Smyrna

For other meanings of Smyrna, see Smyrna (disambiguation).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Smyrna (in Greek "Σμύρνη"; see also List of traditional Greek place names) (now Izmir, Turkey) was settled at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BCE. Throughout Antiquity it was the early leading city-state of Greek Ionia, on the Aegean shores and islands of Asia Minor. Smyrna was among the cities that claimed Homer as a resident. Modern Turkish interpretations emphasize Smyrna's earlier connections with the Hittite empire of central Anatolia.

Related Topics:
List of traditional Greek place names - Izmir - 3rd millennium BCE - Ionia - Homer - Hittite - Anatolia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Smyrna is said to have been a city of the autochthonous Leleges before the Greek colonists settled in the coast of Asia Minor. The name, which Greek myth derived from an eponymous Amazon named Smyrna, was applied also to a quarter of Ephesus, and can also be recognized under the form Myrina, a city of Aeolis. The early Aeolian Greek settlers of Lesbos and Cyme, expanding eastwards, occupied the valley of Smyrna. It was one of the confederacy of Aeolian city-states, marking the Aeolian frontier with the Ionian colonies. Strangers or refugees from the Ionian city of Colophon settled in the city and finally (traditionally in 688 BCE) by an uprising Smyrna passed into their hands and became the thirteenth of the Ionian city-states. Revised mythologies made it a colony of Ephesus (Strabo xiv. 633 BCE; Stephanus Byzantinicus; Pliny, Nat. Hist. v.31) In 688 BCE the Ionian boxer Onomastus of Smyrna won the prize at Olympia, but the coup was probably then a recent event. The Colophonian conquest is mentioned by Mimnermus (before 600 BCE), who counts himself equally of Colophon and of Smyrna. The Aeolic form of the name was retained even in the Attic dialect, and the epithet "Aeolian Smyrna" remained current long after the conquest.

Related Topics:
Leleges - Eponymous - Amazon - Ephesus - Aeolis - Aeolian - Lesbos - Cyme - Ionia - Colophon - 688 BCE - 633 BCE - Stephanus Byzantinicus - 600 BCE - Epithet

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Smyrna's position at the mouth of the small river Hernus at the head of a deep arm of the sea (Smyrnaeus Sinus) that reached far inland and admitted Greek trading ships into the heart of Lydia, placed it on an essential trade route between Anatolia and the Aegean and raised Smyrna during the 7th century BCE to power and splendor. One of the great trade routes which cross Anatolia descends the Hermus valley past Sardis, and then diverging from the valley passes south of Mount Sipylus and crosses a low pass into the little valley where Smyrna lies between the mountains and the sea. Miletus, and later Ephesus, situated at the sea end of the other great trade route across Anatolia, competed for a time successfully with Smyrna, but after both cities' harbors silted up, Smyrna remained without a rival.

Related Topics:
Lydia - 7th century BCE - Miletus - Ephesus

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The river Meles, which flowed by Smyrna, is famous in literature and was worshipped in the valley. A common and consistent tradition connects Homer with the valley of Smyrna and the banks of the Meles; his figure was one of the stock types on coins of Smyrna, one class of which numismatists call "Homerian"; the epithet Melesigenes was applied to him; the cave where he was wont to compose his poems was shown near the source of the river; his temple, the Homereum, stood on its banks. The steady equable flow of the Meles, alike in summer and winter, and its short course, beginning and ending near the city, are celebrated by Aristides and Himerius. The description applies admirably to the stream which rises from abundant springs east of the city and flows into the southeast extremity of the gulf.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The archaic city ("Old Smyrna") contained a Temple of Athena from the 7th century BCE.

Related Topics:
Athena - 7th century BCE

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~