked at Athens in
time of drought, and its locality may have been the place of a town.
Hymettus was famous for its honey and its marble; the former
resulting from the copious growth of wild thyme (ipffvXAov, thymus
scrpyllum, Linn.), the favorite food of the bees, with which the
mountains of Attica, and particularly Hymettus, are clad, the
fragrance of which is perceptible to the traveller on his ascent of
this mountain, in accordance with the epithet of Statius:
"-------olenlis arator Hymetti."
The chief produce of the apiaries of Hymettus was of late trans-
mitted to the seraglio at Constantinople. The quarries of Hy-
mettus had an early celebrity at Rome ; according to Pliny, the
orator, L. Crassus first decorated his house with six columns of
Hymettian marble; afterwards Greek and other exotic marbles
were used by the Roman patricians in profusion. Horace, ex-
emplifying his moderate fortune and desires, says,
" Non trabes Hymettiae
Premunt columnas ultima recisas
Africa."— Carm. L. II. XVIII.
The marble of Hymettus is in general gray, striated, and abounds
in mica, and little of it appears to have been used as statuary
marble. The highest point of Hymettus bears s. 60° e. from
the Monument of Philopappus. The traveller now frequents
this eminence for the sole purpose of enjoying a scene combining
the most unrivalled picturesque and classic interest. All Attica
is beneath him, as on a map ; his eye can expatiate over the
Archipelago glittering witli islands; the promontories and moun-
tains of Peloponnesus captivate his regard; the Piraeeus, Corinth,
Megara, Eleusis, the summits of the Phocian mountains, Panics,
the Cynosure of Marathon, and Eubeea, alternately arrest his
attention.
Regarding the plain of Athens itself, the following observa-
tions of Dr. E. D. Clarke, made from this spot, are of so much
interest, that we will take this opportunity to introduce them.
" In the plain of this fine valley, thus surrounded by vast natural
ramparts, there are other very remarkable geological features.
A series of six insular mountain rocks, of breccia, surmounted by
limestone, rise in the plain in very regular succession, from the
cast towards the west (that is to say, from Pentelicus towards the
sea), gradually diminishing in that direction. The Hill of-Mu-
sceus is the last of the succession, that is to say, it is the sixth in
the series towards Phalerum. The Acropolis of Athens stands upon
iheffth, or the last but one, towards the sea. The fourth is the
lofty rock called Mount Anchesmus, and this rock, by some con-
vulsion of nature, has been separated into two parts: farther to-
wards the east are three others, carrying on the series towards
Pentelicus."
Ovid selects a fountain in a glade of Hymettus, as the scene
where the jealous Procris fell by the too unerring dart of Ce-
phalus, of which he thus commences the beautiful description:—
" Est, prope purpureos colics florentis Hymetti
Pons sacer, et viridi ccspite mollis humus."
De Art. Aman. L. in.
The singular propriety of the epithet 'purpureos' is perfectly
felt by the scholar or artist, who has viewed the delightful
scenery of Attica, and this purple effect is particularly impres-
sive on this mountain, opposite the refulgence of a declining
sun.
From the pinnacle of Hymettus, more forcibly may suggest it-
self the emotion felt by Whelerwhen on the summit of Anchesmus.
" Here", he observed, " a Democritus might sit and laugh at the
pomps and vanities of the world, whose glories so soon vanish ;
or an Heraclitus weep over its manifold misfortunes, telling sad
stories of the various changes and events of fate."
Dodvvell's Travels, Vol. I. p. 483. Clarke's Travels, Part II.
Sect. II. C. VI. Stat. Theb. L. XII. 622. Wheler's Journey
into Greece, p. 374. [ed.]