Kichyros (Cichorus, Cichyrus), later called Ephyra, was the capital of ancient Thesprotia build by the Pelasgian leader Thesprotos. Thucydides describes it as situated in the district Elaeatis in Thesprotia, away from the sea. At its site is the famous Necromanteion (Nekromanteion, Oracle of the Dead). First settled during the Bronze Age and resettled in the 14th century B.C. by colonists most probably from Chaonia and the west Peloponnese region. Thesprotia (Greek: Θεσπρωτία) is one of the prefectures of Greece. ... Ancient Greek writers used the name Pelasgian to refer to groups of people who preceded the Greeks and dwelt in several locations in mainland Greece, Crete, and other regions of the Aegean as neighbors of the Hellenes. ... Bust of Thucydides residing in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. ... Elis, or Eleia is an ancient district within the modern prefecture of Ilia. ... Thesprotia (Greek: Θεσπρωτία) is one of the prefectures of Greece. ... Location In Mesopotamo. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ... BC may stand for: Before Christ (see Anno Domini) : an abbreviation used to refer to a year before the beginning of the year count that starts with the supposed year of the birth of Jesus. ... Chaonia, Chaon, was the name of an ancient tribe located in modern-day Albania and Greece. ... The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus (Greek: Πελοπόννησος Peloponnesos; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a large peninsula in southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth. ...

Located in Elis of Thesprotis the city is about 800 m north of the junction of the Kokkytos River with the Acheron, and about 4.5 km E of the bay of Ammoudia. Near it is the outlet into the sea of the Acherusian Lake. Strabo (7.7.5) gives the same information and adds that in his time Ephyra was called Kichyros. Thesprotia (Greek: Θεσπρωτία) is one of the prefectures of Greece. ... The Acheron is a river in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. ... The Greek geographer Strabo in a 16th century engraving. ...

In mythology

Neoptolemos was said to have landed at Kichyros (Ephyra) on his return from Troy (Pind. Nem. 7.37-39) and Odysseus came there later to get poison for his arrows (Od. 1 .259f). Theseus and Perithoos came to snatch away Persephone, wife of Aidoneus King of Ephyra. These were none other than Persephone and Hades, the gods of the underworld, who had a shrine and an oracle at Ephyra (Paus. 1.17.4-5, 9.36.3; Plut. Theseus 31.35). In Greek mythology, Neoptolemus, also Neoptólemos or Pyrrhus, was the son of Achilles. ... Troy or Ilion, see Troy (disambiguation) and Ilion (disambiguation). ... Head of Odysseus from a Greek 2nd century BC marble group representing Odysseus blinding Polyphemus, found at the villa of Tiberius at Sperlonga Odysseus (Greek Odusseus), pronounced /oʊˈdɪs. ... Theseus (Greek ) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, with whom Aethra lay in one night. ... In Greek mythology, Pirithous (also transliterated as Perithoos or Peirithoos) was the King of the Lapiths and husband of Hippodamia. ... Pinax of Persephone and Hades sitting on the throne, 5th century BC. Found at Locri in Calabria in Italy. ... Pinax of Persephone and Hades sitting on the throne, 5th century BC. Found at Locri in Calabria in Italy. ... Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. For other uses, see Hades (disambiguation). ...

Information of the location

The site of Ephyra is confirmed by the excavation of the ancient oracle of the dead, Necromanteion, on the hill of Agios Ioannis near the village of Mesopotamos, 150 m N of the junction of the Kokkytos with the Acheron. The remains of three ancient wall circuits are preserved on the limestone hill of Xylokastro. The finds within the acropolis, chiefly sherds of local pottery of the Bronze Age and Mycenaean sherds, together with the worship of the chthonic goddess Persephone. Location In Mesopotamo. ... The Acheron is a river in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. ... Xylokastro (Greek:, Modern: Ξυλόκαστρο Ancient: Xylokastron, Ξυλόκαστρον Greek word meaning wooden castle) is a city that is 40 km W of Corinth via GR-8, which is also E65. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... Mycenaean Greece, the last phase of the Bronze Age in ancient Greece, is the historical setting of the epics of Homer and much other Greek mythology. ... For other uses, see Chthon (disambiguation). ... Pinax of Persephone and Hades sitting on the throne, 5th century BC. Found at Locri in Calabria in Italy. ...

After the surrender of the Elean colonies in Kassopaia to Philip II of Macedon in 343-342 B.C, (Dem. 7.32) and their subjection to the Thesprotians, Ephyra appears to have reverted to its original name, Kichyros, which had been kept alive in some neighboring Thesprotian settlement (Kichyros, the former Ephyra: Strab. 7.7.5, 8.3.5). Some finds, chiefly pottery of the 1st c. B.C., confirm the statement of Pausanias (1.17.5) that Kichyros was in existence in his time. Elis, or Eleia is an ancient district within the modern prefecture of Ilia. ... Kassopaia (Κασσωπαία) is a municipality in the Corfu Prefecture, Greece. ... Philip II of Macedon: victory medal (niketerion) struck in Tarsus, 2nd c. ... Events Roman emperor Constans travels to Britain, possibly for a military expedition. ... Events Invasion of Goguryeo by Murong Huang of the Xianbei. ... BC may stand for: Before Christ (see Anno Domini) : an abbreviation used to refer to a year before the beginning of the year count that starts with the supposed year of the birth of Jesus. ... Map of Chaonia, Molossis & Thesprotia The Thesprotians (Gk. ...

Ancient accounts

The Thesprotia Kichyros/Ephyra appears to be the town mentioned in two passages of the Odyssey (i. 259, ii. 328). The Ephyri, mentioned in a passage of the Iliad (xiii. 301), were supposed by Pausanias to be the Thesprotians inhabitants of the town (Paus. ix. 36.3); but Strabo maintained that the poet referred to the Thessalian Ephyra (Strab. ix. p. 442). Some commentators even supposed the Ephyra on the Selleeis (Hom. Il. ii. 659, xv. 531) to be the Thesprotian town, but Strabo expressly maintains that Homer alludes in these passages to the Eleian town (Strab. vii. p. 328,; comp. viii. p. 338). Pausanias represents Cichyrus as the capital of the ancient kings of Thesprotia, where Theseus and Peirithous were thrown into chains by Aidoneus; and its celebrity in the most ancient times may also be inferred from a passage of Pindar. (Paus. i. 17. 4; Pind. Nem. vii. 55.) (Leake, Northern Greece. vol. iii. p. 7, vol. iv. pp. 53, 175.) Thesprotia (Greek: Θεσπρωτία) is one of the prefectures of Greece. ... Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre The Odyssey (Greek: , Odusseia) is one of the two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to the poet Homer. ... This is about the eBook reader. ... Pausanias (Greek: ) was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... Map of Chaonia, Molossis & Thesprotia The Thesprotians (Gk. ... The Greek geographer Strabo in a 16th century engraving. ... Thessaly (Θεσσαλια; modern Greek Thessalía) is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. ... Homer (Greek: , HómÄ“ros) was a legendary early Greek poet and aoidos (singer) traditionally credited with the composition of the Iliad and the Odyssey. ... Theseus (Greek ) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, with whom Aethra lay in one night. ... In Greek mythology, Pirithous (also transliterated as Perithoos or Peirithoos) was the King of the Lapiths and husband of Hippodamia. ... Pindar (or Pindarus) (522 BC – 443 BC), perhaps the greatest of the nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, was born at Cynoscephalae, a village in Thebes. ...

External links

• The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites