Ancient Messene

The charming village Mavromati is on the slope of Mount Ithome.  Ancient Messene or Messini (Αρχαία Μεσσηνία) is a major archaeological site in Greece. It is the city the Theban general Epaminondas founded in 369 BC.  The mountain village has a nice hotel Messana which among other amenities offers a perfect view of the ancient city, which is so well-preserved that you can easily envision how life in a city was 2,500 years ago.

The geographer Pausanias has left us a description of the ancient city which still lies in a fertile valley.  Ancient Messene has the fortune that was not destroyed or altered by later settlements thus its ruins remain untouched.  When the visitor enters the archaeological site the first structure, he sees is a very well-preserved theatre (Odeon). 

The Agora of Ancient Messene was the site where the inhabitants conducted their transactions including sacrifices of animals for religious or commercial purposes. 

The Asclepeion was the most famous sanctuary of Ancient Messene. The Asclepeion was not used for healing purposes as those in Epidaurus and Kos but along with the Agora was the center of public life. There are more than 140 pedestals of statues of prominent citizens and five platforms that surrounded the Doric temple. 

The Stadium is among the most impressive structures of Ancient Messini. Visitors can still run in the field where athletes competed in antiquity.

The restored Mausoleum is located at the far end of the stadium. The temple like structure according to Pausanias who visited the site (155-160 A.D.) was the funerary tomb, the city honored its chief priest as a hero, and it was in this building members of the Saithidas family were buried.    

The Ancient Museum of Messene is worth visiting as it houses an extensive collection ofartwork and sculptures, thus you will be able to complete the image of Ancient Messene you have visited. Excavations at the site are on going under the direction of archaeologist Petros Themelis who has published a book describing the history, structures, sanctuaries and findings of Ancient Messene in detail. 

Ancient Messene, was surrounded by a protective wall, the total length of which was 9 km. The wall which dates to the 3^rd century B.C. is one of the most important achievements of ancient military architecture and protected the city from all directions, except for the Northeast, where Mount Ithome stood as a natural fortress. The wall had two gates, the Arcadian that led towards Megalopolis and the Laconian which has not survived.  The wall was built by Epaminondas, who defeated the Spartans and liberated the Messenian people who for four centuries were Sparta’s helots.  Strabo compares Ancient Messene that was also known as Ithome to Corinth regarding its strategic importance.

Argonauts

The Argonauts (Greek: Αργοναυται) were a band of heroes who accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece.  As many as 85 names are listed in different sources but some of the prominent better known are, Hercules (son of Zeus), Asclepius, Atlanta, Castor and Pollux (Twins or Gemini), Laertes who was Odysseus’ father, Perseus and Amyrus who was Poseidon’s son. 

The Argonauts were named after their ship, Argo that was built by Argus with goddess Athena’s help.    

After the death of King Cretos, Pelias usurped the Iolcan throne from his half-brother Aeson.  Because of this unlawful act, an oracle warned him that a descendant of Aeolus would seek revenge. Pelias put to death every descendant of Aeolus, but spared Aeson because of the pleas of their mother Tyro. Aeson married Alcimene who bore him a son named Jason.  Alcimede saved her baby by faking a stillbirth and a burial and took baby Jason to Mount Pelion where he was raised by the centaur Chiron, the trainer of heroes.  

 When Jason was 20 years old, an oracle ordered him to head to the Iolcan court. While traveling Jason lost his sandal in Anavros River while helping an old woman who was Hera in disguise.  Another oracle warned Pelias to be on his guard against a one-sandal man.  At a sacrifice to Poseidon Pelias noticed a youth with only one sandal who was Jason his nephew.  As Pelias could not kill Jason because prominent kings of the Aeolian family were present, he asked Jason instead: "What would you do if an oracle announced that one of your fellow-citizens were destined to kill you?" Jason replied that he would send him to go and fetch the Golden Fleece, words that were put in his mouth by Hera.  

Jason learned later that according to an oracle, Iolcus would never prosper unless Prixus’s ghost was taken back in a ship, together with the golden ram's fleece. The fleece now hung from a tree in the grove at Colchis, guarded night and day by a dragon that never slept.   However, Hera supported Jason's during his quest to find and bring the fleece back on Argo and upon his return to become the King of Iolcus.