ANCIENT PHTHIA & MODERN PHARSALUS: LIVES PARALLEL OR OPPOSITE?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14795/jaha.12.1.2025.1208Keywords:
Phthia, Pharsalus, Peleus, Achilles, palaceAbstract
The ancient cultural heritage and by extension archaeology, play a significant role in shaping the image of Greece, even today. Numerous archaeological sites of great importance remain either undiscovered or unexcavated in the present, one of which is the palace of ancient Phthia. The palace of Peleus and his son, Achilles, form a puzzle for highly skilled solvers concerning its precise location. The paper attempts to identify ancient Phthia with the current town of Pharsalus within a holistic framework, taking into account ancient sources, updated sources from travelers, as well as archaeological data. The discovery of the palace, along with the mythological influence of father and son, has the potential to reshape the perception of the ancient Phthia kingdom in central Greece as a destination for archaeological tourism.
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