Calydon

Calydon (Καλυδών), an ancient town of Aetolia, according to Pliny, 7½ Roman m. from the sea, on the river Euenus. It was said to have been founded by Calydon, son of Aetolus; to have been the scene of the hunting, by Meleager and other heroes, of the famous Calydonian boar, sent by Artemis to lay waste the fields; and to have taken part in the Trojan war. In historical times it is first mentioned (391 b.c.) as in the possession of the Achaeans, who retained it for twenty years, by the assistance of the Lacedaemonian king, Agesilaus, notwithstanding the attacks of the Arcarnanians. After the battle of Leuctra (371 b.c.) it was restored by Epaminondas to the Aetolians. In the time of Pompey it was a town of importance; but Augustus removed its inhabitants to Nicopolis, which he founded to commemorate his victory at Actium (31 b.c.). The walls of Calydon are almost certainly to be recognized in the Kastro of Kurtagá. These comprise a circuit of over 2 m., with one large gate and five smaller ones, and are situated on a hill on the right or west bank of the Euenus. Remains of large terrace walls outside the town probably indicate the position of the temple of Artemis Laphria, whose gold and ivory statue was transferred to Patras, together probably with her ritual. This included a sacrifice in which all kinds of beasts, wild and tame, were driven into a wooden pyre and consumed.

See W.M. Leake, Travels in N. Greece, i. p. 109, iii. pp. 533 sqq.; W.J. Woodhouse, Aetolia, pp. 95 ssq.

(E. Gr.)

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