PO´TNIAE
PO´TNIAE (
Πότνιαι Eth.
Ποτνιεύς, fem.
Ποτνιάς), a village of Boeotia, on the road from Thebes to Plataea, distant 10 stadia from the former city.
It was in ruins in the time of Pausanias, and contained a grove sacred to Demeter and Cora (Proserpine). Potniae is celebrated in mythology as the residence of Glaucus, who was torn to pieces by his infuriated mares. (
Xen. Hell. 5.4. 51;
Paus. 9.8. §§ 1, 3;
Steph. B. sub voce Plin. Nat. 25.8. s. 53;
Verg. G. 3.268; Ov.
Ibis, 557;
Dict. of Biogr. art.
GLAUCUS) According to Strabo (p. 412) some authorities regarded Potniae as the Hypothebae of Homer (
Hom. Il. 2.505). Gell places Potniae in the neighbourhood of the modern village of
Taki. (Gell,
Itinerary, p. 110; comp. Leake,
Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 323.)