Anthedon (Boeotia)

Anthedon (Ἀνθηδών) was a town in Boeotia, Ancient Greece, located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Euboea, about 15 kilometers north of Chalcis, at the foot of Mount Messapius. It was member of the Amphictyonic League, and served as port for Thebes. In ancient times, it was believed to have had one of the mythical characters named Anthedon as its eponym.

The ruins of the town are situated 1 1/2 mile from the village Loukisia.

The oldest mention of the city is found in Homer's Iliad, Catalogue of Ships, where it is given the epithet "furthermost", i. e. the most geographically remote town of Boeotia to the northern Gulf of Euboea.

Ancient inhabitants of Anthedon derived their origin from the sea-god Glaucus, who was believed to have been originally a native of the place. A surviving ancient coin now stored in the Archaeological Museum of Chalkis bears on one side a representation of Glaucus. The Anthedonians appear to have been a different race from the other people of Boeotia, and are described by one writer as Thracians (this is a misinterpretation; in this case Anthedon is a Thracian man and not Anthedon the city in Boeotia). Dicaearchus informs 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. An important archaeological guide to Anthedon is Pausanias' Description of Greece, which informs 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 and Persephone. Outside the walls was a temple of Dionysus, and a spot called “the leap of Glaucus.” The wine of Anthedon was celebrated in antiquity.

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