Thymbra
Encyclopedia
Thymbra or Thymbre was a town in the Troad, near Troy
. The second of the six gates of Troy was named after it, according to John Lydgate
. The location is about five miles from present day Hissarlik, the site of the present archaeological excavations.
The town was located on the plain by the same name (reported in modern times in the Turkish language
as Thimbrek-Déré by Chateaubriand) formed by the river Thymbrios (Latin: Thymbrium), today known as the Kemer River, at the confluence of the Thymbrios and the Scamander
. According to Strabo
, The plain of Thymbra . . . and the Thymbrios River, which flows through the plain and empties into the River Skamandros at the temple of Apollon Thymbraios. Also according to Strabo, the distance from Ilium, the town erected by the Romans on the old site of Troy, to the temple was about 50 stadia
.
Thymbra was also the location of a major temple and sanctuary of Apollo
(one of his epithets is Lord of Delphi and Thymbra). The god was known there as Apollo Thymbraios, a localizing epithet. In Greek mythology
, the temple is tied to the fall of Troy as the location of Achilles
' murder of Troilus
upon that god's altar, as well as the place where Cassandra
received her prophetic powers. It is also the place where Laocoön
and his sons were torn to pieces by the snake. It has been hypothesized that the two deaths within the sacred precinct point to an ancient sacrificial practice. Finally, there is one version, by Dictys Cretensis
in which Achilles himself dies at Thymbra, ambushed by Paris, who draws him there promising Polyxena as wife in exchange for his defection to the Trojans.
The valley of the Thymbrios had as one of its main features the hill of Callicolone (Καλλικολώνη). The city disappeared probably before the 4th century BCE.
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
. The second of the six gates of Troy was named after it, according to John Lydgate
John Lydgate
John Lydgate of Bury was a monk and poet, born in Lidgate, Suffolk, England.Lydgate is at once a greater and a lesser poet than John Gower. He is a greater poet because of his greater range and force; he has a much more powerful machine at his command. The sheer bulk of Lydgate's poetic output is...
. The location is about five miles from present day Hissarlik, the site of the present archaeological excavations.
The town was located on the plain by the same name (reported in modern times in the Turkish language
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
as Thimbrek-Déré by Chateaubriand) formed by the river Thymbrios (Latin: Thymbrium), today known as the Kemer River, at the confluence of the Thymbrios and the Scamander
Scamander
In Greek mythology, Scamander was a river god, son of Oceanus and Tethys according to Hesiod. Scamander is also thought of as the river god, son of Zeus. By Idaea, he fathered King Teucer....
. According to Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
, The plain of Thymbra . . . and the Thymbrios River, which flows through the plain and empties into the River Skamandros at the temple of Apollon Thymbraios. Also according to Strabo, the distance from Ilium, the town erected by the Romans on the old site of Troy, to the temple was about 50 stadia
Stadia
Stadium or stadion has the plural stadia in both Latin and Greek. The anglicized term is stade in the singular.Stadium may refer to:* Stadium, a building type...
.
Thymbra was also the location of a major temple and sanctuary of Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
(one of his epithets is Lord of Delphi and Thymbra). The god was known there as Apollo Thymbraios, a localizing epithet. In Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, the temple is tied to the fall of Troy as the location of Achilles
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy....
' murder of Troilus
Troilus
Troilus is a legendary character associated with the story of the Trojan War...
upon that god's altar, as well as the place where Cassandra
Cassandra
In Greek mythology, Cassandra was the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. Her beauty caused Apollo to grant her the gift of prophecy...
received her prophetic powers. It is also the place where Laocoön
Laocoön
Laocoön the son of Acoetes is a figure in Greek and Roman mythology.-History:Laocoön is a Trojan priest of Poseidon , whose rules he had defied, either by marrying and having sons, or by having committed an impiety by making love with his wife in the presence of a cult image in a sanctuary...
and his sons were torn to pieces by the snake. It has been hypothesized that the two deaths within the sacred precinct point to an ancient sacrificial practice. Finally, there is one version, by Dictys Cretensis
Dictys Cretensis
Dictys Cretensis of Knossus was the legendary companion of Idomeneus during the Trojan War, and the purported author of a diary of its events, that deployed some of the same materials worked up by Homer for the Iliad...
in which Achilles himself dies at Thymbra, ambushed by Paris, who draws him there promising Polyxena as wife in exchange for his defection to the Trojans.
The valley of the Thymbrios had as one of its main features the hill of Callicolone (Καλλικολώνη). The city disappeared probably before the 4th century BCE.