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SAMOTHRACE (Turk. Semadrek)

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 118 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SAMOTHRACE (Turk. Semadrek) , an See also:island in the N. of the See also:Aegean See also:Sea, nearly opposite the mouth of the Hebrus, and lying N. of See also:Imbros and N.E. of See also:Lemnos. The island is a kaza of the Lemnos sanjak, and has a See also:population of 3500, nearly all See also:Greek. It is still called Samothraki, and though of small extent is, next to See also:Mount See also:Athos, by far the most important natural feature in this See also:part of the Aegean, from its See also:great See also:elevation—the See also:group of mountains which occupies almost the whole island rising to the height of 5240 ft. Its conspicuous See also:character is attested by a well-known passage in the Iliad (xiii. 12), where the poet represents See also:Poseidon as taking See also:post on this lofty See also:summit to survey the See also:plain of See also:Troy and the contest between the Greeks and the Trojans. This mountainous character and the See also:absence of any tolerable See also:harbour—See also:Pliny, in enumerating the islands of the Aegean, calls it " importuosissima omnium "—prevented it from ever attaining to any See also:political importance, but it enjoyed great celebrity from its connexion with the See also:worship of the CABEIRI (q.v.), a mysterious triad of divinities, concerning whom very little is known, but who appear, like all the similar deities venerated in different parts of See also:Greece, to have been a remnant of a previously existing Pelasgic See also:mythology. See also:Herodotus expressly tells us that the " orgies " which were celebrated at Samothrace were derived from the See also:Pelasgians (ii. 51). The only occasion on which the island is mentioned in See also:history is during the expedition of See also:Xerxes (B.C. 480), when the Samothracians sent a contingent to the See also:Persian See also:fleet, one See also:ship of which See also:bore a conspicuous part in the See also:battle of See also:Salamis (See also:Herod. viii. 90).

But the island appears to have always enjoyed the See also:

advantage of See also:autonomy, probably on See also:account of its sacred character, and even in the See also:time of Pliny it ranked as a See also:free See also:state. Such was still the reputation of its mysteries that Germanicus endeavoured to visit the island, but was driven off by adverse winds (Tac. See also:Ann. ii. 54). After visits by travellers, including Cyriac of See also:Ancona (1444), See also:Richter (1822), and See also:Kiepert (1842), Samothrace was explored in 1857 by Conze, who published an account of it, as well as the larger neighbouring islands, in 1860. The Victory of Samothrace," set up by See also:Demetrius PoIiorcetes c. 305 B.C., was discovered in the island in 1863, and is now in the Louvre. The See also:ancient See also:city, of which the ruins are called Palaeopoli, was situated on the N. See also:side of the island See also:close to the sea; its site is clearly marked, and considerable remains still exist of the ancient walls, which were built in massive Cyclopean See also:style, as well as of the See also:sanctuary of the Cabeiri, and other temples and edifices of Ptolemaic and later date. The See also:modern See also:village is on the See also:hill above. A considerable sponge See also:fishery is carried on See also:round the coasts by traders from See also:Smyrna. On the N. See also:coast are much-frequented hot See also:sulphur springs. In 1873 and 1875 excavations were carried out under the See also:Austrian See also:government.

Conze, Reise auf den Inseln See also:

des Thrakischen Meeres (See also:Hanover, 186o) ; Conze, See also:Hauser and Niemann, Archaologische Untersuchungen auf Samothrake (See also:Vienna, 1875 and r88o) ; H. F. Tozer, Islands of the Aegean (See also:London, 189o).

End of Article: SAMOTHRACE (Turk. Semadrek)

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