In antiquity the northern part of the island of Euboea was the territory of the Oreiais. Their chief town, Oreos, (known earlier as 'Histiaia' ?) is the modern Kastro (in Mycenaean Atlas Project and in Topostext). [1]
One of the notable towns in northern Euboea was Dion. In the Catalog of Ships Homer (Iliad, ii.538) refers to ' ... the steep citadel of Dios; ... ' [2] It was a significant town in its time, member of the Delian League, for example.[3] And yet, despite its relative importance, the location of Dion is not now known with anything like certainty. Where do scholars think it was?
Strabo, Geogr. [C446] 5 says "In this Oreian territory are Kenaion and, near to it, Dion and Athenai Diades, an Athenian foundation lying above the crossing of the strait to Kynos." [4]
Hansen and Nielsen describe the alternatives. I have added letters to their paragraph in order to better address their statements:
"(a) According to Strabo 10.1.5, Dion was situated at Cape Kenaion near Oreos. However, the urban centre has not yet been precisely located.
(b) Following Ulrichs (1863) 237, see supra 647), Geyer (1903) 99 suggested a location at modern Lichas.
(c) Sapouna-Sakellaraki (1994-95), followed by Barr., prefers the hill of Kastri on the western shore of the Kenaion peninsula.
(d) But Homer describes Dion as an αίπύ πτολίεθρον (Hom. Il. 2.538; cf. Nonnus, Dion. 13.161: κραναόν πέδον), and in the Athenian tribute lists the Dians are often specified as Διες από Κεναίο (IGi3 279.1.86).
(e) The presumption is that Dion was situated somewhere on Mt. Kenaion. Lichas would fit, but autopsy (Reber) revealed nothing but remains of the Byzantine period.
(f) An alternative location is Khironisi, whose position fits the information given by Ptol. Geog. 3.15.25 (cf. Reber (2001) 456-60)." [5]
My comments:
(a) Strabo tells us that Dion was 'near' Cape Kenaion, not 'at' Cape Kenaion and that Dion and Athenae Diades are both 'near' to the Cape: 'In the territory of this Oreus lies, not only Cenaeum, near Oreus, but also, near Cenaeun, Dium and Athenae Diades, (ἔστι δ᾽ ἐν τῷ Ὠρεῷ τούτῳ τό τε Κήναιον πλησίον καὶ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ τὸ Δῖον καὶ Ἀθῆναι αἱ Διάδες, ). It is a straight line distance of about 26 km. from Oreus to Cape Kenaion so that if Oreus is 'near' Cape Kenaion then any location between them will also be 'near' the Cape.
(b) See (e).
(c) As is also preferred by Sackett [1966], Simpson and Dickenson [1979] and Simpson [2018]. 'Barr.' is the Barrington Atlas which does tentatively show Dion by Likhas Kastri. (Map 55, D3). The equivalence of Lichas Kastri and Dion was (to the best of my knowledge) first proposed by Papavasileiou in PAE (1912), 140. Here's what our authors say about Likhas Kastri :
"The site is about 4 km. west of the village of Likhas on the coast south of Cape Vasilenas. It is visible from the sea on both sides of Cape Kenaion as a low hill about 60 m. above the sea, and about 30 m. by 20 m. in area at the top. On the lower slopes are Classical to Roman, higher up are E.H. to Geometric sherds fairly widely scattered." [6]
"A low hill c. 3 km. W of Likhas on the coast. The top area is only c. 30 m. by 20 m. C and H sherds were found on the lower slopes, EH to G widely scattered on higher slopes. The size and position are said to suggest an important settlement, perhaps to be equated with ancient Dion (Iliad II .538). " [7]
Where, then, is Likhas Kastri? In his summa from 2018 Richard Hope Simpson gives us this description of its location:
"Kastri is a low hill, c. 60 m a.s.l., near the sea, to north of Cape Kenaion and c. 3 km west of Lichas. The flat top of the hill is only c. 30 m by c. 20 m, but the slopes are extensive."[8]
I tentatively place Likhas Kastri, the hill indicated by Sackett, Simpson, and Dickenson, at 38.855831° N, 22.846081° E In Google Earth it looks like this (looking from the SE to the NW):
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| Proposed hill for Likhas Kastri. |
It is not an implausible candidate for the site of Dion as its configuration and the finds of sherds from the Classical Period suggest.
(d) αίπύ πτολίεθρον means 'steep fortress' and κραναός πέδον means 'rugged ground'. This may or may not fit the proposed Likhas Kastri location.
(e) Mt. Kenaion (the town Lichas sits on its western slopes) is the same as Mt. Lichadas (now, apparently, also called 'Profitis Ilias'). It is about 675 m in elevation and the peak is here: 38.860556 N, 22.878864 E. The solutions of Pleiades (and D.A.R.E. and Trismegistos) and Topostext accept that ancient Dion was located somewhere on the slopes of Mt. Kenaion/Lichadas. The Topostext solution (followed by deGraauw) is actually the location of the ruined Venetian tower (In Mycenaean Atlas Project F7552). I see little justification for the Pleiades solution (also followed by Trismegistos and D.A.R.E.) as it meets only one of the criteria, that of being 'near Cape Kenaion'. In the next picture I show the Topostext and Pleiades solutions. The yellow line is for scale; it is 1 km. in length
(f) Khironisi: Hansen/Nielsen seem to slightly prefer this solution. Their reasoning seems to be that this, at least, is a place where there are found remains of a settlement seemingly significant enough to pay the contributions mentioned in the Athenian contribution lists. It appears to have three serviceable harbors right in a row. And although it appears to be a long way from Cape Kenaion it is the same distance from Athenai Dhiadhes to Kenaion as it is from Khironisi (about 13.7 km.). And Strabo says that they are both 'near' to the Cape: (see above). They are certainly well within the territory of Oreus which is about 26 km. distant from the Cape.
Here is a picture of the Khironisi area:
... and a close-up of the Khironisi peninsula:
 |
| The area around the Khironisi Peninsula |
The steep hill (about 121 m.) just behind the harbor sounds like the epithet 'rough ground' and also like Homer's 'steep citadel'.
And a final picture to show all the alternatives. The white arrows for the various Dions are labeled using the lettering system from above:
As it is not possible to resolve the question in the Mycenaean Atlas I have left the marker for Dion (C1250) at Likhas Kastri. The next most likely location, in my view, is the Khironisi Peninsula and that because of its several harbors.
Till next time ...
Notes
[1] The history of naming in this area is in Roller [2018] 579-581. For Cape Kenaion see 581, Section 10.1..5.
[2] ' ... τ᾽ ἔφαλον Δίου τ᾽ αἰπὺ πτολίεθρον, ... '
[3] In Lauffer [1999] 195, s.v. 'Dịon'.
[4] In Roller [2014] 436. Kenaion is Cape Kenaion (F1728). Athenai Diades is, probably, Yialtra Kastelli (C1246) in Sackett et al. [1966] 37, no. 3. And see Roller [2018] 581: "10.1.5. ... Dion and Athenai Diades are in the vicinity of the cape: the former is probably to the north near modern Lichas, and the latter west near Gialtra (Hope Simpson and Lazenby, Catalogue 53). Its name, effectively Dionian Athens, reflects its foundation by the Athenians, at a uncertain date before 477 BC ... ".
[5] Hansen and Nielsen [2004] 650, no. 368, 'Dion'.
[6] Sackett et al. [1966] 37, no. 2. 'Likhas: Kastri'. Also see Plate 9a.
[7] SImpson and Dickenson [1979] 266, 'G 84 Likhas: Kastri'.
[8] Simpson [2018] 246, '1. Kastri ... '
[9] Simpson [2018] 247: 'This could be the site of the Homeric Dion.'
Bibliography
Hankey [1952]: Hankey, V.. ‘Late Helladic Tombs at Khalkis’, The Annual of the British School at Athens, (47), pp. 49-95. 1952.
Phialon [2011]: Phialon, Laetitia. L'Émergence de la Civilisation Mycénienne en Grèce Centrale. Peeters, Leuven - Liege. Belgium. 2011., 'I.3.1.11. La côte nord de l'Eubée', pg. 127.
Roller [2014] : Roller, Duane W., The Geography of Strabo. Cambridge University Press. 2014.
Roller [2018] : Roller, Duane R., A Historical and Topographical Guide to the Geography of Strabo, Cambridge, 2018. ISBN: 978-1-107-18065-9
Sackett et al. [1966] : Sackett, L.H. with V. Sankey, R.J. Howell, T.W. Jacobsen and M.R. Popham, 'Prehistoric Euboea: Contributions toward a Survey', Annual of the British School at Athens (61) 33-112. 1966. Online here.
Simpson and Dickinson [1979] : Simpson, R. Hope and O.T.P.K. Dickinson, A Gazetteer of Aegean Civilisation in the Bronze Age, Vol. I, The Mainland and the Islands. Goteborg, Paul Astroms Forlag. 1979. ISBN 91 85058 81 5.
Simpson and Lazenby [1970] : Simpson, R. H. and J. F. Lazenby. The Catalogue of the Ships in Homer's Iliad, Oxford at the Clarendon Press. 1970.
Simpson [2018] : Simpson, Richard Hope, Mycenaean Greece and the Homeric Tradition, published online under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. 2018. Online <a href="https://qspace.library.queensu.ca/bitstream/handle/1974/24425/Mycenaean-Greece-and-Homeric-Tradition-1533665278._print.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y, 1192">here</a>.
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