Claros in the context of Menderes, İzmir


Claros in the context of Menderes, İzmir

⭐ Core Definition: Claros

Claros (/ˈklɛərəs/; Greek: Κλάρος, Klaros; Latin: Clarus) was an ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia. It contained a temple and oracle of Apollo, honored here as Apollo Clarius. It was located in the territory of Colophon, which lay twelve kilometers to the north, one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. The coastal city Notion lay two kilometers to the south. The ruins of the sanctuary are now found north of the modern town Ahmetbeyli in the Menderes district of İzmir Province, Turkey.

The Temple of Apollo at Claros was a very important center of prophecy, as in Delphi and Didyma. The oldest literary information about this sacred site goes back to the sixth and seventh centuries BC, through the Homeric Hymns, though Proto-Geometric pottery at the site betokens 9th century occupation. A sacred cave near the Temple of Apollo, which was an important place both in the Hellenistic and Roman eras, points to the existence of a Cybele cult in early periods here. Games called the Claria were held at Claros every fifth year in honor of Apollo.

↓ Menu
HINT:

In this Dossier

Claros in the context of Nicander

Nicander of Colophon (Ancient Greek: Νίκανδρος ὁ Κολοφώνιος, romanizedNíkandros ho Kolophṓnios; fl. 2nd century BC) was a Greek poet, physician, and grammarian.

The scattered biographical details in the ancient sources are so contradictory that it was sometimes assumed that there were two Hellenistic authors with the same name. He may have been born at Claros (Ahmetbeyli in modern Turkey), near Colophon, where his family is said to have held the hereditary priesthood of Apollo. The chronological indications range from the middle of the 3rd century BC until the late 2nd century BC.

View the full Wikipedia page for Nicander
↑ Return to Menu