Location information

Temesa, Tamassus

TAMASSOS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
The next city after Laus belongs to Brettium, and is named Temesa, though the men of today call it Tempsa; it was founded by the Ausones, but later on was settled also by the Aetolians under the leadership of Thoas; but the Aetolians were ejected by the Brettii, and then the Brettii were crushed by Hannibal and by the Romans. Near Temesa, and thickly shaded with wild olive trees, is the hero-temple of Polites, one of the companions of Odysseus, who was treacherously slain by the barbarians, and for that reason became so exceedingly wroth against the country that, in accordance with an oracle, the people of the neighborhood collected tribute for him; and hence, also, the popular saying applied to those who are merciless, that they are "beset by the hero of Temesa." But when the Epizephyrian Locrians captured the city, Euthymus, the pugilist, so the story goes, entered the lists against Polites, defeated him in the fight and forced him to release the natives from the tribute. People say that Homer has in mind this Temesa, not the Tamassus in Cyprus (the name is spelled both ways), when he says "to Temesa, in quest of copper." And in fact copper mines are to be seen in the neighborhood, although now they have been abandoned.

This extract is from: The Geography of Strabo (ed. H. L. Jones, 1924), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Σεπ 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.

Perseus: Strabo, Geography
• http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=...