Eleon on the Map
Ancient Eleon was located in Boeotia.
Boeotia lies at an intersection between Attika, the Peloponnese, Euboea, and Central Greece. Try it: Can you locate Boeotia on the map of ancient Greece below? What did this location offer the ancient Boeotians?
Map of Greek Political Geography image credit: https://maps-greece.com/greek-city-states-map
The geography of Boeotia is characterized by mountains, waterbodies, and plains.
Mountains, water features, and plains mark the landscape of Boeotia. These geographical features impacted the everyday lives of Boeotians as well as the history of the area.
Boeotia is framed by mountains. In the north, mountains separate Boeotia from Phocis and Lokris above. In the south, mountains form a barrier against Megara and Attika. The Boeotian mountains are primarily made of limestone and form large separate blocks, but are connected by lower ridges and hills throughout the area.
Mount Helikon was believed to be a home of the nine Muses, the inspirational goddesses of art and knowledge. Through a series of peaks, Mount Helikon is linked to Mount Parnassus further west. Although just outside Boeotian territory, many would have made their way through Boeotia to visit the Delphic oracle of Apollo on Mount Parnassus.
Another important mountain is Mount Kitharon, which occupies a southeastern corner of Boeotia. This mountain played a large part in myths about Dionysos, the Greek god of wine.
Lake Kopais (sometimes also known as Lake Kephissus) was a large, swampy marshland in central Boeotia. These wetlands made the area around Lake Kopais good for farming. The precise edge of the lake changed throughout antiquity. For example, we have evidence that near the end of the Mycenaean age, some settlements had to move to accommodate a rise in the shoreline. Today, Lake Kopais is completely dried up. Two smaller lakes, Lake Hylice and Lake Trephia (their modern names are Lake Iliki and Lake Paramlimni), remain that were also there in ancient times.
Many rivers flow from the mountains of Boeotia. Some of these rivers provided a form of natural irrigation as they fed into the plains. Others fed into Lake Kopais.
Three large rivers were particularly important. The Kephissus River ran from Mount Parnassus (in Phokis) down into the northern plains of Boeotia and fed into Lake Kopais. Today, artificial streams guide it into Lake Iliki. The Asopos River is in the southern part of Boeotia. It flows eastward from below Mount Kitheraon and Mount Parnes and into the plain of Tanagra. Finally, the Oërhoë River flowed southwest from the area of Plataea near the base of Mount Kithaeron and into the Gulf of Corinth.
Try it: Identify the Kephissus, Asopos, and Oërhoë Rivers on the map of Boeotia.
The Boeotians also had access to the sea. On the northeast side, Boeotia has shores on the Northern Euboean Gulf. On its southwest shore, Boeotia has access to the Gulf of Corinth. Neither of these coastlines offer great harbours for exploring the wider Mediterranean and Boeotia never became a great maritime power. However, these areas did provide access to other parts of Greece. Traveling from the Peloponnese, it might have been easier to cross the Gulf of Corinth by boat than to make your way by land through Corinthia, the Megarid, and/or Attika. Travellers could also travel to parts of Euboea by sea rather than by land.
The marshy areas around Lake Kopais were ideal for farming. There were also fertile plains in the south of Boeotia. The southern area can be divided into the Theban Plain, on the western side, and the Plain of Tanagra on the eastern side. In ancient times, there were many disputes over where the boundaries between these plains should lie. In addition to disagreements between Thebes and Tanagra, the Athenians and Boeotians were often in dispute regarding the plains around the Asopos River near the base of Mount Parnes.
Try it: Locating Eleon
Find Eleon on the map of Boeotia. How would you describe the location of Eleon within Boeotia? What geographical features (mountains, water, plains) might the inhabitants of Eleon have engaged with? Who are Eleon’s neighbours? What other territories is Eleon close to?
Left: Imagery Hybrid Map Right: Topographic Map
There is evidence for change and continuity in Boeotian geography.
Try it: The maps above show what the area of Boeotia looks like today. Compare what you know about the major features of ancient Boeotian geography with this map. Look for mountains, waterbodies, plains, place names, and political boundaries. What's the same? What’s different?
The political geography of Boeotia was defined by many strong city-states, who came together to form the Boeotian League.
Ancient Boeotia was home to many city-states, who often joined together to form the Boeotian League. Each city-state was made up of an urban centre and the surrounding land. The Greek word for city-state is polis, from which the English word politics is derived. A very literal of translation of the word politics might be “the stuff about the city-state.”
The Boeotians had many neighbours. In the north, their territory met Lokris and Phokis. In the northeast lay the island of Euboea. To the south, Boeotia is next to Megara and Attika. The Boeotians had many disagreements with these neighbours regarding land boundaries. Boeotia's strategic location in the Greek landscape made Boeotia a major player in Greek history and a desirable ally.
While the Boeotians usually acted as a group in response to external threats, the Boeotian city-states often quarrelled among themselves. The history of Boeotia is dominated by Thebes, a city also important in Greek mythology. The Thebans often took a leading role in the Boeotia League and made attempts to unify the city-states of Boeotia under their leadership, but this never happened. Thebes had a rivalry with Orchomenos, another powerful Boeotian city, and was often in dispute with Tanagra over the southern Boeotian plains. In later Greek history, particularly in the 3rd century BC, Thebes became a major rival of Sparta and Athens.
The landscapes of Boeotia were settings for Greek mythology.
Many important myths took place in the Boeotian landscape. These myths were known to the Boeotians but also to the wider Greek world.
Mountains and Rivers Personified
The ancient Greeks often associated geographical features with figures from mythology. Although the complete traditions have not been preserved, we have evidence that this was the case for many important places in Boeotia. For example, it was said that Mount Kithaeron was named after King Kithaeron, a legendary king in that area. His successor, King Asopos, gave his name to the Asopos River. King Asopos had two daughters, named Plataea and Oroe, whose names are also associated with the landscape. In other traditions, rivers were sometimes personified as river gods. The Kephissus river was personified as a river god who was the son of Pontus and Thalassa, two gods associated with the ocean.
Narcissus
Narcissus, son of the River God Kephissus, lived in Thespiae. He was a very beautiful youth who caught the eye of everyone he met, who instantly fell in love with him. But Narcissus did not return this affection. Instead, he mocked his admirers, not knowing himself what it felt like to love someone who does not love you back. One day, the goddess Nemesis (whose name means revenge) decided to give Narcissus a taste of his own medicine. Nemesis lured Narcissus to a pool of water. When Narcissus leaned in to take a drink, he saw his own reflection and fell in love. He was so captured by his own image that he could not leave the fountain. Eventually, he melted from the fire of passion burning inside of him and turned into a gold and white flower. We know this flower as the daffodil. To this day, the daffodil flower tends to look towards the ground, like Narcissus looking at his own reflection.
This story is the origin of the English word narcissist. We call someone a narcissist if they are excessively interested in themselves, just as Narcissus was as he fell in love with his own reflection.
Valley of the Muses on Mount Helikon
The Muses were daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory personified). They were personifications of art and knowledge. There there were nine muses: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Euterpe (lyric poetry), Thalia (comedy), Melpomene (tragedy), Terpsichore (dance), Erato (love poetry), Polyhymnia (sacred poetry), and Urania (astronomy).
There were small sites, temples, and shrines to the Muses throughout Greece, but the Valley of the Muses on Mount Helikon was one of the most famous. Our earliest references to the Muses in literature may also come from Boeotia, where famous poets like Hesiod were from. Greek poetry often begins with calling on a muse. For example, the first few lines of Hesiod’s poem, the Theogony, are “Let us begin to sing of the Helikonian Muses, who hold the great and holy mountain of Helikon, and dance on soft feet around the deep-blue spring…” (Hes. Th. 1).
Right: The view looking down into the Valley of the Muses from the slopes of Mount Helikon.
Cadmus, founder of Thebes
Cadmus was a Phoenician prince. When his sister, Europa, went missing, he set out to search for her across the Mediterranean. After wandering other areas of the Mediterranean, Cadmus came to Delphi, where he consulted the Delphic oracle. The oracle told him to give up on his mission and instead to follow a cow. Where ever the cow lay down, the Delphic oracle said, Cadmus should build a town. The cow guided him to Boeotia, where he founded the city of Thebes and became the first Theban King. There he slayed a great serpent, which is depicted in many images like the one on the right. Like the stories of Io (who is Cadmus’ great great grandmother!), this myth demonstrates a strong connection between Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean.
How does Eleon fit into the geography of Boeotia?
Unlike the larger cities of Thebes, Orchomenos, and Tanagra, ancient Eleon never figured much in Greek historical texts. From its beginnings in the Mycenaean period, Eleon is best described as a secondary center which operated in the orbit of a larger city-state. Strabo, writing in the 1st century AD, describes Eleon as a small place in the territory of Tanagra.
Map showing EBAP survey area
The residents of Eleon would have contended with many of the geographical features we have discussed. Located on the southern plain, Eleon may have been crossed by travelers moving from Thebes or Tanagra onto Chalkis or the Euboean Gulf. Eleon would have likely have maintained relationships with both Thebes and Tanagra, as well as smaller neighbouring towns like Harma.
Athough the Mycenaean burials found on the acropolis of Eleon do not continue into the Classical period, it is clear that the Boeotians felt Eleon was worth maintaining. We have evidence that a ramp and the walls were reinforced into the classical period. We have also found many cult objects and a plethora of pottery. As we uncover and analyze more of our finds from the acropolis at Eleon, we are discovering more about what specific roles Eleon played in the local politics and economy of Boeotia.
