Phthiotis
Phthiotis ( ancient Greek Φθιῶτις , modern Greek Φθιώτιδα Fthiótidha ) was a landscape south of ancient Thessaly in Greece . The name originally goes back to the capital Phthia ( ancient Greek Φθίη Fthíi ) mentioned in Greek mythology , more precisely in Homer .
It included the area around the Othrysgebirge , between the Malian and Pagasitikos Gulf (at Thessaliotis and Dolopia ) and was in the ancient times by the Greeks and Achaeans inhabited, which later together as Achaei Phthiotae were called, hence the landscape itself the name "Achaia “ Leads. In mythology the home of the legendary Myrmidons , the kingdom of Peleus and his son Achilles .
The boundaries were not very clear. North of the Narthakion mountains, around the city of Pharsalos , the region was called Phthiotis and still belonged to Thessaly. To the south of it lay the actual Achaia Phthiotis , while the landscape south of the Othrys Mountains was called Malis .
The most important city after the Persian Wars was the phthiotic Thebes (Greek Thebai / Thebae ) on the Pagasean Gulf in Thessaly, which is possibly identical with Phylake .
Other cities are: Herakleia Trachinia , Antikyra , Pharsalos, Thetidion , Lamia , Magnesia , Jolkos , Demetrias , Methone , Phthia. The Achaeans were afterwards subjugated by Aiolers ; of them Phylaekos took possession of the region of Phylake, Eurytion of Phthia, Athamas that of Alos , in which the latter, however, the Achaeans soon freed themselves from the rule of the Aiolians and established a free state. In addition, the state of the Trachinians stood out in Phthiotis , which are counted among the Doric tribe.
Today, in this area, which belongs to the prefectures of Fthiotida (the name adopted but with a smaller area) and Magnisia , u. a. the cities of Lamia , Loutra and Almiros and the famous Thermopylae pass. The northern part around the city of Pharsalos (today Farsala ) belongs to the Larisa regional district .
literature
- Ernst Meyer : Phthiotis. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 4, Stuttgart 1972, Col. 832.
- Pierer's Universal-Lexikon, Volume 13. Altenburg 1861, p. 104.