Orchomene
Orchomène (in Greek old Ὀρχόμενος / Orkhómenos ) is the name of several quoted Greek, and in particular of a city of Béotie, in the north of the plain of the Copaïs, apparently the principal city béotienne until the moment when it was eclipsed by Thèbes.
The site, inhabited as of the Neolithic time , became particularly important during the time mycénienne, where chiefs were buried in a splendid tomb, known under the name of Trésor of Minyas when Pausanias visited it at the 2nd century.
The richness of Orchomène was proverbial. In the legend, it was associated with the Minyens (IL.II, 511). It was suggested that its richness came from the fertility of the plain of Copaïs, after the drainage of the lake, and that its decline is evoked in a myth: Héraclès, hero of the rival city of Thèbes, destroyed the system of drainage and flooded the plain.
Orchomene was the seat of a worship of the Charites as old as famous.
The city was destroyed by a confederation of béotiennes cities in 364 av. J. - C. and then rebuilt by Philippe II of Macedonia.
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