Melite (demos)

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Ancient house foundations of the Demos Melite

Melite ( Greek Μελίτη ) was one of the most populous demes in the city of Athens in antiquity . After the reforms of Kleisthenes it belonged to the Phyle Kekropis , in this to the Trittys ("third") asty ("city"), which was probably also called Melite and was located within the Themistoclical city ​​walls west of the Acropolis . At Melita belonging Agora , the hill Kolonos Agoraios , the nymph hills and the Pnyx . In the south the Demos bordered Kollytos , in the north Kerameikos and in the southwest Koile bordered on Melite. The Demos provided seven members for the Council of 500 ( Bule ).

mythology

The demos is said to have been named after the Naiade Melite , the wife of Heracles and daughter of Myrmidon . Eurysakes , the son of Aias , is said to have lived in Melite after he handed over the island of Salamis to the Athenians. The family Eurysacids, which produced many priests, is said to have descended from him. Also Alcibiades led back to it.

Sanctuaries

There were numerous sanctuaries in Melite. Below are the famous temple of Hephaestus , the Eurysakeion, the Melanippeion, Melanippos, the son of Theseus was buried here and a sanctuary for Zeus and the nymphs . Themistocles built around 480 BC. The sanctuary for Athene Aristobula ( ancient Greek Αριστοβούλα = best advising ). There was also a sanctuary of Heracles in 426 BC. After the Attic plague had been overcome, a statue of Herakles Alexikakos ( ancient Greek Αλεξίκακος = warding off evil ) made by Phidias or his teacher Ageladas was consecrated.

history

The politicians and generals Miltiades , Themistocles , Kimon , Callias II , Alkibiades and Phokion , the philosopher Epicurus and Antiphon , half-brother of the philosopher Plato and the Olympian Kimon lived in Melite . Furthermore, numerous metics are attested for this district . After his death, Thucydides was buried near the gate, which according to the demos was called the Melitic. Tragedies were rehearsed in the so-called House of Melitians .

After the Diateichisma (transverse wall) that ran across Melite, at the end of the 4th century BC. Was built, the demos began to decline. On the streets outside the wall, grave structures gradually replaced the houses from the late Hellenic to the Roman period. Strabon reports that there were no boundary stones between Melite and Kollytos, which often led to disputes.

literature

Web links

Commons : Melite  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Scholion to Aristophanes : The Frogs 501
  2. ^ Pausanias : Travels in Greece , 1, 23, 9
  3. ↑ Strabo: Geographica , 1, 4, 7 - 8 (pp. 65 - 66)

Coordinates: 37 ° 58 ′ 20 ″  N , 23 ° 43 ′ 10 ″  E