NOTES

1.  This account is based on Simpson [2018] 477 ff. ('Asterion and Titanos (Il. 2.735)'.   His explanation there is fairly opaque and I attempt to clarify it here.

The Iliad mentions two toponyms 'Asterion' and 'Titanus'.   Iliad (2.735) " ..., and that held Asterium and the white crests of Titanus, these were led by Eurypylus, ... "

Where are Asterion and Titanus?

Asterion was one of the Argonauts and he was, presumably, the eponym for the place 'Asterion'.   He lived at a place called Peiresiai which is equated with the locale Asterion.[1]    Peiresiai is not located for certain but the main candidate is the hill of Strongilovouni (F2606, 39.509478°, 22.087774°) which is near the west Thessalian village of Vlochos (F5810, 39.520895°, 22.090886°). [2]

So where is the other Homeric site, Titanos?   The main candidates are:

• Arne/Kierion (C1344): Strabo suggested that Titanos is near Homeric Arne, the historic Kierion. [3]
• Vlochos (F5810).   Leake thought it was near or at Vlochos. ' ... the white calcareous rocks of the conspicuous summit at Vlochos are ... well suited to the name Titanos.'

Simpson [2018] passim appears to favor Vlochos/Strongylovouni (C6906) for Asterion and Arne/Kierion (C1344) for Titanos.   I use these equivalents in the atlas but these toponymical questions will probably never be settled for certain and the reader should use caution when dealing with these names.   The whole argument is dealt with in Simpson ibid.

NOTES

1. Apollonios Rhodios (Argonautica 1. 35-39).   Simpson [2018] 477 says (citing Allen 1921,123-125, esp. 124) :   " ... Allen deduced that the Argonaut Asterion, presumed to be the eponymous hero of Asterion, lived at Peiresiai and Stephanus of Byzantium equated the historic Peiresiai with Asterion.",   Allen, T.H. 1921. The Homeric Catalogue of Ships, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
2. This equation was also favored by Leake.
3. Wace also thought that this place (Kierion/Arne) might be Titanos.

2.  The Vlochos Archaeological Project is exploring the hill and the surrounds of Strongylovouni. It is a joint effort of the Swedish Institute of Athens, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Karditsa, and the University of Bournemouth (UK). Their formal web page is defunct but this page, with excellent photographs, substitutes for it. The full report on this effort is scheduled to be published in Opuscula, the annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, in late 2020. Performing a Google search on 'Vlochos' will turn up many useful sources. The floruit of this town is somewhat outside the range of this atlas; its earliest manifestations appear to be late Archaic.

rhc

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.  Allen [1921]:  Allen, Thomas W.. The Homeric Catalogue of Ships, ed. with a commentary by Thomas W. Allen.. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1921, '', pg. 123. Online here.

2.  Iliad:  Homer. Iliad. The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924., '2.735', Online here.

3.  A&A[2018]:  null. ‘Vlochos: Ruins of a city scattered atop a hill’, archaeology & arts, September 14, 2018, '', Online here.

4.  Rönnlund [2024]:  Rönnlund, Ron. ‘'Princely seats' and Thessalian hillforts: pre-urban Greece and the diffusion of urbanism in Early Iron Age Europe’, Antiquity (98:399) 743-757, 'Some 12km south of Plateia Rachi is the hill of Stroggylovouni at Vlochos, ... ', pg. 749. Online here.

5.  Simpson [2018]:  Simpson, Richard Hope. Mycenaean Greece and Homeric Tradition. published online under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. 2018, 'Asterion and Titanos (Il. 2. 735)', pg. 477. Online here.