A city on the Peloponnesian Peninsula.
During the Trojan War, Agamemnon, commander-in-chief of the Achaian (Achaean) army, tried to placate Achilles with bribes to end their feud. Among other things, Agamemnon offered to give Achilles Aipeia and six other cities.1 Achilles remained adamant and would not accept the gifts or forgive Agamemnon.
Homer described the seven cities as well peopled, prosperous and near the sea, rich in flocks and cattle—Kardamyle, Enope, and grassy Hire, sacred Pherai, Antheia with its deep meadows, fair Aipeia, and Pedasos with its vineyards.
With the exceptions of Hire and Enope, the cities named by Agamemnon can be located with reasonable accuracy. The location of ancient Hire given by the geographer Strabo would place Hire inland and significantly north of the other cities but without further verification the matter remains unresolved.
1. Antheia, Enope, Hire, Kardamyle (Cardamyle), Pedasos (Pedasus), and Pherai (Pherae)
Latitude North, Longitude East
36.8510, 21.9001
| References: Homer, Iliad book 9, lines 152, 294 Strabo, Geography book 8.4.5 |