Arcadia (region) in the context of "Macareus"

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⭐ Core Definition: Arcadia (region)

Arcadia (/ɑːrˈkdiə/; Greek: Ἀρκαδία, romanizedArkadía) is a region in the central Peloponnese, Greece. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas, and in Greek mythology it was the home of the gods Hermes and Pan. In European Renaissance arts, Arcadia was celebrated as an unspoiled, harmonious wilderness; as such, it was referenced in popular culture.

The modern regional unit of the same name more or less overlaps with the historical region, but is slightly larger.

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Arcadia (region) in the context of Zakynthos

Zakynthos, also known as Zante, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an area of 405.55 km (156.6 sq mi), and a coastline 123 km (76 mi) in length. The name, like all similar names ending in -nthos, is pre-Mycenaean or Pelasgian in origin. In Greek mythology, the island was said to be named after Zacynthus, the son of the legendary Arcadian chief Dardanus.

Zakynthos is a tourist destination, especially amongst British tourists, with an international airport served by charter flights from northern Europe. The island's nickname is "the Flower of the Levant", bestowed upon it by the Venetians, who ruled Zakynthos from 1484 to 1797.

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Arcadia (region) in the context of Poseidon

Poseidon (/pəˈsdən, pɒ-, p-/; Ancient Greek: Ποσειδῶν, romanisedPoseidôn) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses. He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cities and colonies. In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, Poseidon was venerated as a chief deity at Pylos and Thebes, with the cult title "earth shaker"; in the myths of isolated Arcadia, he is related to Demeter and Persephone and was venerated as a horse, and as a god of the waters. Poseidon maintained both associations among most Greeks: he was regarded as the tamer or father of horses, who, with a strike of his trident, created springs (the terms for horses and springs are related in the Greek language). His Roman equivalent is Neptune.

Homer and Hesiod suggest that Poseidon became lord of the sea when, following the overthrow of his father Cronus, the world was divided by lot among Cronus' three sons; Zeus was given the sky, Hades the underworld, and Poseidon the sea, with the Earth and Mount Olympus belonging to all three. In Plato's Timaeus and Critias, the legendary island of Atlantis was Poseidon's domain. In Homer's Iliad, Poseidon supports the Greeks against the Trojans during the Trojan War. In the Odyssey, during the sea-voyage from Troy back home to Ithaca, the Greek hero Odysseus provokes Poseidon's fury by blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, resulting in Poseidon punishing him with storms, causing the complete loss of his ship and numerous of his companions, and delaying his return by ten years.

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Arcadia (region) in the context of Orchomenus (Boeotia)

Orchomenus (Ancient Greek: Ὀρχομενός Orchomenos), the setting for many early Greek myths, is best known today as a rich archaeological site in Boeotia, Greece, that was inhabited from the Neolithic through the Hellenistic periods. It is often referred to as "Minyan Orchomenus", to distinguish it from a later city of the same name in Arcadia.

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Arcadia (region) in the context of Description of Greece

Description of Greece (Ancient Greek: Ἑλλάδος Περιήγησις, romanizedHelládos Periḗgēsis) is the only surviving work by the ancient "geographer" or tourist Pausanias (c. 110 – c. 180).

Pausanias' Description of Greece comprises ten books, each of them dedicated to some part of mainland Greece. He is essentially describing his own travels, and large parts of Greece are not covered, including the islands. His tour begins in Attica (Ἀττικά) and continues with Athens, including its suburbs or demes. Then the work goes with Corinthia (Κορινθιακά), Laconia (Λακωνικά), Messenia (Μεσσηνιακά), Elis (Ἠλιακά), Achaea (Ἀχαϊκά), Arcadia (Ἀρκαδικά), Boeotia (Βοιωτικά), Phocis (Φωκικά), and Ozolian Locris (Λοκρῶν Ὀζόλων).

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Arcadia (region) in the context of Dardanus (son of Zeus)

In Greek mythology, Dardanus (/ˈdɑːrdənəs/; Ancient Greek: Δάρδανος, Dardanos) was the founder of the city of Dardanus at the foot of Mount Ida in the Troad.

Dardanus, a son of Zeus and the Pleiad Electra, was a significant figure in Greek mythology. He was the brother of Iasion and sometimes of Harmonia and Emathion. Originally from Arcadia, Dardanus married Chryse, with whom he fathered two sons, Idaeus and Deimas. After a great flood, Dardanus and his people settled on the island of Samothrace before eventually moving to Asia Minor due to the land's poor quality. In Virgil's Aeneid, Dardanus is said to have originally come from Italy, where his mother Electra was married to Corythus, the king of Tarquinia.

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Arcadia (region) in the context of Pallas (son of Lycaon)

In Greek mythology, Pallas (/ˈpæləs/; Ancient Greek: Πάλλας) was an Arcadian prince and the eponymous founder of the Arcadian town of Pallantion. He was the teacher of Athena, who, according to local myths, was born in Aliphera.

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Arcadia (region) in the context of Inachos (river)

The Inachos (Greek: Ίναχος), also known as Panitsa (Πάνιτσα), is a river in the Peloponnese, southern Greece. Its source is in the mountains of western Argolis, near the village Kaparelli. It flows into the Aegean Sea in Nea Kios. The Inachos was named after Inachus, a mythical king of Argos, who introduced civilization to the area.

The Inachus rises, according to Pausanias (ii 25.3, 8.6.6), in Mt. Artemisium, on the borders of Arcadia, or, according to Strabo (viii. p.370), in Mt. Lyrceium, a northern offshoot of Artemisium. Near its sources it receives a tributary called the Cephissus, which rises in Mt. Lyrceium (Strab. ix. p.424; Aelian, Ael. VH 2.33.) It flows in a south-easterly direction, E. of the city of Argos, into the Argolic gulf. This river is often dry in the summer. Between it and the city of Argos is the mountain-torrent named Charadrus, which also rises in Mt. Artemisium, and which, from its proximity to Argos, has been frequently mistaken for the Inachus by modern travellers. It flows over a wide gravelly bed, which is generally dry in the summer, whence its modern name of Xerias, or the Dry River. It flows into the Inachus a little below Argos. It was on the banks of the Charadrus that the armies of Argos, on their return from military expeditions, were obliged to undergo a court of inquiry before they were permitted to enter the city. (Thuc. 5.60; comp. Paus. 2.25.2; Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 364, Peloponnesiaca, p. 267; Mure, vol. ii. p. 161.)

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Arcadia (region) in the context of Arcadia (utopia)

Arcadia (/ɑːrˈkdiə/; Greek: Ἀρκαδία, romanizedArkadía) refers to a vision of pastoralism and harmony with nature. The term is derived from the Greek province of the same name which dates to antiquity; the province's mountainous topography and sparse population of pastoralists later caused the word Arcadia to develop into a poetic byword for an idyllic vision of unspoiled wilderness. Arcadia is a poetic term associated with bountiful natural splendor and harmony. The 'Garden' is often inhabited by shepherds. The concept also figures in Renaissance mythology. Although commonly thought of as being in line with Utopian ideals, Arcadia differs from that tradition in that it is more often specifically regarded as unattainable. Furthermore, it is seen as a lost, Edenic form of life, contrasting to the progressive nature of Utopian desires.

The inhabitants were often regarded as having continued to live after the manner of the Golden Age, without the pride and avarice that corrupted other regions. It is also sometimes referred to in English poetry as Arcady (/ˈɑːrkədi/). The inhabitants of this region bear an obvious connection to the figure of the noble savage, both being regarded as living close to nature, uncorrupted by civilization, and virtuous.

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Arcadia (region) in the context of Cleitor (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Cleitor or Clitor (Ancient Greek: Κλείτωρ) or Kleitor (Κλήτωρ) may refer to the following personages:

  • Cleitor, an Arcadian prince as one of the 50 sons of the impious King Lycaon either by the naiad Cyllene, or by Nonacris. He and his brothers were the most nefarious and carefree of all people. To test them, Zeus visited them in the form of a peasant. These brothers mixed the entrails of a child into the god's meal, whereupon the enraged Zeus threw the meal over the table. Cleitor was killed, along with his brothers and their father, by a lightning bolt of the god.
  • Cleitor, Cletor or Cleitos, the father of Eurymedousa, mother of Myrmidon by Zeus.
  • Cleitor, in his time, the most powerful of the kings in Arcadia. He was the son of King Azan of Azania but he was childless, therefore he was succeeded by his own cousin, Aepytus, the son of Elatus. Cleitor dwelt in Lycosura and founded a town that bears its name (Cleitor).
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