Lindus orLindos (Greek:Λίνδος) was one of the most important towns inancient Rhodes.
It was situated on the eastern coast, a little to the north of a promontory bearing the same name. The district was in ancient times very productive in wine and figs, though otherwise it was very barren.[1]
In theCatalogue of Ships in theIliad ofHomer, Lindus, together with the two other Rhodian cities,Ialysus andCamirus, are said to have taken part in thewar againstTroy.[2]
Their inhabitants wereDorians, and formed the three Dorian tribes of the island, Lindus itself being one of theDoric Hexapolis in the south-west of Asia Minor.
Previous to the year 408 BCE, when thecity of Rhodes was built, Lindus, like the other cities, formed a little state by itself, but when Rhodes was founded, a great part of the population and the common government was transferred to the new city.[3] Lindus, however, though it lost its political importance, still retained religious importance, for it contained two ancient and much revered sanctuaries – one ofAthena, hence called the Lindian, and the other ofHeracles. The former was believed to have been built byDanaus,[4][5] or, according to others by his daughters on their flight fromEgypt.[6][7] The temple of Heracles was remarkable, according toLactantius (Div.Inst. 1.21.31-37), on account of the vituperative and injurious language with which the worship was conducted. This temple contained a painting of Heracles byParrhasius; and Lindus appears to have possessed several other paintings by the same artist.[8]
Lindus also was the native place ofCleobulus, one of theSeven Sages of Greece; andAthenaeus has preserved a pretty poem ascribed to Cleobulus, and which the Lindian boys used to sing as they went round collecting money for the return of the swallows in spring.[9]
Strabo's description of Lindus as "on the side of a hill, looking towards the south andAlexandria," cannot be mistaken; and the modern town ofLindos is exactly the spot occupied by the ancient Dorian city.[10][11]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Lindus".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
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36°05′29″N28°05′17″E / 36.0913239°N 28.0881777°E /36.0913239; 28.0881777
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