According to Greek mythology, King Eurytus of Oechalia had promised the hand of his beautiful daughter Iole to whoever defeated him in an archery competition. Heracles beat him but Eurytus refused to keep his promise, so Heracles sacked the city, killed Eurytus and kidnapped Iole. However, there was great discussion in antiquity about whether this Oechalia referred to this city, or that of Euboea, or another also located in Thessaly or even to others that were located in Arcadia or Messenia. Homer, equivocally, and Apollodorus of Athens and Aristarchus of Samothrace placed it in Thessaly. Instead, the author of the epic poem Capture of Oechalia (usually attributed to Creophylus of Samos), Sophocles (in The Trachiniae) and Hecataeus of Miletus (who locates Oechalia near Eretria) were aligned among with those who identified this Oechalia with the Euboean location.[5] Also, Demetrius of Scepsis placed it in Arcadia.,[6] and Homer also calls the Oechalia in Messenia the city of Eurytus in both the Iliad[7] and the Odyssey,[8] and this identification was followed by Pherecydes of Athens and Pausanias.[9]Strabo makes mention of all these possibilities but does not offer any additional data on the concrete location of the Oechalia of Thessaly.[10]
The site's location is unknown.[11] The modern town of Oichalia, also close to Pelinna and Tricca, echoes the ancient name, but is east of the former contrary to the location's description in ancient sources.
^Pausanias (1918). "2.3". Description of Greece. Vol. 4. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.
^Pausanias (1918). "2.3". Description of Greece. Vol. 4. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.
oechalia, thessaly, town, trachis, ancient, thessaly, oechalia, trachis, oechalia, oichalia, ancient, greek, Οἰχαλία, romanized, oikhalía, town, ancient, thessaly, peneius, between, pelinna, east, tricca, west, from, ithome, oechalia, mentioned, homer, catalog. For the town in Trachis in ancient Thessaly see Oechalia Trachis Oechalia or Oichalia Ancient Greek Oἰxalia romanized Oikhalia was a town in ancient Thessaly on the Peneius between Pelinna to the east and Tricca to the west not far from Ithome 1 2 3 Oechalia is mentioned by Homer in the Catalogue of Ships of the Iliad where it was part of the territories ruled by Podalirius and Machaon 4 According to Greek mythology King Eurytus of Oechalia had promised the hand of his beautiful daughter Iole to whoever defeated him in an archery competition Heracles beat him but Eurytus refused to keep his promise so Heracles sacked the city killed Eurytus and kidnapped Iole However there was great discussion in antiquity about whether this Oechalia referred to this city or that of Euboea or another also located in Thessaly or even to others that were located in Arcadia or Messenia Homer equivocally and Apollodorus of Athens and Aristarchus of Samothrace placed it in Thessaly Instead the author of the epic poem Capture of Oechalia usually attributed to Creophylus of Samos Sophocles in The Trachiniae and Hecataeus of Miletus who locates Oechalia near Eretria were aligned among with those who identified this Oechalia with the Euboean location 5 Also Demetrius of Scepsis placed it in Arcadia 6 and Homer also calls the Oechalia in Messenia the city of Eurytus in both the Iliad 7 and the Odyssey 8 and this identification was followed by Pherecydes of Athens and Pausanias 9 Strabo makes mention of all these possibilities but does not offer any additional data on the concrete location of the Oechalia of Thessaly 10 The site s location is unknown 11 The modern town of Oichalia also close to Pelinna and Tricca echoes the ancient name but is east of the former contrary to the location s description in ancient sources References edit Strabo Geographica Vol viii pp 339 350 ix p 438 x p 448 Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon s edition Pausanias 1918 2 3 Description of Greece Vol 4 Translated by W H S Jones H A Ormerod Cambridge Massachusetts London Harvard University Press William Heinemann via Perseus Digital Library Stephanus of Byzantium Ethnica Vol s v Homer Iliad Vol 2 730 Fragmentos de epica griega arcaica pp 309 310 Madrid Gredos 1979 ISBN 84 249 3524 1 Strabo Geographica Vol 8 3 6 Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon s edition Homer Iliad Vol 2 596 Homer Odyssey Vol 21 13 Pausanias 1918 2 3 Description of Greece Vol 4 Translated by W H S Jones H A Ormerod Cambridge Massachusetts London Harvard University Press William Heinemann via Perseus Digital Library Strabo Geographica Vol 9 5 17 10 1 10 Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon s edition Richard Talbert Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World ISBN 0 691 03169 X Map 55 nbsp This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Smith William ed 1854 1857 Oechalia Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography London John Murray nbsp This article about a location in ancient Thessaly is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Oechalia Thessaly amp oldid 1211766059, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
