Listed 11 sub titles with search on: Homeric world for wider area of: "PREVEZA Prefecture EPIRUS" .
Astyoche. A daughter of Phylas, king of Ephyra, by whom Heracles, after the conquest cf Ephyra, begot Tlepolemus. (Apollod. ii. 7.6, 8; Hom. Il. ii. 658; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. vii. 24)
. . . Tlepolemos, son of Herakles, a man both brave and large of stature, brought nine ships of lordly warriors from Rhodes. These dwelt in Rhodes which is divided among the three cities of Lindos, Ialysos, and Kameiros, that lies upon the chalk. These were commanded by Tlepolemos, son of mighty Herakles and born of Astyochea, whom he had carried off from Ephyra, on the river Selleis, after sacking many cities of valiant warriors. (Hom. Il. 2.650)
Hercules marched with the Calydonians against the Thesprotians, and having taken
the city of Ephyra, of which Phylas was king, he had intercourse with the king's
daughter Astyoche, and became the father of Tlepolemus.<
Commentary:
Compare Diod. 4.36.1, who gives Phyleus as the name of the king of Ephyra, but
does not mention the name of his daughter. According to Pind. (O. 7.23(40)ff.,
with the Scholiast), the mother of Tlepolemus by Herakles was not Astyoche but
Astydamia.
Some scholars suggest that Odysseus went to this Ephyre and not the Eleian one during his return to Ithaca (Od. 1.259, 2.328).
Phylas. King of Ephyra, in Thesprotia, and father of Polymele and Astyoche, by the latter of whom Heracles was the father of Tlepolemus
Mermerus (Mermeros). A son of Pheres, and grandson of Jason and Medeia. He was the father of Ilus and Ephyra, and skilled in the art of preparing poison. (Hom. Od. i. 260; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1416.)
Ilus. A son of Mermerus, and grandson of Jason and Medeia. He lived at Ephyra, between Elis and Olympia; and when Odysseus came to him to fetch the poison for his arrows, Ilus refused it, from fear of the vengeance of the Gods. (Hom. Od. i. 259, ii. 328; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1415, &c.; Strab. viii. p. 338.)
GTP's note: ed. William Smith, undertakes that Homeric Ephyra located in Elis, instead Thesprotia.
This text is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited Apr 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ACHERON (River) EPIRUS
A river of Hades, into which flew Periphlegethon and Cocytus (Od. 10.513).
Acheron. In ancient geography there occur several rivers of this name, all of which were, at least at one time, believed to be connected with the lower world. The river first looked upon in this light was the Acheron in Thesprotia, in Epirus, a country which appeared to the earliest Greeks as the end of the world in the west, and the locality of the river led them to the belief that it was the entrance into the lower world. When subsequently Epirus and the countries beyond the sea became better known, the Acheron or the entrance to the lower world was transferred to other more distant parts, and at last the Acheron was placed in the lower world itself. Thus we find in the Homeric poems (Od. x. 513; comp. Paus. i. 17,5) the Acheron described as a river of Hades, into which the Pyriphlegeton and Cocytus are said to flow. Virgil (Aen. vi. 297, with the note of Servius) describes it as the principal river of Tartarus, from which the Styx and Cocytus sprang. According to later traditions, Acheron had been a son of Helios and Gaea or Demeter, and was changed into the river bearing his name in the lower world, because he had refreshed the Titans with drink during their contest with Zeus. They further state that Ascalaphus was a son of Acheron and Orphne or Gorgyra (Natal. Com. iii. 1). In late writers the name Acheron is used in a general sense to designate the whole of the lower world (Virg. Aen. vii. 312; Cic. post redit. in Senat. 10; C. Nepos, Dion, 10). The Etruscans too were acquainted with the worship of Acheron (Acheruns) from very early times, as we must infer from their Acheruntici libri, which among various other things treated on the deification of the souls, and on the sacrifices (Acheruntia sacra) by which this was to be effected. The description of the Acheron and the lower world in general in Plato's Phaedo is very peculiar, and not very easy to understand.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Sep 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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