A Cave of the Nymphs on Mount Ossa

Abstract

On the north-west side of the great central cone of Mount Ossa a wide fissure runs right across the mountain from Mega Keserlì to Tságezi. On the south side of this fissure and at the base of the central cone lies the village of Spiliá, which is to be distinguished from another village of the same name near Laspochori at the eastern entrance to Tempe. To the north of the fissure rises a peak known as Pláka, which is the part of Ossa that directly overhangs Tempe. A little below the bare rocky summit of this peak, which rises to a height of at least 3,500 feet, and on its south side about an hour's walk from Spiliá, is a cave, which, though long known to the inhabitants of the district, has never before been visited by archaeologists.

Going to See the Nymphs: Landscape and Religious Experience at the Zar Trypa Cave (Mount Ossa, Thessaly)

“…Thompson (together with H.A. Ormerod and their local guide K. Phrangopoulos), who published a brief description of the cave and its votive inscriptions (Wace and Thompson 1909). This account provides as yet the most detailed record of the epigraphic remains from the site, especially when read together with additional notes and drawings in A.J.B.…”

“…While Wace and Thompson did not record any objects other than the inscriptions and ‘a few vase fragments of uncertain date’ (Wace and Thompson 1909, 244), Arvanitopoulos’ excavation uncovered a range of small finds: fragments of pottery (dated by the excavator to the fourth and third centuries BC), pieces of bronze fibulae, fragments of figurines, a Thessalian bronze coin of Antonine date and a bronze ring with a depiction of Eros holding a bow 25 . Unfortunately, Arvanitopoulos’ brief report does not specify the approximate findspots of these objects, and their current whereabouts are unknown.…”

“…In comparison to the small finds, the inscribed monuments from the Zar Trypa cave are comparatively well recorded. Wace and Thompson described fragments of one inscribed rectangular base and seven marble stelai, 27 to which two additional fragments were added during Arvanitopoulos’ excavation (Wace and Thompson 1909, 247). Only one of these monuments – McDevitt 647, mentioned at the beginning of this paper – could so far be located in the storerooms of the Archaeological Museum of Larisa.…”

“…The stelai were worked with ‘roots’ to set them into a base or the bedrock and with the exception of two pedimental stelai were flat-topped – a common type in Late Classical and Hellenistic north-eastern Thessaly 31 . On discovery, at least two of the monuments still bore slight traces of paint (Wace and Thompson 1909, 244).

Fig.

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“…Both conclusions become even more apparent when the material of the stelai and bases is taken into account. According to Wace and Thompson (1909, 244–6), all eight inscribed monuments were carved in marble, probably a grey marble similar to the material used for the surviving stele in the Archaeological Museum of Larisa. The exact provenance of this material is uncertain, but the nearest possible extraction sites known to have been exploited in antiquity lie in the north-western foothills of Mount Ossa and in the Tempe valley 35 .…”