Cynossema

Cynossema (Ancient Greek: Κυνὸς σῆμα and Κυνόσσημα) and Cynosemon (Κυνόσημον), meaning Dog's Tomb, was a promontory on the eastern coast of the Thracian Chersonesus, near the town of Madytus. It was near the modern town of Kilidülbahir.

History

In antiquity, it was regarded as the burial place of the Trojan queen Hecuba. After the sack of Troy and the deaths of her children, she had been transformed into a dog and stoned by the Achaeans. Euripides' play Hecuba concludes with a prophecy that her tomb "will be called by the name Poor Dog's Tomb, a landmark for sailors."

The naval Battle of Cynossema took place there in 411 BC during the Peloponnesian War. The jutting promontory made it hard for ships to navigate, so it has been argued there was a fire beacon on the site since at least the 5th century BC. It was from there the Athenians received signals about the approach of the Peloponnesian fleet.

References

  1. ↑ "Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, Cynossēma". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  2. ↑ Suda, kappa, 2723
  3. ↑ Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed., note 89
  4. ↑ "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), CYNOSSEMA". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  5. ↑ Gantz, Timothy (1993). Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 660–661. ISBN 978-0801844102.
  6. ↑ Morwood, James (2008). The Trojan Women and Other Plays. Oxford University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780199538812.
  7. ↑ Brill online, Cynossema
  8. ↑ Burnett, Anne Pippin (1998). Revenge in Attic and Later Tragedy. University of California Press. pp. 175–176. ISBN 0520210964.
  9. ↑ Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 8.102