Psophis (city)

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Sketch plan by Psophis, 1856

Psophis ( Greek  Ψωφίς ; the inhabitants are called Psophidians ) was an ancient city on the northwestern edge of Arcadia in Greece . The city was in the valley of the Erymanthos , at the confluence of the Erymanthos with two smaller rivers, the Aroanios and the Seiraios. The modern town of Tripotama , which belongs to the municipality of Kalavryta in the Achaia regional district, owes its name to this fact.

Mythical prehistoric times

The original name of Psophis was Erymanthos and its territory was the scene of the devastation wrought by the Erymanthian boar until Heracles caught it alive and brought it to Mycenae . In later times the place was called Phegia or Phegeia ( Φηγία, Φήγεια ), according to ancient tradition after the eponymous hero Phegeus .

When Alkmaion , the son of Amphiaraoh , was persecuted by the Erinyes after the murder of his mother Eriphyle , he escaped to Phegeus, who atoned him for the matricide. Alkmaion settled in Psophis and married Arsinoë (or Alphesiboia ). In the course of further complications, Alkmaion was killed by the sons of Phegeus or by Phegeus himself: a material that was also used by Euripides in his tragedy Alkmaion in Psophis . Because of the murder of Alkmaion, the Psophidians did not take part in the Trojan War . Because they feared the hostility of the Argives because of the murder of Alkmaion , although they had taken part in the second train, the train of the Epigones , against Thebes .

From Echephron and Promachos , the sons of Heracles, the place then her mother later received honor Psophis its historical name.

history

Little is known of the story of Psophis. The fragment of a shield edge, which the Psophidians consecrated in Olympia, dates from the late Archaic period. Pausanias mentions the consecration of a Zeus statue of unknown time by the Psophidians in Olympia . At the beginning of the Social War it was owned by Elis and thus part of the Aetolian federal . Polybios describes the situation in 219 BC in detail . BC, which ended with the conquest of the well-fortified, strategically located city by Philip V and the incorporation into the Achaean League . The garrison stationed in Psophis withdrew to Zakynthos - according to myth, a Psophidic foundation - but surrendered soon afterwards.

When Pausanias visited the city in the 2nd century, he saw the ruins of a temple for Aphrodite Erykina , which is said to have first been built by the sons of Psophis. He could no longer tell apart the Heroa for the sons of Heracles, Echephron and Promachos. He was also shown the grave of Alkmaion, in his eyes a complex that was not conspicuous in terms of size or decoration, but overgrown by huge cypresses dedicated to Alkmaion, which the locals called "virgins" ( παρθένοι ). Near the Erymanthos there was a sanctuary of the river god with a statue made of white marble. The city still minted copper coins in Severan times.

remains

The well-preserved remains of the fortification wall with one round and several square towers still exist from the city. Rows of seats are evidence of a theater not mentioned in Pausanias . The ruins of the city were mainly explored by travelers and explorers of the 19th century.

literature

  • Ernst Meyer : Psophis. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 4, Stuttgart 1972, Sp. 1213.
  • Marion Holland McAllister:  Psophis (Tripotamos) Arkadia, Greece . In: Richard Stillwell et al. a. (Ed.): The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1976, ISBN 0-691-03542-3 .
  • Nicola Cusumano: Un santuario di Afrodite Ericina a Psophis e la presenza di Arcadi in Sicilia da Dorieo ai Dinomenidi. In: Oρμoς 1, 1999, pp. 89–112.
  • Georgia Z. Alexopoulou: Η αρκαδική Ψωφίς. In: Aρχαιoλoγικά ανάλεκτα εξ Aθηνών 25, 1999–2001, pp. 161–174.
  • Yves Lafond: Psophis. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 10, Metzler, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-476-01480-0 , Sp. 521 f.
  • Michalis Petropoulos: In: Eric Ostby (ed.): Ancient Arcadia : Athen 2005, pp. 365–376 ( full text ).

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Pausanias 8:24 , 2 and 5; Stephanos Byzantios sv Ψωφίς ( full text ); Libraries of Apollodorus 2, 5, 4.
  2. ↑ Pausanias 8, 24, 2 and 8; Stephanos Byzantios sv Φήγεια, Ψωφίς .
  3. ↑ Libraries of Apollodorus 3, 7, 6; Ovid , Metamorphosen 9, 413; Pausanias 6, 17, 6 and 8, 24, 10; at Hyginus , Fabulae 245 Phegeus kills Alkmaion.
  4. ↑ Suda sv Πενθερά
  5. ^ Pausanias 8:24 , 10.
  6. ↑ Pausanias 8:24 , 2.
  7. ↑ Peter Cornelius Bol : Argive shields. (= Olympic research. Volume 17.) de Gruyter, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-11-011587-5 , p. 115 No. A 230; Shield edge fragment of the Psophidians in the Arachne archaeological database .
  8. ↑ Pausanias 5:24 , 2.
  9. ↑ Polybios 4, 70-72.
  10. ↑ Pausanias 8:24 , 6-7.
  11. ↑ Pausanias 8:24 , 12.
  12. ^ William Martin Leake : Travels in the Morea. Vol. 2. Murray, London 1830, pp. 240-241; Ernst Curtius : Peloponnesos. Vol. 1. Perthes, Gotha 1851, pp. 384-385.

Coordinates: 37 ° 52 ′ 11 ″  N , 21 ° 53 ′ 25 ″  E