38°36′10″N24°05′59″E / 38.602679°N 24.099827°E /38.602679; 24.099827Oechalia orOichalia (Ancient Greek:Οἰχαλία) was a town inancient Euboea, in the district ofEretria.[1][2][3][4] At the time ofStrabo it was only a village and the geographer points out that it was a vestige of the city that was destroyed byHeracles.[5]
According toGreek mythology,King Eurytus of Oechalia had promised the hand of his beautiful daughterIole to whoever defeated him in an archery competition. Heracles beat him but Eurytus refused to keep his promise, so Heracles sacked the city, killed Eurytus, and kidnapped Iole. However, there was great discussion in antiquity about whether this Oechalia referred to this city, or that ofThessaly, or another also located inTrachis, also inThessaly, or even to others that were located inArcadia orMessenia. The author of the epic poemCapture of Oechalia (usually attributed toCreophylus of Samos),Sophocles (inThe Trachiniae), andHecataeus of Miletus (who locates Oechalia nearEretria) were aligned with those who identified this Oechalia with the Euboean location. Homer, equivocally, andApollodorus of Athens andAristarchus of Samothrace placed it in Thessaly.[6] Also,Demetrius of Scepsis placed it in Arcadia,[7] and Homer also calls the Oechalia in Messenia the city of Eurytus in both theIliad[8] and theOdyssey,[9] and this identification was followed byPherecydes of Athens andPausanias.[10]Strabo makes mention of all these possibilities but does not offer any additional data on the concrete location of the Oechalia of Thessaly.[11]
The site of Oechalia is tentatively placed at thekastro ofAno Potamia (Άνω Ποταμιά) in the municipal unit ofKyme.[12][13]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Oechalia".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
 | This article about a location inancient Euboea is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information. |
Authority control databases: Geographic |
|---|