Aegae (Euboea)

This article is about the ancient city in Euboea. For other uses, see Aigai.

Aegae (Ancient Greek: Αἰγαί Aigai) was an ancient town on the west coast of the island of Euboea, opposite the mainland city of Anthedon. The geographer Strabo records a sanctuary of Aegean Poseidon on a mountain nearby.[1]

It seems to be dinstict of legendary Aegae, the namesake of the Aegean Sea, which was situated on the east coast of the island, near modern Kymi. It's not unlikely that Aegae got actually switched to Kymi/Cuma, as the generic name Kymi/Cuma, just means city in the Aeolic dialect.

Legendary Aegae is mentioned e.g. by Homer in Book 5 of the Odyssey, in which Poseidon "lashed his long-maned horses and drove to Aegae, where he had his famous palace" after having destroyed Odysseus' raft with a storm. It was also mentioned by Homer in Book 13 of the Iliad, in which Poseidon "[took three strides], and with the fourth he reached his goal—Aegae, where is his glittering golden palace, imperishable, in the depths of the sea."

Notes

  1. ↑ Strabo 9.2.14 and 8.7.4.


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