Thorikos or Thoricus () was a city, and later a deme in the southern portion of ancient Attica, one of the twelve original settlements that were united in the synoikismos attributed to Theseus to form Archaic Athens. It was later a deme of the phyle of Acamantis. Near it are the mines of Laurion, where lead and silver was mined from Neolithic times, and worked in the industrial quarter of the settlement.[ Archaeological Site of Thorikos: Overview] There is a theatre dating from c. 525–480 BC. The modern site is Laurium.
History
The site was inhabited from the
Neolithic Age (4th millennium BC). Thoricus was the mining centre of the
Laureotica. There is evidence of lead extraction from the Early Helladic period (3rd millennium BC) and of silver (now exhausted) from 1500 BC.
tombs (15th century BC) and a Late Mycenaean installation (12th century BC), probably connected with the mines in the area, have been uncovered. The finds are housed in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens.
It continued to be a place of importance during the flourishing period of Athenian history, as its existing remains prove, and was hence fortified by the Athenians in the 24th year of the Peloponnesian War.[Xenophon, de Vect. 4 .43.]
There were significant town walls and a postern. The town's harbour was to the south of the acropolis; the island of Makronisi (Macri) provides natural protection.
In myth
Thoricus, in the
Homeric Hymn to
Demeter (probably 7th century BC) is mentioned by the goddess, who is disguised as an old woman, as her landing place when she had been unwillingly brought from Crete. Thoricus directly faces Crete to the south, across the open
Aegean Sea. Thoricus is celebrated in mythology as the residence of
Cephalus, whom
Eos (Roman Aurora) carried off to dwell with the gods.
[Apollod. 2.4.7; Eur. Hipp. 455.] It has been conjectured by Christopher Wordsworth, with much probability, that the idea of Thoricus was associated in the Athenian mind with such a translation to the gods, and that the "Thorician stone" (Θορίκιος πέτρος) mentioned by
Sophocles,
[Sophocles, Oed. Col. 1595.] respecting which there has been so much doubt, probably has reference to such a migration, as the poet is describing a similar translation of Oedipus. Cephalus is also said to have died at Thoricus.
Remains
The ancient city's centre and its
acropolis are on Velatouri hill and the theatre (c. 525–480 BC) is a significant survival. The town was closely packed with irregular building of houses and smiths' workshops (many dating from the 7th–4th century BC). A small temple, perhaps dedicated to
Hygieia, next to
with benches. There was an unusual Double Stoa built in the late 5th century BC.
Inscriptions have identified the large
Doric order temple (late 5th century BC) as a
telesterion for the cult of
Demeter and
Kore, the "Maiden" her daughter
Persephone.
[ The temple was initially explored by the Society of Dilettanti of London in 1817. In April 1886, Walter Miller conducted the first modern excavation of the site, seeking the theatre.][
]
Modern archaeology here has been largely connected with the Belgian School in Athens.
See also
-
List of ancient Greek cities
External links
