Πληροφορίες τοπωνυμίου

Aristonautae

ΑΡΙΣΤΟΝΑΥΤΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΞΥΛΟΚΑΣΤΡΟ
  The harbour of Pellene was called Aristonautae (Aristonautai), and was distant 60 stadia from Pellene, and 120 from Aegeira. It is said to have been so called from the Argonauts having landed there in the course of their voyage. (Paus. vii. 26. § 14, ii. 12. § 2.) It was probably on the site of the modern Kamari. (Leake, Morea, vol. iii. p. 384.) A little to the E., near the coast, was the fortress Olurus (Olouros), dependent upon Pellene; Leake places it at Xylo-castro. It would thus have stood at the entrance of the gorge leading from the maritime plain into the territory of Pellene, and would have been a position of great importance to the safety of that district. (Xen. Hell. vii. 14. 17, 18; Plin. iv. 6; Mel. iii. 3; Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, vol. iii. p. 224.) Near Aristonautae was Gonnusa or Gonoessa, to which Homer gives the epithet of lofty (aipeine). According to Pausanias its proper name was Donussa (Donoussa), which was changed by Peisistratus into Gonoessa, when he collected the poems of Homer. Pausanias says that it was a fortress belonging to the Sicyonians, and lay between Aegeira and Pellene; but from its position we may infer that it was at one time dependent upon Pellene. Leake places it at Koryfi, the lofty mountain, at the foot of which is Kamari, the ancient Aristonautae. (Horn. Il. ii. 573; Paus. vii. 26. § 13; Leake, vol. iii. p. 385.)

This extract is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD)
• http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Per...