Myndus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Myndos' Rabbit Island in modern Gümüslük.
Myndos' Rabbit Island in modern Gümüslük.

Myndus or Myndos was an ancient Greek city of Caria in Asia Minor, built on the Bodrum Peninsula, and is the sight of modern Gümüslük, Turkey.

Once the cynic philosopher Diogenes of Sinope visited Myndos and upon noticing how large the city gates were relative to the town, he cynically said; "Oh men of Myndos, I urge you to shut the city gates, as your town might exit from these!"

In V.33, Herodotus relates the story of how a captain from Myndus, Scylax, was found to have left no guards on his ship while a Persian force was preparing to attack the island of Naxos. The Persian commander, Megabates, flew into a rage and had him put in stocks, at which point Aristagoras, a tyrant from Miletus helping several Naxian oligarchs to retake Naxos, discovered what had happened to his guest-friend Scylax. Pleading with Megabates to no avail for Scylax, he released him anyway, incurring the Persian commander's wrath. The consequence of this falling out was that, according to Herodotus, Megabates warned the Naxians of what was afoot, ruining the expedition and in turn Aristagoras who, with nowhere to go, stirred up the Ionian Revolt. This is a classic example of Ionian αταξιη (lack of discipline, disorder, licentiousness), a charge commonly levelled at them, especially in the 5th century by Athens.