Listed 4 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "THERAPNI Ancient city SPARTI".
The site lay at the top of the bluffs beside the E bank of the river
Eurotas, to the SE of Classical Sparta. Remains of a Late Helladic settlement
have been found on the hill tops, but nothing of a palatial character. It has
been suggested that the Homeric city of Lakedaimon was at or near Therapnai (Toynbee);
others, however, argue that Lakedaimon in Homer means the country ruled by Menelaos,
not the seat of his power (Hope Simpson & Lazenby).
A massive platform (16 x 23 m) built in the 5th c. B.C. supported
an altar--and perhaps a temple--of Helen, who together with Menelaos was worshiped
at Therapnai as a divinity. A temple at Therapnai is mentioned by Alkman (F 14
Page). The cult center was also called the Menelaion (Polyb. 5.18.3; 5.22.3).
Helen of Therapnai may originally have been a Lakonian nature goddess (cf. Helen's
tree: Theok. Idyll 18.47). Bronze, lead, and other votives found at the Menelaion
show that a cult lasted from early Geometric times until the 4th c. B.C. Pindar
in Nemean 10 associates the Dioskouroi with Therapnai, but they were less significant
there than Helen and her husband.
G. L. Huxley, 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 bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Perseus Project index - Total results: 31 Therapne, 2 Therapnae
A town in Laconia, on the left bank of the Eurotas and a little above Sparta, celebrated in mythology as the birthplace of Castor and Pollux. Menelaus and Helen were said to be buried here.
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