Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/172

 156 LEMNOS. latter is nearly double the trae distance. Several ancient writers, however, state tliat Mount Atlios cast its shadow upon the island. (Soph. ap. Schol. ad Theocr. vi. 76; Plin. I. c.) Pliny also relates that Lemnos is 112 miles in circuit, which is per- haps not far from the truth, if we reckon all the windings of the coast. Its area is nearly 150 square miles. It is of an irregular quadrilateral shape, being nearly divided into two peninsulas by two deep bays, Port Paradise on the N., and Port St. Antony on the S. The latter is a large and convenient har- bour. On the eastern side of the island is a bold rock projecting into the sea, called by Aeschylus 'E.pna.1ov Xiiras h-i))xvov, in his description of the beacon fires between Mount Ida and Mycenae, an- nouncing the capture of Troy. (Aesch. Agam. 283 ; comp. Soph. Philoct. 1459.) Hills, but of no great height, cover two-thirds of the island ; they are barren and rocky, and there are very few trees, except in some of the narrow valleys. The whole island bears the strongest marks of the effects of volcanic fire, the rocks, in many places, are like the burnt and vitrified scoria of furnaces. Hence we may account for its connection with Hephaestus, who, when hurled from heaven by Zeus, is said to have fallen upon Lemnos. (Horn. II. i. 594.) The island was therefore sacred to Hephaestus (Nicandr. Ther. 458 ; Ov. Fast. iii. 82), who was frequently called the Lemnian god. (Ov. J/e<. iv. 185; Virg. Aen. viii. 454.) From its volcanic appearance it de- rived its name of Aethaleia (Ai'edAeia, Polyb. ap. Steph. B., and Etym. M. s. v. AlQa-r). It was also related that from one of its mountains, called MosYCHLUs (J^6<rvx^os), fire was seen to blaze forth. (Antimach. ap. Schol. ad Nicandr. Ther. 472 ; Lycophr. 227 ; Hesych. s. v.) In a village in the island, named Chorous, there is a hot-spring, called Thermia, where a commodious bath has been built, with a lodging-house for strangers, who frequent it for its supposed medicinal qualities. The name of Lemnos is said to have been derived from the name of the Great Goddess, who was called Lemnos by the original inhabitants of the island. (Hecat. ap. Steph. B. s. V.) The earliest inhabitants of Lemnos, according to Homer, were the Sinties (SiVriej), a Thracian tribe; a name, however, which probably only sig- nifies robbers (from criVo^ai). (Horn. II. i. 594, Od. viii. 294; Strab. vii. p. 331, x. p. 457, xii. p. 549.) When the Argonauts landed at Lemnos, they are said to have found it inhabited only by women, who had murdered all their husbands, and had chosen as their queen Hyp.sipyle, the daughter of Thoas, the former King of the island. [See Diet, of Biogr. art. Hytsipyle.] Some of the Argonauts settled here, and became by the Lemnian women the fathers of the MiNYAE (Mii'iJai), the later inhabitants of the island. Tlie Minyae were driven out of the island by the Tyrrhenian Pelasgians, wlio had been expelled from Attica. (Herod, iv. 145, vi. 137 ; Apoll. Ehod. i. 608, seq., and Schol. ; Apollod. i. 9. § 17, iii. 6. § 4.) It is also related that these Pelas- gians, out of revenge, made a descent upon the coast of Attica during the festival of Ai-temis at Brauron, and carried off some Athenian women, whom they made their concubines ; but, as the children of these women despised theu* half-brothers born of Pe- lasgian women, the Pelasgians murdered both them and their Athenian mothers. In consequence of this atrocity, and of the former murder of the Lemnian husbands by their wives, " Lemnian Deeds" (^Arj/xvia LEMNOS. fpya) became a proverb throughout Greece for all atrocious acts. (Herod, vi. 128; Eustath. ad II. p. 158. 11, ad Bionys. Per. 347 ; Zenob. iv. 91.) Lemnos continued to be inliabited by Pelasgians, when it was conquered by Otanes, one of the gene- rals of Darius Hystaspis (Herod, v. 26) ; but Mil- tiades delivered it from the Persians, and made it subject to Athens, in whose power it remained for a long time. (Herod, vi. 137; Thuc. iv. 28, vii. 57.) In fact, it was always regarded as an Athenian pos- session, and accordingly the peace of Antalcidas, which declared the independence of all the Grecian states, nevertheless allowed the Athenians to retain possession of Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros. (Xen. Hell. iv. 8. § 15, V. 1. § 31.) At a later period Lemnos passed into the hands of the Macedonians, but it was restored to the Athenians by the Romans. (Polyb. XXX. 18.) In the earliest times, Lemnos appears to have contained only one town, which bore the same name as the island (Hom. II. xiv. 230); but at a later period we find two towns, Myrina and Hepbaestias. Myrina (Mvpiua: Eth. Mvpivalos') stood on the western side of the island, as we may infer from the statement of Pliny, that the shadow of Mt. Athos was visible in the forum of the city at the time of the summer solstice. (Plin. iv. 12. s. 23; Herod, vi. 140; Steph. B. s. v.; Ptol. iii. 13. § 4.) On its site stands the modern Kastro, which is still the chief town in the place. In contains about 2000 inhabitants; and its little port is defended by a pier, and commanded by a ruinous mediaeval fortress on the overhanging rocks. Hephaestias, or He- PHAESTIA ('H4)oicrTia$, 'HcpaKrria: Eth. "H(^oi- OTiivs), was situated in the northern part of the island. (Herod., Plin., Ptol. II. cc; Steph. B.s. v.) There are coins of Hephaestia (see below), but none of Myrina, and none bearing the name of the island. (Eckhel, vol. ii. p. 51.) According to Pliny (xxxvi. 13. s. 19) Lemnos had a celebrated labyrinth, supported by 150 columns, and with gates so well poised, that a child could open them. Pliny adds, that there were still traces of it in his time. Dr. Hunt, who visited the island in 1801, attempted to find out the ruins of this labyrinth, and was directed to a subterraneous staircase in an uninhabited part (if the island, near a bay, called Porniah. He here found extensive ruins of an ancient and strong building that seemed to have had a ditch round it communicating with the sea. " The edifices have covered about 10 acres of ground: there are founda- tions of an amazing number of small buildings within the outer wall, each about seven feet square. The walls towards the sea are strong, and com- posed of large square blocks of stone. On an elevated spot of ground in one corner of the area, we found a subterraneous staircase, and, after lighting our tapers, we went down into it. The entrance was difficult: it consisted of 51 steps, and about every twelfth one was of marble, the others of com- mon stone. At the bottom is a small chamber with a well in it, by which probably the garrison was supplied : a censer, a lamp, and a few matches, were lying in a corner, for the use of the Greek Christians, who call this well an Ayiafffia, or Holy Fountain, and the ruins about it Panagia Coccipee. The peasants in the neighbourhood had no knowledge of any sculpture, or statues, or medals having ever been found there." It does not appear, however, that these ruins have any relation to the labyrinth