Troizen (city)

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Troizen ( Greek Τροιζήν ), also Trözēn , was a city in ancient Greece . It is located northwest of today's Trizina on the north coast of the Argolis near the Methana peninsula . Troizen was considered the birthplace of the Attic hero Theseus .

Lore

First, Oros is said to have settled here and ruled the country as king. He named his kingdom Oraia. He was succeeded by Althepos , the son of Poseidon and his daughter Leïs. Just like Kekrops I in Attica , Althepos was given the choice of which deity his country should be dedicated to, Athena or Poseidon. However, he decided that Troizen should belong to both deities. Next, Saron ascended the throne. Since he loved the hunt, he built a Temple of Artemis on Lake Psifaean . When he drowned while hunting a hind in the Saronic Gulf , he was buried in the Artemis sanctuary.

A few generations later, the brothers Hyperethus and Anthas , sons of Poseidon and the Alkyons , ruled . They founded the places Hypereia and Antheia. Anthas' son Aetios reigned next and founded the city of Poseidonias. The sons of Pelops , Troizen and Pittheus , eventually came into the country and first ruled over part of the country. They later ousted Aetios entirely from the throne. Aëtios' descendants emigrated to Caria and founded Halicarnassus and Myndos . According to Strabo , it was Anthas who was expelled and founded Halicarnassus. After Troizen died, Pittheus named the city after his brother. Anaphlystos and Sphettos , the sons of Troizen, settled in Attica. Two demes and two trittyes were later named after them ( Kleisthenic reforms ).

The Attic king Aigeus begat Theseus with Aithra , the daughter of Pittheus. Before Aigeus returned to Athens, he deposited a sword and a pair of sandals under a heavy stone, which Theseus was supposed to retrieve as soon as he was strong enough to lift the stone. Theseus seized the objects, went to Athens and finally became king of Attica. Theseus and the Amazon Hippolyte were the father of Hippolytus . When Theseus married Phaidra , he sent Hippolytus to his grandfather Pittheus in Troizen. Theseus later, after killing Pallas' sons, traveled to Troizen to cleanse him of his bloodshed. Phaidra, who was accompanying her husband, saw Hippolytus for the first time and fell in love with him. Since Hippolytus did not return love, Phaidra took her own life. In a suicide note, she claimed that Hippolytus desired her. Thereupon Theseus had his own son killed by Poseidon while he was traveling on the chariot .

In the ship catalog of the Iliad , Homer names Diomedes as the leader of the Troizener warriors. After the invasion of Heraclus , Troizen is said to have been inhabited by Dorians .

history

The area of ​​ancient Troizen was since the 2nd millennium BC. Settled. Important Mycenaean tombs were found on the Megali Magoula hill . Here or near the present-day city of Galatas was Pogon, the port of Troizen, which was opposite the island of Kalavria . Around 530 BC The Samians who fled from Polycrates bought the island of Hydra and were now under the protection of the Troizans.

During the Persian War Troizen was often involved in the fighting with its own contingents. The first ship to be captured by the Persians before the Battle of Artemision came from Troizen. When the enemy approached Athens , many women and children were evacuated to Troizen. An inscription with the decision taken at Themistocles' instigation was found in Troizen in 1959. However, their authenticity is controversial in research, as they do contain inscriptions from the 3rd century BC. Chr. Stylistically similar, but on the other hand could also be a re-recording of the original inscription. Before the Battle of Salamis , ships, including five from Troizen, gathered in the port of Pogon. 479 BC 1,000 Troizzans also took part in the Battle of Plataiai , in which the Persians were defeated. In the Battle of Mykale at around the same time , the Troizans were distinguished by their bravery.

From 458 to 446 BC BC Troizen was occupied by Athens until finally a treaty with Sparta regulated the return of the city. 435 BC The Troizener took part as an ally of Corinth in the war against Kerkyra with two ships. During the Peloponnesian War , the city fought on the side of Sparta, which is why the area 430 BC. Was devastated by the Athenians. 425 BC BC Nikias demanded the return of Troizen. When this was refused, he conquered Methana and devastated it until the armistice in 423 BC. BC Troizen's surrounding area. In the winter of 413/2 BC BC Troizen, Megara , Epidauros and Hermione were ordered to take part in the construction of a Peloponnesian fleet by building a total of 10 ships.

After the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC) the city took part in the alliance with Athens against Antipater . 243 BC BC Troizen joined the Achaean League . In the 2nd century BC The Acropolis was probably abandoned by order of the Romans. From the 8th or 9th century the place was called Damala ( Greek : Δαμαλά). This is evidenced by the mention of a suffragan diocese Damala in the 9th century. In 1204 the city belonged to the Frankish Duchy of Athens and the Baron von Damala built a castle on the Acropolis. In 1325 Damala came into the possession of the Zaccaria family and in 1336 was added to the despotate Morea . Later the place was shifted 500 m to the east and received its current name Trizina in 1912 .

tour

Plan of the ancient Troizen

The main square in Trizina is the ideal starting point for a tour. There is good parking and a bus stop from Galatas to Methana . About 200 m west of the village you reach the eastern city wall of Troizens, of which hardly anything can be seen. Another 100 m further north of the road is the Agios Georgios chapel. It probably stands on the foundations of an ancient temple. The ancient agora stretched west of the church . The foundations of the temple of Artemis Soteira ( Greek  Σώτειρα = savior ) were found about 80 m to the northwest . According to Pausanias, the grave of Pittheus was also located here. The decree of Themistocles was found another 100 m north-west near the church ruins of Agia Soteira. The 2nd century statue of Hermes Polygios was also found here, which is now in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens (NAMA 243). It is a copy of a work by Naukydes from the 5th century BC. Chr.

If you return to the road from the Agios Georgios Chapel, you will reach a fork in the road about 100 m to the west. Here lies the so-called Theseus stone, under which his father is said to have hidden his sword and sandals. Opposite one found the remains of the Ardali Museion , which is said to have been built by Ardalos , the son of Hephaestus . The massive brick walls and arches are the remains of a Roman thermal bath .

If you follow the southern road, after about 200 m you will reach a Hellenistic defense tower , the so-called Theseus Palace . The tower lay on a wall that separated the acropolis , which is now difficult to access, from the lower town ( Diateichisma ). The ancient masonry made of large stone blocks is still around 6 m high. In Franconian times, the tower was raised again from small, irregular stones. 20 m east of the tower, below the street, is a Roman grave (RG 6) that was built from bricks. After the curve, above the tower, you reach the location of the theater, of which hardly any traces have been preserved.

If you follow the path to the southwest, after about 450 m you will reach the Devil's Bridge ( Greek : Διαβολογέφυρο ). This is a natural bridge over the gorge. The stream that flows through the gorge is called Gefyraion ( Greek Γεφυραίον ) after the bridge . Its ancient name was Chrysorrhoas ( Greek  Χρυσορρόας = the gold flowing ). In ancient times, an irrigation canal crossed the bridge. In Franconian times the bridge was reinforced by a vault. If you go over the bridge and turn right, you can descend to the stream that carries water all year round. On the way down you can see the remains of a horizontal wheel watermill .

If you return to the stone of Theseus and now follow the northern path, you will reach the church of John the Baptist after about 200 m . About 120 m to the north, turn left and cross the bed of the Chrysorrhoas stream. After 70 m after a left bend, a dirt road branches off to the right from the paved road, on which two Roman graves (RG 1 and RG 2) after 280 m are reached. The graves are on the right of the path. Like RG 6, they are made of bricks. Grave 1 has a hexagonal and grave 2 a square plan. Both graves have a diameter of about 7 m. Returning to the paved road, follow it to a small cross-domed church .

Plan of the Asclepion of Troizen

If you follow the path that branches off to the south, you will reach the u. a. Asclepios sanctuary of Troizen excavated by Gabriel Welter with a hostel for approx. 60 guests. 30 m south of the sanctuary are the remains of a temple for Hippolytos and 30 m north the remains of a Byzantine monastery .

List of the mythical kings of Troizen

  • Oros, first king of Troizen
  • Althepos
  • Saron
  • Hyperethos
  • Anthas
  • Aetios
  • Troizen
  • Pittheus
  • Theseus
  • Diomedes

sons and daughters of the town

literature

  • Siegfried Lauffer: Greece. Lexicon of historical sites from the beginning to the present , CH Beck, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-406-33302-8 , pp. 693-694
  • Gabriel Welter: Troizen and Kalaureia . Berlin 1941.
  • Helmut Berve: On the Themistocles inscription from Troizen. Meeting reports of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class; 1961.3. Munich 1961.
  • Mikael Johansson: The Inscription from Troizen. A Decree of Themistocles? In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik Vol. 137, 2001, pp. 69–92.
  • Michael H. Jameson : A Decree of Themistocles from Troizen in Hesperia , Volume 29, Part 2, 1960, pp. 198-223 ( online )
  • Richard Speicher: Peloponnese . 2nd Edition. W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart / Berlin / Cologne 1980, ISBN 3-17-010031-9 , pp. 206-212 .

Web links

Commons : Troizen (city)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Strabo: Geographica , 8,6,14 (p. 324)
  2. ↑ Pausanias , Travels in Greece , 2.30.5-34.3
  3. ^ Pausanias, Reisen in Greece , 1,22,1-2
  4. ↑ Homer: Iliad , 2.559-568
  5. ↑ Strabo: Geographica , 8,6,14
  6. ↑ Herodotus , Historien , 3.59
  7. ↑ Herodotus, Historien , 7,180
  8. ↑ Herodotus, Historien , 8:41
  9. ↑ Herodotus, Historien , 8:41
  10. ↑ Herodotus, Historien , 9.28
  11. ↑ Herodotus, Historien , 9,102; 9.105
  12. ↑ Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War , 1,115
  13. ↑ Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War , 1.27
  14. ↑ Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War , 2.56
  15. ↑ Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War , 4.21; 4.45; 4,118
  16. ↑ Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War , 8.3
  17. ^ Pausanias, Travels in Greece , 1,25,4
  18. ↑ Plutarch : Aratos , 24.3
  19. ↑ Philippe-Ernest Legrand: Statue of Hermes found at Damala in Bulletin of Hellenic Correspondence , 1892 ( online ( Memento of the original from April 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / troizenarchaeology.com
  20. ^ Pausanias, Travels in Greece , 1,2,1

Coordinates: 37 ° 30 ′ 13 ″  N , 23 ° 20 ′ 59 ″  E