Εμφανίζονται 2 τίτλοι με αναζήτηση: Πληροφορίες για τον τόπο για το τοπωνύμιο: "ΕΧΙΝΑΔΕΣ Σύμπλεγμα νήσων ΙΟΝΙΑ ΝΗΣΙΑ".
(Echinades nesoi). A group of small islands at the mouth of the Achelous belonging to Acarnania, said to have been formed by the alluvial deposits of the Achelous. They appear to have derived their name from their resemblance to the echinus, or sea-urchin. The largest of these islands was named Dulichium, and belonged to the kingdom of Odysseus, who is hence called Dulichius.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Echinades (hai Echinai nesoi, Hom.; hai Echinades Wesoi, Herod., Thuc.,
Strab.), a group of numerous islands off the coast of Acarnania, several of which
have become united to the mainland by the alluvial deposits of the river. Herodotus
says that half of the islands had been already united to the mainland in his time
(ii. 10); and Thucydides expected that this would be the case with all of them
before long, since they lay so close together as to be easily connected by the
alluvium brought down by the river (ii. 102.). This expectation, however, has
not been fulfilled, which Pausanias attributed (viii. 24. § 11) to the Achelous
bringing down less alluvium in consequence of the uncultivated condition of Aetolia;
but there can be little doubt that it is owing to the increasing depth of the
sea, which prevents any perceptible progress being made.
The Echinades are mentioned by Homer, who says that Meges, son of
Phyleus, led 40 ships to Troy from Dulichium and the sacred islands Echinae, which
are situated beyond the sea, opposite Elis. (Hom. II. ii. 625.) Phyleus was the
son of Augeas, king of the Epeians in Elis, who emigrated to Dulichium because
he had incurred his father's anger. In the Odyssey Dulichium is frequently mentioned
along with Same, Zacynthus, and Ithaca as one of the islands subject to Ulysses,
and is celebrated brated for its fertility. (Hom. Od. i. 245, ix. 24, xiv. 397,
xvi. 123, 247; Hymn. in Apoll. 429; Polupuron, Od. xiv. 335, xvi. 396, xix. 292.)
The site of Dulichium gave rise to much dispute in antiquity. Hellanicus supposed
that it was the ancient name of Cephallenia; and Andron, that it was one of the
cities of this island, which Pherecydes supposed to be Pale, an opinion supported
by Pausanias. (Strab. x. p. 456; Paus. vi. 15. § 7.) But Strabo maintains that
Dulichium was one of the Echinades, and identifies it with Dolicha (he Dolicha),
an island which he describes as situated opposite Oeniadae and the mouth of the
Achelous, and distant 100 stadia from the promontory of Araxus in Elis (x. p.
458). Dolicha.appears to be the same which now bears the synonymous appellation
of Makri, derived from its long narrow form. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii.
p. 574.)
Most modern writers have followed Strabo in connecting Dulichium with
the Echinades, though it seems impossible to identify it with any particular island.
It is observed by Leake that Petala, being the largest of the Echinades, and possessing
the advantage of two well-sheltered harbours, seems to have the best claim to
be considered the ancient Dulichium. It is, indeed, a mere rock, but being separated
only by a strait of a few hundred yards from the fertile plains at the mouth of
the Achelous and river of Oenia, its natural deficiencies may have been there
supplied, and the epithets of grassy and abounding in wheat, which Homer applies
to Dulichium (Od. xvi. 396), may be referred to that part of its territory. But
Leake adds, with justice, that there is no proof in the Iliad or Odyssey that
Dulichium, although at the head of an insular confederacy, was itself an island:
it may very possibly, therefore, have been a city on the coast of Acarnania, opposite
to the Echinades, perhaps at Tragamesti, or more probably at the harbour named
Pandeleimona or Platya, which is separated only by a channel of a mile or two
from the Echinades.
Homer, as we have already seen, describes the Echinades as inhabited;
but both Thucydides and Scylax represent them as deserted. (Thuc. ii. 102 Scylax,
p. 14.) Strabo simply says that they were barren and rugged (x. p. 458). Stephanus
B. names a town Apollonia situated in one of the islands (s. v. Apollonia). Pliny
gives us the names of nine of these islands: Aegialia, Cotonis, Thyatira, Geoaris,
Dionysia, Cyrnus, Chalcis, Pinara, Mystus (iv. 12. s. 19). Another of the Echinades
was Artemita (Artemita), which became united to the mainland. (Strab. i. p. 59;
Plin. iv. 1. s. 2.) Artemidorus spoke of Artemita as a peninsula near the mouth
of the Achelous, and Rhianus connected it with the Oxeiae. (Steph. B. s. v. Aptemita.)
The Oxeiae (hai Oxeiai) are sometimes spoken of as a separate group of islands
to the west of the Echinades (comp. Plin. iv. 12. s. 19), but are included by
Strabo under the general name of Echinades (x. p. 458). The Oxeiae, according
to Strabo, are mentioned by Homer under the synonymous name of Thoae (Thoai, Od.
xv. 299).
The Echinades derived their name from the echinus or the sea-urchin,
in consequence of their sharp and prickly outlines. For the same reason they were
called Oxeiae, or the Sharp Islands, a name which some of them still retain under
the slightly altered form of Oxies. Leake remarks that the Echinades are divided
into two clusters, besides Petala, which, being quite barren and close to the
mainland, is not claimed, or at least is not occupied by the Ithacans, though
anciently it was undoubtedly one of the Echinades. The northern cluster is commonly
called the Dhragonares, from Dhragonara, the principal island; and the southern,
the Oxies or Scrofes. By the Venetians they were known as the islands of Kurtzolari,
which name belongs properly to a peninsula to the left of the mouth of the Achelous,
near Oxia. Seventeen of the islands have names.besides the four Modhia, two of
which are mere rocks, and nine of them are cultivated. These are, beginning from
the southward: Oxia, Makri, Vromona, Pondikonisi, Karlonisi, Provati, Lambrino,
Sofia, Dhragonara. Oxia alone is lofty. Makri and Vromona are the two islands
next in importance. (Kruse, Hellas, vol. ii. pt. ii. p. 455, seq.; Leake, Northern
Greece, vol. iii. pp. 30, seq., 50, seq.; Mure, Tour in Greece, vol. i. p. 104.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Λάβετε το καθημερινό newsletter με τα πιο σημαντικά νέα της τουριστικής βιομηχανίας.
Εγγραφείτε τώρα!
