Atrax
- I.A Masc., a river in Aetolia, Plin. 4, 2, 3, § 6.—
- B Derivv.
- 1 Ā̆trăces, those living near the Atrax, Plin. 4, 2, 3, § 6.—
- 2 Ā̆trā-cĭus, a, um, adj., of Atrax, Atracian: oris, Prop. 1, 8, 25 (Müll., Antariis).—
- II. A. Fem., a town in Thessaly, on the Peneus, now Sidhiro-peliko, Plin. 4, 8, 15, § 29; Liv. 32, 15; 36, 10.—
- B Derivv.
- 1 Ā̆tră-cĭus, a, um, Atracian, poet. for Thessalian: ars, i.e. magic art, which the Thessalians practised much, Stat. Th. 1, 105: venenum, Val. Fl. 6, 447.—
- 2 (A patronymic instead of a gentile nom.; cf. Loers ad Ov. H. 17, 248.) Ā̆trăcĭdes, ae, m., the Thessalian Caeneus, Ov. M. 12, 209.—
- 3 Ā̆tră-cis, ĭdis, f., the Thessalian woman, Hippodamia, Ov. Am. 1, 4, 8; id. H. 17, 248; called also Ātrăcĭa virgo in Val. Fl. 1, 141.
(Ἄτραξ), a son of Peneius and Bura, from whom the town of Atrax in Hestiaeotis was believed to have derived its name. (Steph. Byz. s. v.) He was the father of Hippodameia and Caenis, the latter of whom by the will of Poseidon was changed into a man, and named Caenus. (Antonin. Lib. 17; Ov. Met. 12.190, &c.) [L.S]
ATRAX (Ἄτραξ, also Ἀτρακία, Steph. B.; Ptol. 3.13.42: Eth. Ἀτράκιος), a Perrhaebian town in Thessaly, described by Livy as situated above the river Peneius, at the distance of about 10 miles from Larissa. (Liv. 32.15, comp. 36.13.) Strabo says that the Peneius passed by the cities of Tricca, Pelinnaeum and Parcadon, on its left, on its course to Atrax and Larissa. (Strab. 9. p. 438.) Leake places Atrax on a height upon the left bank of the Peneius, opposite the village of Gúnitza. On this height, which is now called Sidhiro-péliko (Σιδηροπέλικος), a place where chippings of iron are found, Leake found stones and fragments of ancient pottery, and in one place foundations of an Hellenic wall. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. 3. p. 368, vol. 4. p. 292.)
(Ἄτραξ). (1) A town in Pelasgiotis in Thessaly, inhabited by the Perrhaebi, so called from the mythical Atrax, son of Peneus and Bura, and father of Caeneus and Hippodamia. Hence Caeneus is called Atracides, and Hippodamia, Atracis.
(2) A river of Aetolia falling into the Ionian Sea.
A city of Pelasgiotis (Strab. 9.441), 10 Roman miles from Larissa (Livy 32.15.8) by the Peneios (Strab. 9.438), evidently prosperous from at least the 5th c. It issued coinage en. 400 B.C. It had a Macedonian garrison and was besieged by T. Quinctius Flamininus in 198 B.C. but he failed to take it, as did Antiochus III in 191 B.C. when it was a Roman stronghold (Livy 32.15.8, 17.4-18; 33.10.2, 13.4).
Atrax is commonly now identified with a site (Palaiokastro) on the right bank of the Peneios near modern Alifaka, ca. 23 km W of Larissa. The walls of the site have a circuit of about 3 km, surrounding an acropolis peak (265 m) which is a N spur of modern Mt. Dhovroutsi, and coming down the hill to the river plain, where the wall is poorly preserved. A cross wall divided the circuit into an upper and lower city. The original wall was built of rough stones and was about 3 to 4 m thick; it may have been Mycenaean. In Hellenistic times (?) this wall was repaired with rectangular blocks and the wall between the acropolis and city, immediately below the acropolis, was provided with five towers. The wall was again improved in Byzantine times. In the lower city architectural fragments are frequent. By the river are a number of sarcophagi. Some ancient objects have come from this site, including a 6th c. B.C. marble head.
Six km W of the site by Koutsochiro, a Chapel of Haghias Nikolaus stands on a mound. Inscriptions of Atrax were found here. This site may have been a Temple of Poseidon, and the area seems to belong naturally to the Alifaka site, so supporting the Atrax-Alifaka site identification.
Leake and later Edmonds favored placing Atrax at Gunitza, where a large wall circuit of rough stones climbs the steep hill on the left bank of the Peneios just as it enters the E Thessalian plain. Stählin placed Argura here. Lack of Classical and Hellenistic sherds, however, have led to the belief this was not a city in Greek times. For the Alifaka site Edmonds suggested Phakion.
BIBLIOGRAPHYW. M. Leake, Nor. Gr. (1835) I 433; III 368 (Gunitza); IV 292. H. G. Lolling, AM 8 (1883) 111, 129f; C. D. Edmonds, BSA 5 (1898-99) 21f, 24; A. S. Arvanitopoullos, Praktika (1910) 187f; (1914) 217f; id., ArchEph (1913) 236; F. Stählin, Das hellenische Thessalien (1924) 101fP; V. Milojćić, AA (1955) 219I; (1960) 171 (Gunitza); H. Biesantz, Die Thessalischen Grabreliefs (1965) 122; D. Theocharis, Deltion 21 (1966) chron. 246.
T. S. MACKAY