Thermal Springs

A specific cult of Agamemnon is mentioned by Pausanias (7.5.11) at the baths of Klazomenai, with the scholiast Robert Manuel Cook clarifying in 1958-1959 that they are most likely those found in the territory of Smyrna. These baths have been identified with those located at Inciraltı/Balçova, a site closer to Smyrna than Klazomenai. They are almost certainly the same as the hot springs mentioned by Strabo (14.1.36) between Klazomenai and Smyrna and those specifically called “of Agamemnon” in other sources, including Flavius Philostratus (On Heroes 23.30) and Agathias Scholasticus (Greek Anthology 9.631).

[7.5.10] Ionia has other things to record besides its sanctuaries and climate. There is, for instance, in the land of the Ephesians the river Cenchrius, the strange mountain of Pion and the spring Halitaea. The land of Miletus has the spring Biblis, of whose love the poets have sung. In the land of Colophon is the grove of Apollo, of ash trees, and not far from the grove is the river Ales, the coldest river in Ionia.

[7.5.11] In the land of Lebedus are baths, which are both wonderful and useful. Teos, too, has baths at Cape Macria, some in the clefts of the rock, filled by the tide, others made to display wealth. The Klazomenians have baths (incidentally, they worship Agamemnon) and a cave called the cave of the mother of Pyrrhus; they tell a legend about Pyrrhus, the shepherd.

[7.5.12] The Erythraeans have a district called Calchis, from which their third tribe takes its name, and in Calchis is a cape stretching into the sea, and on it are sea baths, the most useful baths in Ionia. The Smyrnaeans have the river Meles, with its lovely water; at its springs is the grotto, where they say Homer composed his poems.

[7.5.13] One of the sights of Chios is the grave of Oenopion, about whose exploits they tell certain legends. The Samians have on the road to the Heraeum the tomb of Rhadine and Leontichus, and those who are crossed in love are wont to go to the tomb and pray. Ionia, in fact, is a land of wonders that are but little inferior to those of Greece.

Greek Geographer and Historian Strabo (c. 64/63 B.C. – 24 A.D.) – Geography 14.1.36-37

[14.1.36] After the Hypocremnus is Chytrium, where Klazomenae note formerly stood; then, the present city has eight small islands in front, the land cultivated by husbandmen. Anaxagoras, the natural philosopher, was a distinguished Klazomenian; he was a disciple of Anaximenes the Milesian and master of Archelaus, the natural philosopher, and of Euripides the poet. Next is a temple of Apollo and hot springs, the bay of Smyrna, and the city Smyrna. 

[14.1.37] Next is another bay, on which the ancient Smyrna is situated, at a distance of 20 stadia from the present city. After the Lydians razed Smyrna, the inhabitants lived in villages for about four hundred years. It was then restored by Antigonus and afterwards by Lysimachus, and at present, it is the most beautiful city in Ionia. One portion of Smyrna is built up on a hill, but the greater part is in the plain near the harbour, the Metroum, and the Gymnasium. The division of the streets is excellent and as nearly as possible in straight lines. There are paved roads and large quadrangular porticos, both on a level with the ground and with an upper story. There is also a library and the Homereium, a quadrangular portico, which has a temple of Homer and a statue. The Smyrnaeans, above all others, urge the claims of their city to be the birthplace of Homer, and they have a sort of brass money called Homereium. The river Meles flows near the walls. Besides other conveniences with which the city is furnished, there is a close harbour. There is one, and not a trifling, defect in the work of the architects, that when they paved the roads, they did not make drains beneath them; the filth consequently lies on the surface, and, during rains particularly, the receptacles of the filth spread it over the streets.

Greek sophist Lucius Flavius Philostratus (c. 170-240 A.D.) – On Heroes 23.30

[23.29] Not even Hiera, my guest, won the praise of Homer, who did not introduce this divine woman into his own works because he favoured Helen. Even the Achaeans are said to have been afflicted with a passion for Hiera when she fell in battle, and the elders commanded the young soldiers neither to despoil Hiera nor to touch her as she lay dead. [23.30] In this battle, my guest, many Achaeans were wounded, and an oracle prescribed baths for them, namely, the hot springs in Ionia, which even today Smyrna, forty stades from the city, and the captured Mysian helmets were once hung up there.

Greek Poet and Historian Agathias Scholasticus (c. 530-582 A.D.) – Greek Anthology, Declamatory & Descriptive Epigrams 9.631

On the Hot Baths of Agamemnon near Smyrna, I am a place beloved by the Danai, coming to which they forgot the art of Podalirius. After the battle, they healed their wounds in my stream, expelling the poison of the barbarian spear. Hence I grew great and came to bear a roof, and as a token of fame received the name of Agamemnon.