Ὀφρύνειον | |
  Ophryneion Shown within Turkey | |
| Location | İntepe,Çanakkale Province,Turkey |
|---|---|
| Region | Troad |
| Coordinates | 40°1′22″N26°20′6″E / 40.02278°N 26.33500°E /40.02278; 26.33500 |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | 6th century BC |
| Periods | Archaic Greece toByzantine Empire |
Ophryneion orOphrynium (Ancient Greek:Ὀφρύνειον,romanized: Ophryneion) was anancient Greek city in the northernTroad region ofAnatolia. Its territory was bounded to the west byRhoiteion and to the east byDardanus. It was located about 1.5 km north-east of the village ofErenköy inÇanakkale Province,Turkey.[1] The city was situated on the steep brow of a hill overlooking theDardanelles, hence the origin of its Ancient Greek nameὀφρῦς (ophrus), meaning 'brow of a hill', 'crag'.[2]
Ophryneion was supposedly one of a series of cities founded byAkamas the son ofTheseus which he subsequently passed off as being founded byAscanius andSkamandrios, the sons ofAeneas and ofHector respectively.[3] This story was taken from the 2nd century BC scholarLysimachus of Alexandria, who related it in Book 2 of hisNostoi, who in turn derived it from a late 4th century BC historian known as Dionysios ofChalkis.[4] It has been argued that this tradition reflects a pro-Athenianbias, as it makes the founder of many places in theTroad the son ofAthens' most important hero,Theseus, while at the same time explaining away the fact that contemporary traditions made no mention of such a connection.[5] By contrast with the story of Ophryneion being founded byAkamas, which puts the city's origins in the period immediately following the destruction ofTroy,surface surveys conducted on the site suggest that it was occupied no earlier than the 6th century BC.[6]
In antiquity, Ophryneion was considered to be the site of the tomb ofHector, the famousTrojan hero killed byAchilles inHomer'sIliad. It is possible that a lost play of the 5th century BC tragedianSophocles referred to this tradition, and it likewise appears to be referred to on a vase from c. 500–490 BC depicting the sack ofTroy.[7] However, the first secure reference to this tradition appears on the coinage of Ophryneion, c. 350–300 BC, which depictedHector.[8] After the city ofThebes was rebuilt in 316 BC (it had been destroyed byAlexander the Great in 335 BC), the bones of Hector were moved from Ophryneion toThebes in accordance with anoracle which promisedThebes prosperity should this happen.[9] In the early 1st century AD, the geographerStrabo described there being a sacred precinct of Hector near Oryphneion in a conspicuous spot, but scholars have been unable to identify it.[10]
Ophryneion is rarely mentioned in extant sources from Antiquity.Herodotus mentions that in 480 BCXerxes passed by his way up the coast before crossing toEurope at nearbyAbydos.[11] Later that century, it was one of theActaean cities whichMytilene lost control of following the end of theMytilenean revolt in 427 BC.[12] An inscription fromAthens dating to 414/413 BC, which records property confiscated fromAthenian nobleman implicated inthe mutilation of the Herms, indicates that a relative ofAlcibiades,Axiochus, earned revenues from land in the territory of Ophryneion.[13] In the summer of 399 BC,Xenophon stopped here to offer sacrifice while marching home with theTen Thousand.[14] Later in the 4th century BC, a speech of the oratorDemosthenes relates how a man who had been exiled fromByzantium, Parmeno, had decided to settle at Ophryneion, but was forced to move when an earthquake struck theChersonese and brought down his house, presumably causing similar damage in the rest of the town.[15] Some time shortly after 316 BC, the bones ofHector were moved from Ophryneion toThebes (see above, The Tomb of Hector), althoughStrabo's description of Hector's precinct at Ophryneion in the 1st century AD suggests that he was still worshipped there after his bones had moved.[16]Strabo indicates that before theTreaty of Apamea in 188 BC, Ophryneion had been under the sway ofDardanus to the north-east, whereas after this point it instead belonged toIlium.[17] Pot sherds and coins found at Ophryneion indicate that the site was continuously occupied until at least theByzantine period, but with the exception of its fame as the one-time location of the bones of Hector, we hear no more about it.[18]
Authority control databases: Geographic |
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