METHONE
(Mothone, Modon) Messenia, Greece.
A town on the site of Homeric Pedasos at the SW
tip of the Messenian peninsula. A mole, first built in the
2d c. A.D., reinforced the bar which runs out to the
rocky islet of Mothon and protects the natural harbor;
the islet is now occupied by the ruins of a mediaeval fort.
There are ancient blocks in the town wall on the side
toward the harbor as well as in the foundation of the
bridge which provides the only approach from the land
side. The acropolis was more than 2 km to the E. Pausanias reported seeing a Temple of Athena Anemotis
and a Shrine of Artemis, as well as a spring of water
mixed with pitch, but none of these has been identified.
Marble fragments and coins from the area attest to the
continued existence of the town and its status as a free
city in the time of Trajan. In 1962, some of the many
wrecks off Methone were investigated by underwater
archaeologists; the material brought up by the divers was
taken to the Pylos museum. (See also under Shipwrecks.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Paus. 4.35; J. G. Frazer,
Paus. Des. Gr.
(1898) III 452; P. Throckmorton & J. Bullitt,
Expedition
5.2 (1963) 17f.
M. H. MCALLISTER
