Megara Hyblaea

Megara Hyblaea
τὰ Μέγαρα (in Ancient Greek)
Mosaics on the floor of a house near the western gate of Megara Hyblaea.
Megara Hyblaea is located on the eastern coast of Sicily, Italy
Megara Hyblaea is located on the eastern coast of Sicily, Italy
Shown within Italy
LocationAugusta, Sicily, Italy
RegionSicily
Coordinates37°12′14.04″N 15°10′54.84″E / 37.2039000°N 15.1819000°E / 37.2039000; 15.1819000
TypeSettlement
History
BuilderGreek settlers from Megara
Founded8th century BC
AbandonedApproximately 483 BC
PeriodsArchaic Greek
CulturesGreek
Site notes
Excavation dates1891
ConditionRuined
OwnershipPublic
ManagementSoprintendenza per i Beni Culturali ed Ambientali di Siracusa
Public accessYes

Megara Hyblaea (Ancient Greek: Μέγαρα Ὑβλαία) – perhaps identical with Hybla Major – is an ancient Greek colony of Magna Graecia in Sicily, situated near Augusta on the east coast, 20 kilometres (12 mi) north-northwest of Syracuse, Italy, on the deep bay formed by the Xiphonian promontory.[1] There were at least three (and possibly as many as five) cities[2] named "Hybla" in ancient accounts of Sicily which are often confounded with each other, and among which it is sometimes very difficult to distinguish.[3]

  1. ^ See Richard Talbert, Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, (ISBN 0-691-03169-X), Map 47.
  2. ^ The circumstance that there were so many towns called Hybla in Sicily probably arose from the fact mentioned by Pausanias, that there was a local divinity of the name. (Paus. v. 23. § 6.)
  3. ^ For example, William Smith, Britain's foremost classicist of the 19th century, begins to describe Hybla Major with an admixture of locational and historic information from both Hybla Gereatis and Megara Hyblaea. Caution should therefore be used when assuming reference to "Hybla" in an ancient source refers to this city.