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CHAP. 14.—PHTHIOTIS.

Hæmonia follows, a country which has often changed its name, having been successively called Pelasgic Argos, Hellas, Thessaly, and Dryopis, always taking its surname from its kings. In this country was born the king whose name was Græcus; and from whom Græcia was so called; and here too was born Hellen1, from whom the Hellenes derive their name. The same people Homer has called by three different names, Myrmidones, Hellenes, and Achæi.

That portion of these people which inhabit the country adjacent to Doris are called Phthiotæ. Their towns are Echinus2, at the mouth of the river Sperchius, and, at four miles from the narrow pass of Thermopylæ3, Heraclea, which from it takes its surname of Trachin4. Here too is Mount Callidromus5, and the celebrated towns of Hellas6, Halos7, Lamia8, Phthia9, and Arne10.

1 He seems to think that the name Græcus is older than that of Hellen, in which he is supported by Apollodorus.

2 So called from Echion, fabled to have sprung from the dragon's teeth. Its site is marked by the modern village called Akhino. The Sperchius is now called the Ellada.

3 This famous spot still retains its name. It is also called Bocca di Lupo.

4 From τραξὺς, "narrow," in allusion to the narrowness of the mountain passes. Brotier places it on the site of the modern Zeitoun, but he is probably in error.

5 A peak of the range of Œta.

6 The name of a town and small district of Phthiotis: it eventually gave its name to the whole of Greece, which by its inhabitants was called Hellas.

7 Near the river Amphrysus. Leake places it at Kefalosi, at the extremity of Mount Othrys.

8 The modern Zeitoun.

9 Said to have been the city of Achilles.

10 According to Stephanus of Byzantium, Cierium was identical with Arne. Leake places it at the modern Mataranga.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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  • Cross-references to this page (4):
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), AMI´SIA
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), BUDI´NI
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), PEUCI´NI
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), RHENUS
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