Elyrus

The cisterns of Elyros

Elyrus or Elyros (Ancient Greek: Ἔλυρος)[1] was a town of ancient Crete, which the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax places between Cydonia and Lissus. It had a harbour, Syia (Συΐα),[2] situated on the south coast of the island, 60 stadia west of Poecilassus.[3] Pausanias states that the city existed in his time in the mountains of Crete. He adds that he had seen at Delphi the bronze goat which the Elyrians had dedicated, and which was represented in the act of giving suckle to Phylacis and Phylander, children of Apollo and the nymph Acacallis, whose love had been won by the youthful god at the house of Casmanor at Tarrha.[4] It was the birthplace of Thaletas,[5] who was considered as the inventor of the Cretic rhythm, the national paeans and songs, with many of the institutions of his country.[6] Elyrus appears in Hierocles' list of Cretan cities, then reduced in number to twenty-one.[7] The coins of this city have the type of a bee upon them.[8]

Its site is located in on Kefala Hill near the village of Rodovani.[9][10] Robert Pashley discovered the site in the 19th century. The first object that presents itself is a building consisting of a series of arches; next, vestiges of walls, especially on the north and northeast sides of the ancient city. The circuit of these must originally have been two miles (3 km); at a slight elevation above are other walls, as of an acropolis. Further on are some massive stones, some pieces of an entablature, and several fragments of the shafts of columns, all that now remains of an ancient temple.[11]

It has not been excavated.

  1. ^ Stephanus of Byzantium. Ethnica. Vol. s.v.
  2. ^ Stephanus of Byzantium. Ethnica. Vol. s.v.
  3. ^ Stadiasmus Maris Magni, p. 299 ed. Hoffmann
  4. ^ Pausanias (1918). "16.3". Description of Greece. Vol. 10. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.
  5. ^ Suda s.v. Ἔλυρος
  6. ^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. x. p.480. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
  7. ^ Hierocles. Synecdemus.
  8. ^ Pellerin, Rec. des Méd. vol. iii. p. 68; Mionnet, Supplément, vol. iv. p. 319.
  9. ^ Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 60, and directory notes accompanying. ISBN 978-0-691-03169-9.
  10. ^ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
  11. ^ Robert Pashley, Travels, vol. ii. p. 105.