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Argolis derives its name from Argos, situated on the river Inachus, above the Sinus Argolicus, and still called Argo. A little North East of Argos was Mycenæ, now Krabata, the royal city of Agamemnon, North West of which was Nemca, celebrated for the Nemean games, instituted in honour of Archemorus, who was killed there by a serpent, and for the victory of Hercules over the Nemean Lion. Eastward of Argos was Tyrins, or Tirynthus, a favourite residence of Hercules, who is thence called Tirynthius. East of it is the Mons Arachnæus, on which was one of the beacons, or fire telegraphs, of Agamemnon, by which he announced the capture of Troy the same night that it was taken.* Still East, on the coast of the Sinus Saronicus, is Epidaurus, celebrated for its worship of Esculapius; and below it is Træezen, or Træzene, now Damala, the birth-place of Theseus, and scene of the Hippolytus of Euripides, off the coast of which is the island Calauria, where Demosthenes poisoned himself. Near the South point of Argolis is the city of Hermione, now Castri, giving to the adjacent bay the name of Sinus Hermionicus. At the top of the Sinus Argolicus was Nauplia, now Napoli, the naval station of the Argives. Southward, below Argos near the shore, was Lerna, celebrated for the destruction of the Lernean Hydra by Hercules; and on the confines of Arcadia was Cenchreæ, mentioned by Eschylus, in his Prometheus Vinctus, v. 677.

Below Argolis was Laconia, whose capital was Sparta, or Lacedæmon, on the river Eurotas, near which is the

See Eschylus, Agam, v. 317.

more recent town of Misitra. To the North was Sallasia, a frontier town commanding the principal pass into Laconia, and a little South of Sparta was Amycle, built by Amyclas. Castor and Pollux were born here, and Apollo was here worshipped with peculiar solemnities. Amycle was called Tacitæ *, or the silent, either from the inhabitants being Pythagoreans, or from their having 'made a law which forbad the mention of an enemy's approach, they having been once deceived by a false report. They were afterwards the victims of their absurd statute. A little below Amycle was Therapne. The extreme South Eastern promontory of Laconia was called Maleat, now Cape Malio, or St. Angelo, and the Gulph contained between it and the South Western promontory of Tænarus, or Cape Matapan, (one of the fabled entrances into the infernal regions ‡) was called the Sinus Laconicus, or Gulph of Colokythia, from the antient town of Gytheum, now Colokythia, near the upper part of the bay.

West of Laconia was Messenia, the capital of which was Messene, which still retains its name, above the top of the Sinus Messeniacus, now the Gulph of Coron. The fortress of Ithome was near it, and served as its citadel. On the Western side was the Messenian Methone, now Modon, and above it the Messenian Pylos, now Nava

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rin, off which was the island of Sphacteria, so memorable in Thucydides for the capture of many of the noblest Lacedæmonians. In the North, on the confines of Elis, is the river Cyparissus, having at its mouth the city of Cyparissæ giving name to the adjacent Sinus Cyparissius; and inland the fortress of Ira, the last which held out against the Lacedæmonians, who ejected the Messenians Ol. 27. 2, and held the province from them for 300 years, till Ol. 102. 3.

Above Messenia was Elis, divided into Triphylia, in the South, Pisatis, in the middle, and Cole, in the North. In Triphylia we meet with the Elean or Triphylian Pylos, which disputes with the Messenian the honour of being the country of Nestor, and a little above it, Scillus, the retreat of Xenophon. Above it was the river Alpheus, or Alfeo, having on its Southern bank Olympia, and on its Northern Pisa. This was the celebrated region in which the Olympic games were held in honour of Jupiter Olympius. They were of very antient foundation, and revived B. C. 776, and serve as the epoch of Grecian chronology. They were celebrated at the conclusion of every fourth year, or rather of every forty-ninth month, and were held for five successive days. The Roman Lustrum was a period of five years. Elis itself was situated on the river Peneus, in the district of Cole, it was near Gastonni ; South East of which was a third Pylos, which has also strong claims to being allowed as the country of Nestor. Near it was a little stream called Geron, and a little village called Gerena, whence Nestor appears to be so often styled in Homer the Gerenian. Pindar, however,

calls him a King of Messene. The port of the Eleans was Cyllene, now Chiarenza, a little North of the bay and promontory of Chelonites, now Cape Tornese.

The rest of the coast of the Peloponnesus was occupied by Achaia, lying along the Southern side of the Sinus Corinthiacus, comprising also the districts of Sicyon and Corinth, called Sicyonia and Corinthia. Before we enter the straights of the Sinus Corinthiacus, or Gulph of Lepanto, is Dyme, on the coast of the Ionian Sea; and above it is Patræ, now Patras, near the mouth of the straights. At the entrance into the straights is Rhium, and on the opposite coast Antirrhium. Proceeding Eastward, along the shore, is Ægium, where the States of Achaia used to meet, and South West of it, within land, is Tritea, now Triti. East of Egium was Ægira, which had a port and dockyard, and South East of it, within land, was Pellene; North East of which is the district of Sicyonia. On the coast was Sicyon, which, in the modern name of Basilico, still retains the memorial of having been the most antient kingdom of Greece. South of Sicyon, in the interior, was the city of Phlius, which still preserves its name in Staphlica.* Proceeding towards the end of the Sinus Corinthiacus, we come into the district of Corinth, where we meet with that far-famed city, which was destroyed by Mummius the Roman General, B. C. 145, A. U. C. 609, and rebuilt by Cæsar. It is still called Corito. It was itself a little inland, but had two ports,

* The addition of Sta, or Stan, is common in modern Greek names, being a corruption of is rà, or is ráv. Thus Constantinople is called Stambol, or ἐς τὴν πόλιν.

Lechæum, on the Sinus Corinthiacus, and Cenchreæ, on the Sinus Saronicus*, and a citadel, on a lofty hill called Acrocorinthus. The pass between the Peloponnese and the rest of Greece was called the Isthmus of Corinth, now Hexamili, from its being only six modern Greek, or perhaps not five British miles in breadth. Here the Isthmian games were celebrated in honour of Neptune. The Emperor Nero in vain attempted to cut through the Isthmus and join the Saronic and Corinthian Gulphs.

The province of Arcadia occupied the center of the Peloponnesus, being surrounded by the five provinces already enumerated. This was the celebrated pastoral country of the poets. † Near the North of Argolis was the river and lake Stymphalus, the fabled residence of those Harpies which were destroyed by Hercules. Below it was Orchomenus, bearing the same name with a town in Bœotia, and below it the celebrated city of Mantinea, near Trapolitza, where the great Epaminondas, the Theban General, lost his life, in the memorable victory he obtained over the Lacedæmonians there, B. C. 363, Ol. 104, 2. Below Mantinea is Mount Mænalus, from his residence on which Pan was called Mænalius. At the Southern extremity of Mænȧlus was the city of Tegea, now called Moklea,

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+ Pan etiam, Arcadia mecum si judice certet,
Pan etiam, Arcadia dicat se judice victum.

Od. I. 7.

Virg. Ecl. IV. 58.

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