Pordoselene (Ancient Greek:Πορδοσελήνη) orPoroselene (Ποροσελήνη) was a town andpolis (city-state) ofancient Aeolis.[1] It was located on the chief island of theHecatonnesi, a group of small islands lying betweenLesbos and the coast ofAsia Minor, which was also called Prodoselene.[2][3]Strabo says that some, in order to avoid the dirty allusion presented by this name, as pordos means fart in Greek, called it Poroselene,[4] which is the form employed byPtolemy,[5]Pliny the Elder,[6] andAelian.[7] At a still later time the name was changed intoProselene, under which form the town appears as a bishop's see.[8]Aristotle mentions the town in hisHistory of Animals where it was on the extremity of a road that formed the border between an area of the island that containedweasels and another area that did not have them.[9]
The place-name "Nesos Pordoselene" (Νεσος Πορδοσελήνε) appears in the list of tributes toancient Athens of the year 422/1 BCE but there are different opinions on whether Nesos (orNasos in theAeolic dialect) and Pordoselene were a single city or if they are two different cities.[1]
Silver and bronze coins dating from the 5th and 4th centuries BCE are preserved. It is proposed that the small island ofMaden Adası or the island ofAlibey Adası located betweenLesbos andAsia Minor may be the location of Pordoselene, although the second possibility seems to prevail since the archeology and the low fertility of Maden Adası does not show that there has been an old settlement there.[10][11][1] The editors of theBarrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World equate Nasos and Pordoselene.[10]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Pordoselene".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
39°20′12″N26°39′17″E / 39.336684°N 26.654808°E /39.336684; 26.654808
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