Haliartus
A Boeotian city on Lake Copais associated with the myth of Alcmena and a tradition of Heracles.
The Story of Haliartus
Haliartus stood on the shores of Lake Copais in Boeotia and claimed various mythological connections to the Theban cycle. The city was said to have been founded by Haliartus, grandson of Sisyphus, placing it in the complex genealogy of Aeolian heroes. When Alcmena died — she was the mortal mother of Heracles — various traditions placed her burial at Haliartus, where a hero-shrine was maintained in her honour. The city was notable for a local sanctuary where the hero Lysander's ghost was said to give oracles after his death in battle there.
Parents
{Sisyphus (legendary ancestor)}
Children
{Haliartus (founder)}
Symbols
Fun Fact
After the Spartan general Lysander was killed at Haliartus in 395 BCE, the citizens maintained a hero cult for him — one of the earliest historical examples of hero worship given to a recently dead person.
Explore Further
Laodicea
🏛 placegeography
A Phrygian city named after a daughter of a Seleucid king but containing an older sacred tradition of Cybele.
Methone
🏛 placegeography
A Macedonian coastal town where the archer Aster shot out the eye of Philip II — and mythologically associated with Ariadne.
Psophia
🏛 placegeography
An Arcadian mountain city associated with Echidna's grave and various obscure heroic genealogies.
Arges
🏛 placegeography
The Argolid plain dominated by the city of Argos, one of the oldest and most mythologically saturated regions of Greece.
Thespiae
🏛 placeSacred geography
A Boeotian city near Mount Helicon famous for its cult of Eros and the sanctuary of the Muses
Meroe
🏛 placegeography
A distant African kingdom mentioned in Greek mythology as the land at the source of the Nile, associated with the Ethiopians.
Abdera
🏛 placegeography
A Thracian coastal city founded in honour of Abderus, companion of Heracles.
Sestos
🏛 placeGeography
A city on the European shore of the Hellespont, home of Hero in the tale of Hero and Leander
Siphae
🏛 placegeography
A small Boeotian port sacred to Dionysus, connected to the god's worship on the Corinthian Gulf coast.
Minoa
🏛 placegeography
A name given to several cities across the Greek world, all claiming legendary foundation by or connection to King Minos of Crete.
Corinth
🏛 placeCity of Sisyphus and Medea
Corinth was a wealthy trading city on the narrow isthmus connecting mainland Greece to the Peloponnese, associated with Sisyphus, Medea, Bellerophon, and Pegasus.
Libya
🏛 placeGeography
The ancient Greek name for the entire continent of Africa, personified as a daughter of Epaphus and Memphis