Ocalea (town)

Map of ancient Boeotia.

Ocalea (Greek: Ὠκαλέα, Ōkalea, rarely Ὠκαλέαι; later Ὠκάλεια) was a town in antiquity in Boeotia, Greece, on the south shore of Lake Copais.

Ocalea lay roughly halfway between Alalcomenae and Aliartos (ancient Haliartus), about 30 stadia (5.5 km) from each.^[1] Ancient sources often mention it alongside Mantinea and Medeon, which suggests that they were close by.^[2] The short distance between Mantinea and Ocalea seems to be the reason why the mythical figure Aglaïa, daughter of Mantineus, was sometimes also known as Ocalea.

Origins

Most sources that discuss the origin of the town's name explain it as coming from the Greek adjective ὠκύς, "quick". The early "D" scholia on the Iliad explain this as a reference to an unnamed river flowing past it; the geographical writer Stephanus of Byzantium explains it as a reference to the brief journey from the nearby town Thespies to Thebes.^[3]

Mythology

The Hymn to Apollo narrates how the god Apollo, in his search for a place to establish his oracle, passes by Ocalea and Haliartus after crossing the river Cephissus on his way to Telphousa. Ocalea and Haliartus are named in the wrong order, since Apollo is supposed to be travelling westwards. The poem describes Ocalea as πολύπυργος, "many-towered"; but the epithet is so common as to be almost meaningless.^[4]

The Library falsely attributed to Apollodorus tells the story of how when Heracles fought the Minyans of Orchomenus, his foster-father Amphitryon was killed. After this Zeus' son Rhadamanthys, who had been exiled from Crete, married Amphitryon's widow, Alcmene, and they settled in Ocalea.^[5] Tzetzes adds that in Ocalea Rhadamanthys taught the young Heracles to shoot a bow.^[6]

The Homeric Iliad mentions Ocalea in the Catalogue of Ships as one of the towns that contributed to the Boeotian contingent of the Greek army in the Trojan War.^[7]

References

1. ^ Strabo, 9.2.26-9.2.27.
2. ^ E.g. Homer Iliad 2.501; Dionysius of Byzantium, Description of Greece 99.
3. ^ Schol. D on Iliad 2.501; Stephanus 706 s.v. Ὠκαλέα. Herodian De prosodia catholica iii.1 p. 284 gives both explanations. Stephanus and Herodian seem to be under the mistaken impression that Ocalea lay on the route from Thespies to Thebes; but Thespies is some way from where the lake was.
4. ^ Hymn to Apollo, 242.
5. ^ Pseudo-Apollodorus, 2.69-2.70.
6. ^ Tzetzes, scholia on pseudo-Lycophron Alexandra 50.
7. ^ Iliad 2.501.