Anthedon

• A town and harbor in Boeotia, opposite the island Euboea (hence called Euboica), the birthplace of Glaucus, and noted for its great traffic in sponges, now Paleo-kastro, Ov. M. 13, 905; 7, 232; cf. Mann. Gr. 220.— Hence, Anthēdŏnĭus, a, um, adj., Anthedonic, Stat. Th. 9, 291; 9, 328.—
• II A maritime town in Palestine, afterwards called Agrippias, Plin. 5, 13, 14, § 68.—
• III A port on the Saronic Gulf, belonging to Argolis, Plin. 4, 5, 9, § 18.

[Anthas.]

ANTHE´DON (Ἀνθηδών: Eth. Ἀνθηδόνιους, Anthedonius), a town of Boeotia, and one of the cities of the League, was situated on the Euripus or the Euboean sea at the foot of Mt. Messapius, and was distant, according to Dicaearchus, 70 stadia from Chalcis and 160 from Thebes. Anthedon is mentioned by Homer (Hom. Il. 2.508) as the furthermost town of Boeotia. The inhabitants derived their origin from the sea-god Glaucus, who is said to have been originally a native of the place. They appear to have been a different race from the other people of Boeotia, and are described by one writer (Lycophr, 754) as Thracians. Dicaearchus informs us that they were chiefly mariners, shipwrights and fishermen, who derived their subsistence from trading in fish, purple, and sponges. He adds that the agora was surrounded with a double stoa, and planted with trees. We learn from Pausanias that there was a sacred grove of the Cabeiri in the middle of the town, surrounding a temple of those deities, and near it a temple of Demeter. Outside the walls was a temple of Dionysus, and a spot called the leap of Glaucus.T he wine of Anthedon was celebrated in antiquity. The ruins of the town are situated 1 1/2 mile from Lukísi. (Dicaearch. Βίος Ἑγγάδος, p. 145, ed. Fuhr; Strab. pp. 400, 404, 445; Paus. 9.22.5, 9.26.2; Athen. pp. 31, 296, 316, 679; Steph. B. s. v.;Ov. Met. 7.232, 13.905; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. 2. p. 272.)

ANTHE´DON (Ἀνθηδών: Eth. Ἀνθηδονίτης), a city on the coast of Palestine, 20 stadia distant from Gaza (Sozomen. Hist. Eccles. 5.9), to the south-west. Taken and destroyed by Alexander Jannaeus. (J. AJ; comp. 15.4.) Restored by Gabinius (14.5.3). Added to the dominions of Herod the Great by Augustus (15.7.3). Its name was changed to Agrippias by Herod. (J. AJ.) In the time of Julian it was much addicted to Gentile superstition and idolatry (Sozomen. l. c.), particularly to the worship of Astarté or Venus, as appears from a coin of Antoninus and Caracalla, given by Vaillant (Numism. Colon. p. 115).

(Ἀνθηδών). A city of Boeotia on the shore of the Euripus, celebrated for its wine. Here the Cabiri were worshipped. (Ath.i. p. 31; Pausan. ix. 22.)

A Boiotian harbor on the Gulf of Euboia, 13 km W of Chalkis and 2 km N of the village of Loukisia, at the foot of Mt. Messapios.

Included in the catalogue of ships of the Iliad (2.508), it belonged to the Theban districts until 387 B.C. when it became independent in the Boiotian Confederacy. Destroyed by Sulla at the same time as Larymna and Halai in 86 B.C., it was restored and its harbor rebuilt in the 4th c. A.D.

The site of Anthedon was occupied from Mycenaean times and was still inhabited in the 6th c. A.D. According to ancient testimony, the city was fortified; its agora was planted with trees and flanked with a double portico. Inside the city was a Kabeirian temple and, close by, another dedicated to Demeter and Kore, while outside the city walls to the SE, was a Temple of Dionysos. The gymnasium was consecrated to Zeus Karaios and to Anthas, the eponym of the city. Partial excavations have been conducted.

The rampart, which no doubt is Hellenistic, started from the N mole then ran along the coast for 225 m going W, circled the city to the W and 5, reached the coastline NE of the acropolis and followed the slope of the acropolis N down to the mole E of the port. The city covered an area ca. 550-650 m from N to S and 600 m from E to W. To the NE the acropolis overlooks the sea and the harbor from a height of some 20 m. Excavations there have yielded only two small crude walls and some bronze objects of the 12th-11th c. The port, which doubtless is very old, was rebuilt under the Late Empire. Its nearly circular basin (130 x 120 m) is protected to the N and E by two moles built of large blocks, and surrounded to the N, W, and S by quays along a 370 m length. The S quay is porticocd. To the S of the portico the remains of an Early Christian basilica have been excavated; it is apsed and paved with polychinome marble. The little temple (ca. 10 x 6 m) discovered SE of the city in 1889 may be that of Dionysos.

J. C. Rolfe in AJA 5 (1889) 443-60; 6 (1890) 96-107PI; J. G. Frazer, Paus. Des. Gr. V (1898) 92-95P; K. Lehmann-Hartleben, Die antiken Hafenanlagen, Klio 14 (1923) 77-78, 105; H. Schläger, D. J. Blackman, & J. Schäfer, “Der Hafen von Anthedon,” Arch. Anz. (1968) 21-102MPI; N. Papahadjis, Pausaniou Hellados Periegesis V (1969) 125-28MP; S. C. Bakhuizen, Salganeus and the Fortifications on its Mountains (1970).

A Greek city 3.2 km N of Gaza on the Mediterranean coast. Pliny (HN 5.14), who writes that Anthedon was an inland town, was probably mistaken. The city was conquered by Alexander Jannaeus (Joseph., AJ 13.395), but freed by Pompey in 64 B.C. Augustus gave the city to Herod (AJ 10.217), who renamed it Agrippias or Agrippion in honor of Augustus' son-in-law Marcus Vispanius Agrippa. On coins struck from the times of Elagabalus to Septimius Severus, however, the old name reappears.

F. M. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine II (1938) 244-45; M. Avi-Yonah, The Holy Land (1966) 70, 89, 100, 150.

• Paus. 9.22.5

• Paus. 6.10.1, Paus. 9.22.5, Paus. 9.26.2