[511] Ὀρχομενόν: the rich capital of the famous empire of the Minyae; called “Μινύειον” in distinction from the Arcadian city (v. 605). Its wealth is mentioned in the same connection as that of Aegyptian Thebes (9.381). Agamemnon in Hades (Od. 11.457 ff.) asks Odysseus whether he had heard of his son Orestes at Orchomenus or Pylus. The so-called ‘Treasury of Minyas’ at Orchomenus resembles the subterranean structures of Mycenae (see on v. 569). Orchomenus was famous for its worship of the Graces, who were said to have been first worshipped there. Both Orchomenus and Aspledon (a small town) lay near Lake Copaïs, on the left bank of the Boeotian Cephisus (see on v. 522), on the fertile plain of Boeotia. The realm of the Minyae did not become Boeotian until later.
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Homer's Iliad, Books I-III. Thomas D. Seymour. Boston. Ginn and Company. 1891.
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