Kithairon
Kithairon ( ancient Greek Κιθαιρών Kithairōn , modern Greek Κιθαιρώνας Kitheronas ), today Elatia, is the name of a mountain range in Greece . Its highest point is 1409 m . The Asopos River has its source here .
In ancient times , the Kithairon Mountains formed the western border between Attica and Boeotia , which was fortified by watchtowers and forts (e.g. Panakton, Drymos, Phyle). Dionysus , Zeus , Hera and the nymphs were worshiped here in various cults . The Daidal festivals were celebrated on the highest peak . In the south was Eleutherai , the mythical place of origin of Dionysus. The Battle of Plataeae took place on the northern slopes of the mountains .
The Kithairon Mountains are also the scene of several Greek myths : Heracles had to tend cattle here and killed the Kithairon lion ; Oedipus was abandoned in these mountains; Apollo and Artemis killed the children of Niobe here ; the myths of Pentheus , Aktaion and Antiope also play here . Depending on the legend, the mountain owes its name to King Kithairon or the Kithara of Orpheus , who sang his lyre there in honor of Dionysus.
Coordinates: 38 ° 11 ' N , 23 ° 15' E
literature
- Ernst Meyer : Kithairon. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 3, Stuttgart 1969, Col. 222 f.
Individual evidence
- ^ Heinrich Wilhelm Stoll : Kithairon . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 2.1, Leipzig 1894, column 1208 f. ( Digitized version ).
- ^ Lactantius , Divinae institutiones 1,22