T H E 



■vU. " The Contefl of Pclias or Phorbas ;" " The Sacred 

 Youths •/••and " Pcntheus." Socrates lays that he repre- 

 leutcd tragedies in the 6 ift Olympiad, long after Solon's 

 death. TravL-lb of Anacharfifi, vol. vi. 8vo. 



THESPIUS, in ylncUrU Geography, a river of Greece, 



in Bocotia. • , . ■ j 



THESPROTI, a people of Epirus, who inhabited 

 Thcfprotia, in the vicinity of the Ambraciatcs ; and formed 

 one nation with the Chaonians. They derived their name 

 from Thefprotus the fon of Pelafgus, who was the fon of 

 Lyc.ion, and who was the firft that condufted the Pclafgi 

 into Epirus. 



THESPROTI A, or Thesprotis, a fraall country ot 

 Epirus, S. of Chaonia, having to tiie E. the lake Am- 

 braciiis and Amlrracia, and to the S. the fea. This coun- 

 try was watered by tliree rivers, which ran from \V. to E, 

 %'it.. Thiamis, Cocytus, and Acheron. 



THESSALIA, Thessalv, a celebrated country of 

 Greece. This country, comprifing Magnefia and other 

 fmall diftr^s which have particular denominations, is 

 bounded to the E. by the fea, to the N. by mount Olym- 

 pus, to the W. by mount Pindus, and to the S. by mount 

 Oeta. From thefe permanent boundaries branch out other 

 chains of mountains and hills, that wind through the 

 country, occafionally embracing fertile plains, which, from 

 their form, and the manner in which they are inclofed, re- 

 femble vaft amphitheatres. Opulent cities are feated on 

 the heights that encircle thefe plains ; and the whole coun- 

 try is watered by rivers faUing in general into the Peneus, 

 which, before it lofes itfelf in the fea, flows tlu-ough the 

 famous valley of Tempc. The Aphidanus, or Apidanus, 

 proceeded from the S. where was Dolopia, afcended north- 

 ward (fee Peneus), traverfed the plains of Pharfalia in 

 the Theflaliotide, and difcharged itfelf into the Alpheus, 

 W. of LarifTa. (See Ajidano.) The Oncheftus, or 

 Onfchones, took its rife S. of Larifla, pafTed by the Palus 

 Bocbeis, and after having received the Naurus, difcharged 

 itfelf into the Pelafgic gulf, between Demetrius on the 

 left and Pagafa; on the right. The Sperchius commenced 

 S.W. in an angle which was formed by the chains of Pin- 

 dus with thofe of mount Oeta, afcended N.E., watered 

 Sperchium, turned to the E., and having pafTed Hypata, re- 

 ceived the Achelous of Theffaly, which proceeded from 

 mount Othrys, and being joined by the Lamina, difcharged 

 itfelf into the Mahac or Lamiac gulf. The country was 

 marfhy, and abounded with a variety of plants, fome of which 

 were medicinal and fanative, and others venomous and per- 

 nicious. The knowledge of their different properties 

 caufed the Thetfalians to be regarded as a clafs of for- 

 cerers, who poflcfled the art of producing fupernatural 

 cffeAs. The principal people of Theffaly were the 

 yEthices, fituated towards the N.W., whofe chief town was 

 Oxinia, near a lake that lay between fmall chains of moun- 

 tains : — the Pelagoni Tripohti, in a kind of hollow terri- 

 tory, feparated from Macedonia by a chain of mountains, 

 called Cambrunii montes ; denominated Tripolitans on ac- 

 count of their three towns, Dolicha, Pythium, and Azo- 

 rus : in the eaftem part of this territory was the Afcuris 

 palus, or mar(h Afcuri : — the Perrhsbi, lying S. of the 

 mountains which formed this territory, and extending from 

 W. to E., the N. of the Peneus :—S. of the Peneus, to- 

 wards the W., was the Eftisotis, watered by the rivers Ion 

 and Thoeus, and bounded W. and S. by mount Pmdus : 

 lis moft confiderable towns being Gomphi, Trica, Pel- 

 J-nsrum, and Pharcadon :— the Pelafgiotis, towards the E., 

 having the Peneus to the N. and commencing W. from the 

 Apidaput, which received the Enipeus, that paffed to Phar, 



THE 



fiila : the principal towns of this part of Theffaly wero> 

 Larifla, reckoned the capital of Theflaly ; Pharfala, one of 

 the largefl; and molt opulent towns, now Pliarfalia, Scotufla, 

 Crauou, &c. : — the Theflaliotis being to the S. and watered 

 by the Enipeus in the lower part of its courfe, and having 

 to the S. mount Othrys, and to the S.W. Dolopia ; its 

 principal town was MeUtaea upon the Enipeus: — the 

 Phthiolis, towards the S.E., terminating in a peninfula, 

 and watered by the Sperchius and Achelous ; its princi- 

 pal towns were Pherae, to the N. ; Thaumaci, to the W., 

 commanding one of the fineft profpefts in Greece ; Alos 

 and Lamia, towards the middle ; Phalara, at the bottom 

 of the Amaliac gulf ; in the peninfula, Thebse, Larifl"a, 

 Cremafl:a and Ecliinus : at the extremity the port of Aphe- 

 tae, and S.E. Hcraclea Trachina, the road from which 

 led to the ftraits of ThermopyU ; which fee. Magnefia was 

 feparated from the fea by mount Pelion : here were the 

 towns of Demetrias and lolcos, and S.E., on the eaftern 

 coaft, the town of Magnefia, and at the extremity of the 

 peninfula to the 8.W. the town of Antium. At the bot- 

 tom of the Pelafgiotic gulf were the'two fmall iflands of Deu- 

 calion and Pyrrha. Dolopia lay towards ^tolia, and con- 

 tained no confiderable towns. The extremity of the S.E. of 

 Magnefia was terminated by the promontory Sepias, where 

 the fleet of Xerxes was battered by a tempefl:. The town 

 of Gonnus, at the enti-ance of the valley of Tempe, was 

 the key of Theffaly on the fide of Macedonia, as the poft of 

 Thermopylae was on the fide of Phocis. See Thessalt. 



The feveral nations which we have recounted, as pro- 

 perly Theffalian, were formerly governed by kings, but 

 after various revolutions became for the moft part fubjeft 

 to an ohgarchy. The ftates and the towns were independent 

 of each other. The confederacy of the Theffalians, pro- 

 perly fo called, was the moft powerful of all, both from the 

 number of towns pertaining to it, and from the accefOon of 

 the Magnefians and Perrhaebians which were brought almoft 

 under complete fubjeftion. There were fome free cities, 

 unconnefted with any of the ftates. The Theffalians 

 could bring into the field an army of 6000 horfe and 10,000 

 infantry, exclufively of their archers, who were excellent, 

 and who from their infancy were accuftomed to draw the 

 bow. The Theffalians are faid to have been the firft who 

 managed horfes with the bit, and ufed them in battle ; and 

 hence, it is faid, originated tiie tradition that a race of crea- 

 tiu-es, called centaurs, half horfe and half man, formerly 

 exifted in Theffaly. This country produced wine, oil, and 

 fruit of different kinds. The land has been reprefented to 

 be fo rich, that the corn grew too faft, if it were not cut, 

 or flieep turned in to graze upon it. They carried on a con- 

 fiderable commerce in corn. The Theffalians, though they 

 boafted of their liberty, were the firft to reduce Greeks to 

 flavery. Amongft them they had a prodigious number of 

 flaves, known by the name of Peneftae. Thefe people are 

 very hofpitable to ftrangers, and treat them magnificently. 

 In their drefs and houfes luxury is confpicuous ; and at 

 their entertainments they hire dancing girls to amufe them. 

 They are reckoned paffionate and turbulent, and very dif- 

 ficult to be governed ; and they are reproached with infin- 

 cerity and falfehood. They have cultivated poetry from 

 their moft early ages, and pretend that Theffaly gave birth 

 to Thamyris, Orpheus, Linus, and many others who lived 

 in the heroic age ; but fince that period, they have produced 

 no writer nor any celebrated artift. They were much ad- 

 ditled to dancing ; and in fome places generals or magif- 

 trates were called chiefs of the dance. Their mufic ob- 

 ferves a medium between the Doric and Ionic, and accord- 

 ingly hannonizefi with the charafter and manners of the 

 5 country. 



