Prasiae

Prasiae or Prasiai (Ancient Greek: Πρασιαί),^[1]^[2]^[3] or Prasia (Πρασία),^[4]^[5] also known as Brasiae or Brasiai (Βρασιαί),^[6] was a town on the eastern coast of ancient Laconia, described by Pausanias as the farthest of the Eleuthero-Laconian places on this part of the coast, and as distant 200 stadia by sea from Cyphanta.^[6] The Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax speaks of it as a city and a harbour.^[4]

Name of the city

The name of the town was derived by the inhabitants from the noise of the waves (Βράζειν). Pausanias relates a story, found nowhere else in Greece, that Semele, after giving birth to her son by Zeus, was discovered by Cadmus and put with Dionysus into a chest, which was washed up by the waves at Prasiae. Semele, who was no longer alive when found, received a splendid funeral, but the Prasiaeans brought up Dionysus and changed the name of their town from Oreiatae or Oreiatai (Ὀρειάταί) to Brasiae.^[7]^[a]

Later history

It was an important Spartan naval base during the Peloponnesian War. It was burnt by the Athenians in the second year of the Peloponnesian War, 430 BCE.^[1]^[3] Also in 414 BCE, the Athenians, in conjunction with the Argives, ravaged the coast near Prasiae.^[10] In the Macedonian period Prasiae, with other Laconian towns on this coast, passed into the hands of the Argives;^[11] whence Strabo calls it one of the Argive towns,^[2] though in another passage he says that it belonged at an earlier period to the Lacedaemonians.^[12] It was restored to Laconia by Augustus, who made it one of the Eleuthero-Laconian towns.^[13] Among the curiosities of Prasiae Pausanias mentions a cave where Ino nursed Dionysus; a temple of Asclepius and another of Achilles, and a small promontory upon which stood four brazen figures not more than a foot in height.^[14]

Modern location

It is located near Paralio Leonidi.^[15]^[16]

Footnotes

^ It has been suggested, however, that this tale borrowed motifs from the story of Danae and Perseus.^[8]^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 2.56.
^ ^a ^b Strabo. Geographica. Vol. viii p. 368. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
^ ^a ^b Aristophanes, Pac. 242
^ ^a ^b Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax p. 17
^ Ptolemy. The Geography. Vol. 3.17.10.
^ ^a ^b Pausanias (1918). "24.3". Description of Greece. Vol. 3. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.
^ Pausanias (1918). "24.3". Description of Greece. Vol. 3. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.-4.
^ Larson, Jennifer. Greek Heroine Cults. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995. pp. 94-95.
^ Guettel Cole, Susan. "Under the Open Sky: Imagining the Dionysian Landscape". In: Human Development in Sacred Landscapes: Between Ritual Tradition, Creativity and Emotionality. V&R Unipress. 2015. p. 65. ISBN 978-3-7370-0252-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14220/9783737002523.61
^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 6.105.
^ Polybius. The Histories. Vol. 4.36.
^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. viii. p. 374. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
^ Pausanias (1918). "21.7". Description of Greece. Vol. 3. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library., 3.24.3
^ Pausanias (1918). "24.4". Description of Greece. Vol. 3. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.-5
^ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
^ Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 58, and directory notes accompanying. ISBN 978-0-691-03169-9.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Prasiae". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.

37°08′56″N 22°52′55″E / 37.149°N 22.882°E / 37.149; 22.882

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[10] It has been suggested, however, that this tale borrowed motifs from the story of Danae and Perseus.^[8]^[9]

[Thucydides-1] Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 2.56.

[Strabo-2] Strabo. Geographica. Vol. viii p. 368. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.

[Aristophanes-3] Aristophanes, Pac. 242

[Periplus-4] Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax p. 17

[5] Ptolemy. The Geography. Vol. 3.17.10.

[Pausanias-6] Pausanias (1918). "24.3". Description of Greece. Vol. 3. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.

[7] Pausanias (1918). "24.3". Description of Greece. Vol. 3. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.-4.

[8] Larson, Jennifer. Greek Heroine Cults. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995. pp. 94-95.

[9] Guettel Cole, Susan. "Under the Open Sky: Imagining the Dionysian Landscape". In: Human Development in Sacred Landscapes: Between Ritual Tradition, Creativity and Emotionality. V&R Unipress. 2015. p. 65. ISBN 978-3-7370-0252-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14220/9783737002523.61

[11] Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 6.105.

[12] Polybius. The Histories. Vol. 4.36.

[13] Strabo. Geographica. Vol. viii. p. 374. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.

[14] Pausanias (1918). "21.7". Description of Greece. Vol. 3. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library., 3.24.3

[15] Pausanias (1918). "24.4". Description of Greece. Vol. 3. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.-5

[16] Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.

[17] Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 58, and directory notes accompanying. ISBN 978-0-691-03169-9.

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