Hermione participated in the Trojan War and is listed in the Homeric Catalogue of Ships (Il. 2.560).
Hermion, a son of Europs, and grandson of Phoroneus, was, according to a tradition of Hermione, the founder of that town on the south-east coast of Peloponnesus. (Paus. ii. 34. 5)
Chthonia, may mean the subterraucous, or the goddess of the earth, that is, the
protectress of the fields, whence it is used as a surname of infernal divinities,
such as Hecate (Apollon. Rhod. iv. 148; Orph. Hymn. 35. 9), Nyx (Orph. Hymn. 2.
8), and Melinoe (Orph. Hymn. 70. 1), but especially of Demeter (Herod. ii. 123;
Orph. Hymn. 39. 12; Artemid. ii. 35; Apollon. Rhod. iv. 987). Although the name,
in the case of Demeter, scarcely requires explanation, yet mythology relates two
stories to account for it. According to one of them, Clymenus and Chthonia, the
children of Phoroneus, founded at Hermione a sanctuary of Demeter, and called
her Chthonia from the name of one of the founders (Paus. ii. 3.5.3). According
to an Argive legend, Demeter on her wanderings came to Argolis, where she was
ill-received by Colontas. Chthonia, his daughter, was dissatisfied with her father's
conduct, and, when Colontas and his house were burnt by the goddess, Chthonia
was carried off by her to Hermione, where she built a sanctuary to Demeter Chthonia,
and instituted the festival of the Chthonia
in her honour (Paus. ii. 35. 3;) A third mythical personage of this name occurs
in Apollodorus (iii. 15. § 1).
Chthonius (Chthonios) has the same meaning as Chthonia, and is therefore applied to the
gods of the lower world, or the shades (Hom. II. ix. 457; Hesiod. Op. 435; Orph.
Hymn. 17. 3, 69. 2, Argon. 973), and to beings that are considered as earth-born
(Apollod. iii. 4.1; Apollon. Rhod. iv. 1398). It is also used in the sense of
"gods of the land", or "native divinities" (Apollon. Rhod. iv. 1322). There are
also several mythical personages of the name of Chthonius (Apollod. ii. 1.5, iii.
4.1, 5; Ov. Met. xii. 441; Diod. v. 53; Paus. ix. 5; Hygin. Fab. 178).
In S.E. Argolis, of Dryopian origin, its contingent at Plataea, at, city, founded by Hermion, receives Dorian settlers from Argos, its former situation, its later situation, sanctuary of Subterranean Demeter at Hermion.
Hermione is one of the important
cities; and its seaboard is held by the Halieis,
as they are called, men who busy themselves on the sea. And it is commonly reported
that the descent to Hades in the country of the Hermionians is a short cut; and
this is why they do not put passage money in the mouths of their dead. (Strabo
8.6.12)
The following took part in the war: from the Peloponnese, … the Hermioneans furnished three ships
. . . them one thousand from Phlius. By these stood three hundred men of Hermione. Next to the men of Hermione were six hundred Eretrians and Styreans
Putting out from Epidaurus, they (the Athenians) laid waste the territory of Troezen, Halieis, and Hermione, all towns on the coast of Peloponnese, and thence sailing to Prasiai, a maritime town in Laconia, ravaged part of its territory, and took and sacked the place itself; after which they returned home, but found the Peloponnesians gone and no longer in Attica.
This extract is from: Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War. Richard Crawley. London, J. M. Dent; New York, E. P. Dutton. 1910.
Cited Sept 2002 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
Historian Strabo, making mention of Ermioni, the town lying on the
northeastern end of Argolis
with a history that stretches far back into times points out that “δ’
εστίν ων ουκ ασήμων πόλεων” (it is not one of the lesser towns).
Built and later rebuilt on the same site, it has been inhabited since
3000BC. In his works, such as the Iliad, Homer makes mention of Ermioni’s
participation in the Trojan War. The town flourished in the 5th century BC. In
antiquity, it grew in importance due to agriculture, shipbuilding and fishery;
yet, it mainly gained a reputation for the wealth of its coasts attributed to
a rare species of a purple mollusk, the porphyra, wherefrom local inhabitants
obtained by means of a special process a purple dye used for dyeing the palliums
of kings, such as Alexander the Great. Certain finds, such as silver and bronze
coins depicting goddess of earth Demeter dating from 550BC come to manifest the
affluence experienced in the area. The latter is also confirmed by the existence
of many music instructors, such as the great dithyrambist Lasos who tutored the
lyric poet Pindar.
In roman times, Ermioni witnessed considerable prosperity, as well.
The aqueduct that carried water to a number of rock-hewn cisterns found across
the highly populated town was completed at that time. Traveler Pausanias who visited
the area in the 2nd century AD describes with admiration the lavish temples, the
festivals, the music contests and swimming races that suffused the area with glory.
Ermioni’s historical course was also marked by Byzantine rule and concomitant
development.
A paleo-Christian three-aisled basilica with impressive mosaic floors
found at the southeastern side of today’s Town Hall attests to the existence
and predominance of early Christian worship in the area. During the Frankish occupation,
Ermioni was encircled by walls that were erected on the remains of ancient structures,
thus, acquiring the name Kastri (castle).
After hard struggles, the town fell into the hands of Ottoman Turks.
It survived the Turkish occupation due to its powerful shipping, while many of
the area’s natives took part in several battles fought for the cause of
Greek Independence.
This text (extract) is cited March 2004 from the Municipality
of Ermioni tourist pamphlet.
An ancient race in N. Greece, their settlements in the Peloponnese, dwell on Parnassus, Herakles traverses their country and conquers them, settled at Asine in Argolis, serve in Lacedaemonian army, people of Styra in Euboea are Dryopians.
It is found in the Argolic Akte between Troizene and Halieis. Its
remote location tended to keep it out of the mainstream of Hellenic affairs, and
Lasos is the only even minor notable to have originated there. Reputed to be one
of the Dryopian cities of the Peloponnese (Hdt. 8.73.2), it was part of Diomedes'
realm in heroic times (Il. 2.560), and was a member of the Kalaurian amphictyony
(Strab. 8.6.14). Hermione sent three ships to Salamis (Hdt. 8.43) and 300 men
to Plataia (Hdt. 9.28.4). During the 5th c. Hermione was a member of the Peloponnesian
League, and as a result had its territory plundered by the Athenians in 430 (Thuc.
2.56.5). It remained faithful to Sparta during the 4th c. (and perhaps later),
but in 229 was forced to join the Achaian League by Aratos (Strab. 8.7.3). Little
is known of Hermione later, though Plutarch (Pomp. 24) tells us that the Temple
of Demeter Chthonia was plundered by pirates, and we know from Pausanias (2.34.9-35)
that in his time the older part of the town was no longer inhabited.
The ancient city was located on a promontory separating two harbors,
but by Pausanias' time had moved W, to approximately the location of the modern
town, at the foot of a hill anciently called the Pron. Three stretches of the
ancient circuit wall (late 5th c.) of polygonal masonry are preserved, the most
easily visible being that on the Kranidi road on the right as one enters the town.
The best preserved stretch extends ca. 19 m. Other walls, to be found on the seaward
end of the promontory, prove that it was the only defended portion of the city,
and that the higher Pron to the W was outside the ancient fortifications. On the
promontory there is preserved the euthynteria course of a temple with polygonal
joints, probably of the late 6th or early 5th c., and almost certainly to be identified
with the Temple of Poseidon mentioned by Pausanias. The Temple of Athena, also
mentioned by Pausanias, may have stood on a large conglomerate foundation about
50 m SE of the modern quay. Most of the other sanctuaries mentioned by Pausanias
have now disappeared, but it is a highly reasonable assumption that that of Demeter
Chthonia lay roughly in the area of the Church of Haghii Taxiarchi on the Pron
where there is preserved, both in the church wall and across the street, a wall
of ashlar masonry, possibly a peribolos wall. The E portion, preserved only in
part, is ca. 10 m from the N portion which extends W at a height of two to three
courses for ca. 20 m. Some 25 m N of the church and forming the N wall of the
Koinotiko Grapheio, there is preserved to a height of ca. 3 m approximately 20
m of a wall of polygonal ashlar masonry. Another stretch has been reported, which
would yield a total length of ca. 95 m. It has the appearance of a retaining wall
and seems to be of late 4th c. date, but some scholars assign it a 5th-4th c.
date, and connect it either with the Demeter sanctuary or with the Echo Colonnade.
There are a number of Late Roman and Early Byzantine mosaics in the area of the
municipal school, as well as a section of a Roman brick aqueduct to the N of the
Pron. The Mycenaean settlement seems to have lain to the W, near the sea, on a
small mound known as Magoula.
W. F. Wyatt, Jr., ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 3 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
A town on the eastern coast of Argolis on a bay deriving its name (Hermionicus Sinus) from the town. It was originally founded by the Dryopes, and was long a flourishing city, famous for its temple of Demeter Cthonia. It belonged to the Achaean League.
Hermion (Hermione, Herod., Xen., Strab.; Hermion Eurip. Here. Fur.
615; Polyb. ii. 52; Hermion, Scylax, p. 20: Eth. Hermioneus; fem. Hermionis: Adj.
Hermionikos, Hermioneus, Hermionius, Hermionicus). The territory Hermionis a town
at the southern extremity of Argolis, in the wider use of this term, but an independent
city during the flourishing period of Grecian history, and possessing a territory
named Hermionis. The sea between the southern coast of Argolis and the island
of Hydrea was called after it the Hermionicus Sinus (Hermionikos kolpos, Strab.
viii. p. 335), which was regarded as distinct from the Argolic and Saronic gulfs.
Hermione was founded by the Dryopes, who are said to have been driven
out of their original abodes on Mount Oeta and its adjacent valleys by Heracles,
and to have settled in the Peloponnesus, where their three chief towns were Hermione,
Asine, and Eion. (Herod. viii. 43. 47; Diod. iv. 37.) Hermione is mentioned by
Homer along with its kindred city Asine. (Hom. Il. ii. 560.) Asine and Eion were
conquered at an early period by the Dorians, but Hermione continued to exist as
an independent Dryopian state long afterwards. Hermione appears to have been the
most important of the Dryopian towns, and to have been in possession at one time
of a larger portion of the adjacent coast, as well as of several of the neighboring
islands. Strabo, following ancient authorities, places the promontory Scyllaeum
in Hermionis (Strab. viii. p. 373), and the Helnionic gulf extended along the
coast of Troezen as far as this promontory. Hermione is mentioned first among
the cities of the Amphictyony, the representatives of which were accustomed to
meet in the adjacent island of Calaureia (Strab. viii. p. 374), from which it
has been inferred that Hermione had the presidency of the confederacy, and that
the island belonged to this city. It is expressly stated that Hydreia belonged
to the Hermionians, and that they surrendered this island to the Samian pirates,
who gave it into the charge of the Troezenians. (Herod. iii. 59.) The Hermionians
are mentioned as Dryopes at the time of the Persian wars: they sent three ships
to Salamis, and 300 men to Plataea. (Herod. viii. 43, ix. 28.) Subsequently the
Argives took possession of Hermione, and settled there an Argive colony. There
is no account of its conquest, and Pausanias supposes that the Argives obtained
peaceable possession of the town; but it probably came into their power about
the same time that they subdued Mycenae and Tiryns, B.C. 464. Some of the expelled
Hermionians took refuge at Halieis, where the Tirynthians had also settled; and
it was perhaps at this time that the lower city was deserted. (Paus. ii. 34. §
5; Strab. viii. p. 373; comp. Steph, B. s. v.) Hermione now became a Doric city;
but the inhabitants still retained some of the ancient Dryopian customs. Thus
it continued to be the chief seat of the worship of Demeter Chthonia, who appears
to have been the principal deity of the Dryopians; and we learn from a remarkable
inscription that the Asinaeans, who had settled in Messenia after their expulsion
from Argolis, continued to send offerings to Demeter Chthonia at Hermione. (Bockh,
Inscr. no. 1193.) Although Hermione had fallen into the hands of the Argives,
it did not continue permanently subject to Argos, and it is mentioned subsequently
as an independent town and an ally of Sparta. (Thuc. ii. 56, viii. 3) After the
capture of the Acrocorinthus by Aratus, the tyrant who governed Hermione voluntarily
surrendered his power, and the city joined the Achaean league. (Polyb. ii. 44.)
Hermione continued to exist long afterwards, as is proved by its numerous coins
and inscriptions
Pausanias describes Hermione at considerable length. The old city,
which was no longer inhabited in his time, stood upon a promontory seven stadia
in length, and three in breadth at its widest part; and on either side of this
promontory there was a convenient harbour. There were still several temples standing
on this promontory in the time of Pausanias, of which the most remarkable was
one sacred to Poseidon. The later town, which Pausanias visited, stood at the
distance of four stadia from this temple upon the slopes of the hill Pron. It
was entirely surrounded by walls, and was in earlier times the Acropolis of the
city. Among its ruins lies the modern village of Kastri. Of the numerous temples
mentioned by Pausanias the most important was the ancient Diyopian sanctuary of
Demeter Chthonia, situated on a eight of Mount on, said to have been founded by
Chthonia, daughter of Phoroneus, and Clymenus her brother. (Eur. Herc. Fur. 615.)
It was an inviolable sanctuary; but it was plundered by there Cilician pirates.
(Phot. Lex. s. v. Hermione; Plut. Pomp. 24.) Opposite this temple was one sacred
to Clymenus and to tie right was the Stoa of Echo, which repeated the voice three
times. In the same neighbourhood there were three sacred places surrounded with
stone fences; one named the sanctuary of Clymenus, the second that of Pluto, and
the third that of the Acherusian lake. In the sanctuary of Clymenus there was
an opening in the earth which the Hermionians believed to be the shortest road
to Hades, and consequently they put no money in the mouths of their dead to pay
the ferryman of the lower world. (Paus. ii. 35; Strab. viii. p. 373.) From
Hermione a peninsula, now called Kranidhi, extends towards the south and west
It contains two promontories, on each of which there are Hellenic remains. Pausanias
names two ancient places, called Halice and Mases, on the road from Hermione to
Asine, both of which must have been situated in this peninsula, but he gives no
further indication of their position. It has been conjectured that the Hellenic
remains near C. Muzaki, on the more easterly of the two promontories above mentioned,
are those of Halice; and that the remains on the more westerly promontory at Port
Kheli represent Mases. but there are good reasons for believing that the ruins
near C. Muzaki are those of some town the name of which has not been recorded;
that Halice, or, as it is also called, Halieis, stood at Port Kheli; and that
Mases was situated more to the north, on the western coast, at Port Kiladhia.
In the time of Pausanias, Mases served as the harbour of Hermione. Towards the
east the frontier of the Hermionis and Troezenia was marked by a temple of Demeter
Thermasia, close to the sea, 80 stadia westward of Cape Scyllaeum, the name of
which has been preserved in that of Thermisi. (Pans. ii. 34. § 6.) Near this temple,
on the road from Troezen to Hermione, was a small place called Eilei (Eileoi),
the name of which has been preserved in the modern Ilio. Westward the Hermionis
seems to have extended as far as the territory of Asine. On the road from Mases
to Asine, Pausanias mentions the promontory Struthus (Struthous); at the distance
of 250 stadia from which, by a mountain path, were Philanorium (Philanorion) and
Bolei (Boleoi), the latter being the name of a heap of stones: 20 stadia beyond
Bolei was a place called Didymi.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Perseus Coin Catalog
Ceceides (Kekeides), of Hermione, a very ancient Greek dithyrambic poet, whom Aristophanes (Nub. 981) reckons among those who belonged to the good old times, but had become obsolete in his own days. The Scholiast on that passage remarks, that Ceceides was also mentioned by the comic poet Cratinus in his "Panoptae". (Comp. Suidas, s. v. Kekidios)
Cydias, one of the early Greek poets whom Plutarch (de Fac. in Orb. Lun.) classes together
with Mimnermus and Archilochus. Whether he is the same as the author of a song
which was very popular at Athens in the time of Aristophanes, who however is called
by the Scholiast (ad Nub. 966) Cydides of Hermione, is uncertain (Plat. Charm.).
Callinus, of Hermione, was a friend of the philosopher Lycon, who bequeathed to him in his will the works which he had not yet published. (Diog. Laert. v. 70-74.)
The object most worthy of mention is a sanctuary of Demeter on Pron. This sanctuary
is said by the Hermionians to have been founded by Clymenus, son of Phoroneus,
and Chthonia, sister of Clymenus. But the Argive account is that when Demeter
came to Argolis, while Atheras and Mysius afforded hospitality to the goddess,
Colontas neither received her into his home nor paid her any other mark of respect.
His daughter Chthoia disapproved of this conduct. They say that Colontas was punished
by being burnt up along with his house, while Chthonia was brought to Hermion
by Demeter, and made the sanctuary for the Hermionians.
At any rate, the goddess herself is called Chthonia, and Chthonia
is the name of the festival they hold in the summer of every year. The manner
of it is this. The procession is headed by the priests of the gods and by all
those who hold the annual magistracies; these are followed by both men and women.
It is now a custom that some who are still children should honor the goddess in
the procession. These are dressed in white, and wear wreaths upon their heads.
Their wreaths are woven of the flower called by the natives cosmosandalon, which,
from its size and color, seems to me to be an iris; it even has inscribed upon
it the same letters of mourning.2
Those who form the procession are followed by men leading from the
herd a full-grown cow, fastened with ropes, and still untamed and frisky. Having
driven the cow to the temple, some loose her from the ropes that she may rush
into the sanctuary, others, who hitherto have been holding the doors open, when
they see the cow within the temple, close the doors.
Four old women, left behind inside, are they who dispatch the cow.
Whichever gets the chance cuts the throat of the cow with a sickle. Afterwards
the doors are opened, and those who are appointed drive up a second cow, and a
third after that, and yet a fourth. All are dispatched in the same way by the
old women, and the sacrifice has yet another strange feature. On whichever of
her sides the first cow falls, all the others must fall on the same.
Such is the manner in which the sacrifice is performed by the Hermionians.
Before the temple stand a few statues of the women who have served Demeter as
her priestess, and on passing inside you see seats on which the old women wait
for the cows to be driven in one by one, and images, of no great age, of Athena
and Demeter. But the thing itself that they worship more than all else, I never
saw, nor yet has any other man, whether stranger or Hermionian. The old women
may keep their knowledge of its nature to themselves. (Paus. 2.35.4-8)
This extract is from: Pausanias. Description of Greece (ed. W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., & H.A. Ormerod, 1918). Cited July 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
Chthonia, a festival celebrated at Hermione in honour of Demeter, surnamed Chthonia (Eurip. Herc. Fur. 608). A description of it is given by Pausanias (ii. 35,4, &c.), and it is also mentioned by Aelian (H. A. xi. 4). The Lacedaemonians adopted the worship of Demeter Chthonia from the Hermioneans, some of whose kinsmen had settled in Messenia (Paus. iii. 14,5); hence we may infer that they celebrated either the same festival as that of the Hermioneans, or one similar to it.
Daughter of Phoroneus or Colontas, founded sanctuary of Demeter Chthonia at Hermion.
A mountain near the city of Hermione in Argolis, between which and Mt Pron the
road ran from Hermione to Halice. It was subsequently called Coccygium, because
Zeus was said to have been here transformed into a cuckoo; and on its summit was
a temple of Zeus Coccygius. (Paus. ii. 36. § 1, 2; Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 288;
Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 463.)
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