Listed 41 sub titles with search on: Ancient literary sources for wider area of: "DODEKANISSOS Island complex GREECE" .
ATAVYROS (Mountain) RHODES
Catreus, son of Minos, had three daughters, Aerope, Clymene, and Apemosyne, and a son, Althaemenes.When Catreus inquired of the oracle how his life should end, the god said that he would die by the hand of one of his children. Now Catreus hid the oracles, but Althaemenes heard of them, and fearing to be his father's murderer, he set out from Crete with his sister Apemosyne, and put in at a place in Rhodes, and having taken possession of it he called it Cretinia. And having ascended the mountain called Atabyrium, he beheld the islands round about; and descrying Crete also and calling to mind the gods of his fathers he founded an altar of Atabyrian Zeus. But not long afterwards he became the murderer of his sister. For Hermes loved her, and as she fled from him and he could not catch her, because she excelled him in speed of foot, he spread fresh hides on the path, on which, returning from the spring, she slipped and so was deflowered. She revealed to her brother what had happened, but he, deeming the god a mere pretext, kicked her to death.
This extract is from: Apollodorus, Library and Epitome (ed. Sir James George Frazer, 1921). Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
RHODES (Island) DODEKANISSOS
KALYMNOS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
I find it a great marvel that a woman went on the expedition against Hellas: after her husband died, she took over his tyranny, though she had a young son, and followed the army from youthful spirits and manliness, under no compulsion. Artemisia was her name, and she was the daughter of Lygdamis; on her fathers' side she was of Halicarnassian lineage, and on her mothers' Cretan. She was the leader of the men of Halicarnassus and Cos and Nisyrus and Calydnos, and provided five ships. Her ships were reputed to be the best in the whole fleet after the ships of Sidon, and she gave the king the best advice of all his allies. The cities that I said she was the leader of are all of Dorian stock, as I can show, since the Halicarnassians are from Troezen, and the rest are from Epidaurus.
This extract is from: Herodotus. The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley, 1920), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Apr 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
Herodotus will not allow any impurity or miscegenation in the population
of the Dorian Hexapolis; it all goes back to the Dorians of the Argolid, the Halikarnassians
to Dorian Troizen, the rest (i.e. Kos, Nisyros, Kalymnos, or Kalymna, or Kalymnai)
to Dorian Epidauros. The doctrine of the purely Dorian character of these settlements--as
indeed of the remaining Dorians both within and without the Hexapolis is anything
but indisputable.
(1) That the Dorian invaders of the Peloponnesos could have spared sufficient
drafts to colonize SW. Asia Minor is on the face of it improbable.
(2) Nor is the purely Dorian character of the Peloponnesian Dorians itself to
be admitted: apart from the question of intermarriage, many passed for Dorians,
as others for Achaeans, who had little right to the name.
(3) The Homeric catalogue makes Kos (Il. 2. 677) Hellenic before the Trojan War,
as also Lindos (656), Karpathos (676), Syme (671), etc.
Rawlinson regards all that as anachronism, so likewise the prae-Dorian
date assigned by some authorities to the colonisation of Halikarnassos; but we
must now be prepared to recognize that 'Peloponnesians' and others passed freely
across the Aegean long before the days of the Return of the Herakleids. There
are two possibilities to be reckoned with:
(a) The 'Dorians' were a much earlier and more primitive element in the Aegean
population than the legend of the 'Return' recognizes; or
(b), as is more probable, the 'Dorian' colonization in Asia was merely an Epoikism,
the Dorian element small and nominal, confined at first perhaps to the leaders,
or new oikists;
That it was, however, a real presence is proved by the appearance
of the Dorian tribes in Halikarnassos, Kalymna, Kos (though late?); How factitious,
'pragmatic,' or tendenzios such legends may be is illustrated by the stories of
Thera and Kyrene;
KAMIROS (Ancient city) RHODES
. . . Dorians of what is now the country of the "Five Cities"--formerly the country of the "Six Cities"--forbid admitting any of the neighboring Dorians to the Triopian temple, and even barred from using it those of their own group who had broken the temple law. For long ago, in the games in honor of Triopian Apollo, they offered certain bronze tripods to the victors; and those who won these were not to carry them away from the temple but dedicate them there to the god. Now when a man of Halicarnassus called Agasicles won, he disregarded this law, and, carrying the tripod away, nailed it to the wall of his own house. For this offense the five cities--Lindus, Ialysus, Camirus, Cos, and Cnidus--forbade the sixth city--Halicarnassus--to share in the use of the temple. Such was the penalty imposed on the Halicarnassians.
This extract is from: Herodotus. The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley, 1920), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
KARPATHOS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
Carpathos, which the poet calls Crapathos, is high, and has a circuit of two hundred stadia. At first it was a Tetrapolis, and it had a renown which is worth noting; and it was from this fact that the sea got the name Carpathian. One of the cities was called Nisyros, the same name as that of the island of the Nisyrians. It lies opposite Leuce Acte in Libya, which is about one thousand stadia distant from Alexandreia and about four thousand from Carpathos.
KOS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
I find it a great marvel that a woman went on the expedition against Hellas: after her husband died, she took over his tyranny, though she had a young son, and followed the army from youthful spirits and manliness, under no compulsion. Artemisia was her name, and she was the daughter of Lygdamis; on her fathers' side she was of Halicarnassian lineage, and on her mothers' Cretan. She was the leader of the men of Halicarnassus and Cos and Nisyrus and Calydnos, and provided five ships. Her ships were reputed to be the best in the whole fleet after the ships of Sidon, and she gave the king the best advice of all his allies. The cities that I said she was the leader of are all of Dorian stock, as I can show, since the Halicarnassians are from Troezen, and the rest are from Epidaurus.
This extract is from: Herodotus. The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley, 1920), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Apr 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
Commentary
Herodotus will not allow any impurity or miscegenation in the population
of the Dorian Hexapolis; it all goes back to the Dorians of the Argolid, the Halikarnassians
to Dorian Troizen, the rest (i.e. Kos, Nisyros, Kalymnos, or Kalymna, or Kalymnai)
to Dorian Epidauros. The doctrine of the purely Dorian character of these settlements--as
indeed of the remaining Dorians both within and without the Hexapolis is anything
but indisputable.
(1) That the Dorian invaders of the Peloponnesos could have spared sufficient
drafts to colonize SW. Asia Minor is on the face of it improbable.
(2) Nor is the purely Dorian character of the Peloponnesian Dorians itself to
be admitted: apart from the question of intermarriage, many passed for Dorians,
as others for Achaeans, who had little right to the name.
(3) The Homeric catalogue makes Kos (Il. 2. 677) Hellenic before the Trojan War,
as also Lindos (656), Karpathos (676), Syme (671), etc.
Rawlinson regards all that as anachronism, so likewise the prae-Dorian
date assigned by some authorities to the colonisation of Halikarnassos; but we
must now be prepared to recognize that 'Peloponnesians' and others passed freely
across the Aegean long before the days of the Return of the Herakleids. There
are two possibilities to be reckoned with:
(a) The 'Dorians' were a much earlier and more primitive element in the Aegean
population than the legend of the 'Return' recognizes; or
(b), as is more probable, the 'Dorian' colonization in Asia was merely an Epoikism,
the Dorian element small and nominal, confined at first perhaps to the leaders,
or new oikists;
That it was, however, a real presence is proved by the appearance
of the Dorian tribes in Halikarnassos, Kalymna, Kos (though late?); How factitious,
'pragmatic', or tendenzios such legends may be is illustrated by the stories of
Thera and Kyrene;
Commentary
A bond of connexion between Epidaurus and Cos may be found in their
devotion to the worship of Asclepius, under the charge of the Asclepiads, among
them Hippocrates (Plato, Phaedr. 270 C, Prot. 311 B). Apparently before the Dorian
immigration Cos had already been colonized from Thessaly (Il. ii. 676 f.; Tac.
Ann. xii. 61). Calymna and Nisyros were later occupied from Cos (Diod. v. 54).
KOS (Ancient city) DODEKANISSOS
. . . Dorians of what is now the country of the "Five Cities"--formerly the country of the "Six Cities"--forbid admitting any of the neighboring Dorians to the Triopian temple, and even barred from using it those of their own group who had broken the temple law. For long ago, in the games in honor of Triopian Apollo, they offered certain bronze tripods to the victors; and those who won these were not to carry them away from the temple but dedicate them there to the god. Now when a man of Halicarnassus called Agasicles won, he disregarded this law, and, carrying the tripod away, nailed it to the wall of his own house. For this offense the five cities--Lindus, Ialysus, Camirus, Cos, and Cnidus--forbade the sixth city--Halicarnassus--to share in the use of the temple. Such was the penalty imposed on the Halicarnassians.
This extract is from: Herodotus. The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley, 1920), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
. . .Artemisia was her name, and she was the daughter of Lygdamis; on her fathers' side she was of Halicarnassian lineage, and on her mothers' Cretan. She was the leader of the men of Halicarnassus and Cos and Nisyrus and Calydnos, and provided five ships. Her ships were reputed to be the best in the whole fleet after the ships of Sidon, and she gave the king the best advice of all his allies. The cities that I said she was the leader of are all of Dorian stock, as I can show, since the Halicarnassians are from Troezen, and the rest are from Epidaurus.
This extract is from: Herodotus. The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley, 1920), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
LINDOS (Ancient city) LINDOS
. . . Dorians of what is now the country of the "Five Cities"--formerly the country of the "Six Cities"--forbid admitting any of the neighboring Dorians to the Triopian temple, and even barred from using it those of their own group who had broken the temple law. For long ago, in the games in honor of Triopian Apollo, they offered certain bronze tripods to the victors; and those who won these were not to carry them away from the temple but dedicate them there to the god. Now when a man of Halicarnassus called Agasicles won, he disregarded this law, and, carrying the tripod away, nailed it to the wall of his own house. For this offense the five cities--Lindus, Ialysus, Camirus, Cos, and Cnidus--forbade the sixth city--Halicarnassus--to share in the use of the temple. Such was the penalty imposed on the Halicarnassians.
This extract is from: Herodotus. The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley, 1920), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
NISSYROS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
I see no need to mention any of the other captains except Artemisia. I find it a great marvel that a woman went on the expedition against Hellas (battle of Salamis): after her husband died, she took over his tyranny, though she had a young son, and followed the army from youthful spirits and manliness, under no compulsion. Artemisia was her name, and she was the daughter of Lygdamis; on her fathers' side she was of Halicarnassian lineage, and on her mothers' Cretan. She was the leader of the men of Halicarnassus and Cos and Nisyrus and Calydnos, and provided five ships. Her ships were reputed to be the best in the whole fleet after the ships of Sidon, and she gave the king the best advice of all his allies. The cities that I said she was the leader of are all of Dorian stock, as I can show, since the Halicarnassians are from Troezen, and the rest are from Epidaurus.
ASTYPALEA (Island) DODEKANISSOS
People of Astypalaea worship Cleomedes as hero.
KARPATHOS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
An island S.W. of the Peloponnese (Hdt. 3,45).
KOS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
KRITINIA (Ancient area) RHODES
LEROS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
Off the Carian coast, proposal that the Ionian rebels against Darius should take refuge there.
NISSYROS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
An island S. of Cos, its ships under Artemisia's command.
RHODES (Island) DODEKANISSOS
Its part in the Greek settlement at Naucratis, Rhodian colonists in Sicily, Danaus touches at, Tlepolemus flees to, Althaemenes settles in, Orestes driven to, Aristomenes goes to, Colossus of, besieged unsuccessfully by Demetrius, Diagorids of, shaken by earthquake, Helen hanged in, sanctuary of Helen of the Tree in, walls of.
Their muster for the Trojan war, build tomb for Aristomenes, allied with Athenians, pay fine to Olympian Zeus, Rhodians of Lindus dedicate image of Apollo at Delphi, statues of Rhodian athletes, Rhodian poet (Apollonius), stately tomb of a Rhodian.
TILOS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
An island near Rhodes, home of Telines.
ALASSARNA (Ancient city) KOS
Towards the south it (Cos) has a promontory, Laceter, whence the distance to Nisyros is sixty stadia (but near Laceter there is a place called Halisarna)), and on the west it has Drecanum and a village called Stomalimne. Now Drecanum is about two hundred stadia distant from the city, but Laceter adds thirty-five stadia to the length of the voyage.
ASTYPALEA (Ancient city) KOS
The city of the Coans was in ancient times called Astypalaea; and its people lived on another site, which was likewise on the sea. And then, on account of a sedition, they changed their abode to the present city, near Scandarium, and changed the name to Cos, the same as that of the island.
ATAVYROS (Mountain) RHODES
After Lindus one comes to Ixia, a stronghold, and to Mnasyrium; then to Atabyris, the highest of the mountains there, which is sacred to Zeus Atabyrius
CHALKI (Island) DODEKANISSOS
Chalcia is eighty stadia distant from Telos, four hundred from Carpathos, about twice as far from Astypalaea, and has also a settlement of the same name and a temple of Apollo and a harbor.
IXIA (Beach) RHODES
After Lindus one comes to Ixia, a stronghold
KALYMNOS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
They say that the poet calls the Sporades "Calydnian Islands," one of which, they say, is Calymna. But it is reasonable to suppose that, as the islands which are near, and subject to, Nisyros and Casos are called "Islands of the Nisyrians" and "Islands of the Casians," so also those which lie round Calymna were called "Islands of the Calymnians" -Calymna at that time, perhaps, being called Calydna. But some say that there are only two Calydnian islands, Leros and Calymna, the two mentioned by the poet. The Scepsian says that the name of the island was used in the plural, "Calymnae," like "Athenae" and "Thebae"; but, he adds, the words of the poet should be interpreted as a case of hyperbaton, for he does not say, "Calydnian Islands," but those who held the islands Nisyros and Carpathos and Casos and Cos, the city of Eurypylus, and Calydnae. Now all the honey produced in the islands is, for the most part, good, and rivals that of Attica, but the honey produced in the islands in question is exceptionally good, and in particular the Calymnian.
This extract is from: The Geography of Strabo (ed. H. L. Jones, 1924), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Apr 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
KASSOS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
Casos is seventy stadia from Carpathos, and two hundred and fifty from Cape Samonium in Crete. It has a circuit of eighty stadia. In it there is also a city of the same name, and round it are several islands called Islands of the Casians.
KOS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
The city of the Coans was in ancient times called Astypalaea; and its people lived on another site, which was likewise on the sea. And then, on account of a sedition, they changed their abode to the present city, near Scandarium, and changed the name to Cos, the same as that of the island. Now the city is not large, but it is the most beautifully settled of all, and is most pleasing to behold as one sails from the high sea to its shore. The size of the island is about five hundred and fifty stadia. It is everywhere well supplied with fruits, but like Chios and Lesbos it is best in respect to its wine. Towards the south it has a promontory, Laceter, whence the distance to Nisyros is sixty stadia (but near Laceter there is a place called Halisarna), and on the west it has Drecanum and a village called Stomalimne. Now Drecanum is about two hundred stadia distant from the city, but Laceter adds thirty-five stadia to the length of the voyage.
In the suburb is the Asclepieium, a temple exceedingly famous and full of numerous votive offerings, among which is the Antigonus of Apelles. And Aphrodite Anadyomene used to be there, but it is now dedicated to the deified Caesar in Rome, Augustus thus having dedicated to his father the female founder of his family. It is said that the Coans got a remission of one hundred talents of the appointed tribute in return for the painting. And it is said that the dietetics practised by Hippocrates were derived mostly from the cures recorded on the votive tablets there. He, then, is one of the famous men from Cos; and so is Simus the physician; as also Philetas, at the same time poet and critic; and, in my time, Nicias, who also reigned as tyrant over the Coans; and Ariston, the pupil and heir of the Peripatetic; and Theomnestus, a renowned harper, who was a political opponent of Nicias, was a native of the island.
This extract is from: The Geography of Strabo (ed. H. L. Jones, 1924), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Febr 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
LEROS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
They say that the poet calls the Sporades "Calydnian Islands," one of which, they say, is Calymna. But it is reasonable to suppose that, as the islands which are near, and subject to, Nisyros and Casos are called "Islands of the Nisyrians" and "Islands of the Casians," so also those which lie round Calymna were called "Islands of the Calymnians" -Calymna at that time, perhaps, being called Calydna. But some say that there are only two Calydnian islands,
Leros and Calymna, the two mentioned by the poet. The Scepsian says that the name of the island was used in the plural, "Calymnae," like "Athenae" and "Thebae"; but, he adds, the words of the poet should be interpreted as a case of hyperbaton, for he does not say, "Calydnian Islands," but those who held the islands Nisyros and Carpathos and Casos and Cos, the city of Eurypylus, and Calydnae. Now all the honey produced in the islands is, for the most part, good, and rivals that of Attica, but the honey produced in the islands in question is exceptionally good, and in particular the Calymnian.
This extract is from: The Geography of Strabo (ed. H. L. Jones, 1924), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Apr 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
LINDOS (Ancient city) LINDOS
After the Telchines, the Heliadae, according to the mythical story, took possession of the island; and to one of these, Cercaphus, and to his wife Cydippe, were born children who founded the cities that are named after them,Lindus, Ialysus, and Cameirus white with chalk.(Hom. Il. 2.656) But some say that Tlepolemus founded them and gave them the same names as those of certain daughters of Danaus . . .
As one sails from the city, with the island on the right, one comes first to Lindus, a city situated on a mountain and extending far towards the south and approximately towards Alexandria. In Lindus there is a famous temple of Athena Lindia, founded by the daughters of Danaus. Now in earlier times the Lindians were under a separate government of their own, as were also the Cameirians and the Ialysians, but after this they all came together at Rhodes. Cleobulus, one of the Seven Wise Men, was a native of Lindus.
This extract is from: The Geography of Strabo (ed. H. L. Jones, 1924), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
MEGISTI (KASTELORIZO) (Island) DODEKANISSOS
In the intervening distance on the coasting voyage there are numerous isles and harbors, among which are the island Megiste, with a city of the same name, and Cisthene.
NISSYROS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
Nisyros lies to the north of Telos, and is about sixty stadia distant both from it and from Cos. It is round and high and rocky, the rock being that of which millstones are made; at any rate, the neighboring peoples are well supplied with millstones from there. It has also a city of the same name and a harbor and hot springs and a temple of Poseidon. Its perimeter is eighty stadia. Close to it are also isles called Isles of the Nisyrians. They say that Nisyros is a fragment of Cos, and they add the myth that Poseidon, when he was pursuing one of the giants, Polybotes, broke off a fragment of Cos with his trident and hurled it upon him, and the missile became an island, Nisyros, with the giant lying beneath it. But some say that he lies beneath Cos.
RODOS (Ancient city) DODEKANISSOS
The city of the Rhodians lies on the eastern promontory of Rhodes; and it is so far superior to all others in harbors and roads and walls and improvements in general that I am unable to speak of any other city as equal to it, or even as almost equal to it, much less superior to it. It is remarkable also for its good order, and for its careful attention to the administration of affairs of state in general; and in particular to that of naval affairs, whereby it held the mastery of the sea for a long time and overthrew the business of piracy, and became a friend to the Romans and to all kings who favoured both the Romans and the Greeks. Consequently it not only has remained autonomous. but also has been adorned with many votive offerings, which for the most part are to be found in the Dionysium and the gymnasium, but partly in other places. The best of these are, first, the Colossus of Helius, of which the author of the iambic verse says,
seven times ten cubits in height, the work of Chares the Lindian;
but it now lies on the ground, having been thrown down by an earthquake and broken at the knees. In accordance with a certain oracle, the people did not raise it again. This, then, is the most excellent of the votive offerings (at any rate, it is by common agreement one of the Seven Wonders); and there are also the paintings of Protogenes, his Ialysus and also his Satyr, the latter standing by a pillar, on top of which stood a male partridge. And at this partridge, as would be natural, the people were so agape when the picture had only recently been set up, that they would behold him with wonder but overlook the Satyr, although the latter was a very great success. But the partridge-breeders were still more amazed, bringing their tame partridges and placing them opposite the painted partridge; for their partridges would make their call to the painting and attract a mob of people. But when Protogenes saw that the main part of the work had become subordinate, he begged those who were in charge of the sacred precinct to permit him to go there and efface the partridge, and so he did. The Rhodians are concerned for the people in general, although their rule is not democratic; still, they wish to take care of their multitude of poor people. Accordingly, the people are supplied with provisions and the needy are supported by the well-to-do, by a certain ancestral custom; and there are certain liturgies that supply provisions, so that at the same time the poor man receives his sustenance and the city does not run short of useful men, and in particular for the manning of the fleets. As for the roadsteads, some of them were kept hidden and forbidden to the people in general; and death was the penalty for any person who spied on them or passed inside them. And here too, as in Massalia and Cyzicus, everything relating to the architects, the manufacture of instruments of war, and the stores of arms and everything else are objects of exceptional care, and even more so than anywhere else.
This extract is from: The Geography of Strabo (ed. H. L. Jones, 1924), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
TILOS (Island) DODEKANISSOS
Telos extends alongside Cnidia, is long, high, narrow, has a perimeter of about one hundred and forty stadia, and has an anchoring-place.
KAMIROS (Ancient city) RHODES
They (the Peloponneseans) accordingly at once set sail that same winter from Cnidus, and first put in with ninety-four ships at Camirus in the Rhodian country, to the great alarm of the mass of the inhabitants, who were not privy to the intrigue, and who consequently fled, especially as the town was unfortified.(...)
RHODES (Island) DODEKANISSOS
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