previous next


Κουριέες. H. seems uncertain of the Argive colonization of Curium affirmed by Strabo (683). Steph. Byz. says Κούριον πόλις Κύπρου ἀπὸ Κουρέως τοῦ Κινύρου παιδός, implying Phoenician origin, since Cinyras in legend is Eastern. Probably Peloponnesians really settled in Cyprus in prehistoric times, since Mycenaean pottery is common there, and the Cypriote dialect resembles most closely the Arcadian, the earliest Peloponnesian tongue. Further, the existence of the Cypriote syllabary shows that the colonization took place before the adoption of the alphabet (Busolt, i. 318 f.).

πολεμιστήρια ἅρματα. Meyer (i, §§ 455, 577) derives both horse and war chariot from invading Aryans. Whatever be the origin of the horse (cf. Ridgway, Thorough-bred Horse), the war-chariot seems to have spread through Western Asia circ. 1600 B. C., perhaps from the Hittites, to Egypt, Crete, and Greece. It long held its own against cavalry, since it was better suited for archers (e. g. Hittites and Egyptians), and ages passed before men devised weapons and armour suitable for use on horseback (Ridgway, pp. 481-2). But the chariot is unknown in Greek warfare after Homer, since its use in processions at Eretria (Strabo 448) proves nothing. Its survival in Cyprus may be due to oriental influence: indeed, it is tempting to see in the treacherous charioteers an oriental element in the population. Scythed chariots seem to be a later Persian invention used at Cunaxa (Xen. An. i. 8. 10). (See note, p. 415.)


Σολίων. Soli was believed to be an Athenian Colony (Strabo 683; Plut. Solon 26). The visit of Solon to Soli, and the rebuilding of the city on the plain instead of on the height (αἰπεῖα), is recorded in one of his elegies addressed to Philocyprus (Plut. Solon 26): νῦν δὲ σὺ μὲν Σολίοισι πολὺν χρόνον ἐνθάδ᾽ ἀνάσσων τήνδε πόλιν ναίοις καὶ γένος ὑμέτερον. Solon's visit is traditionally dated circ. 590-580 B. C., and cannot have been later than 560 B. C. It is therefore remarkable that a son of his friend should still be on the throne and killed in battle in 497 B. C.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: