Olous

Olous (also Olus ; Greek Ὀλοῦς ) was an ancient port city in the northeast of the island of Crete next to the modern Elounda .

The few archaeological remains indicate that the city was founded in archaic times or earlier classical times. Finds of inscriptions from the Hellenistic period illuminate historical events from this epoch; at that time Olous was in closer contact with Rhodes . The city was permanently at war with its southern neighbor, Lato , but there were also times of peace when friendly agreements were concluded. The relationship with the not far away Dreros is uncertain. According to the city's location, Olous could have been the port for Dreros, but there is no positive written evidence for this. From about 330 BC. Olous minted own coins. They show Artemis Britomartis and Zeus. Eleven coin types are known. The city was relatively small at around 5 hectares.

Little is known of the city proper. There was a temple of Britomartis in which a wooden statue of the goddess Daidalos stood ( Pausanias 9, 40, 3). There is also said to have been a temple of Zeus. Remnants of the city can be seen in the sea.

literature

Malcolm Cross: The Creativity of Crete. City States and the Foundations of the Modern World , Oxford 2011, ISBN 9781904955955 , p. 239.
Ernst Meyer : Olus. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 4, Stuttgart 1972, Col. 278.

35,255 25,733Coordinates: 35 ° 15 '18 " N , 25 ° 43' 58.8" E