Iolcos

Iolcos Iωλκός
Location
Iolcos
Coordinates	39°23′N 22°59′E / 39.383°N 22.983°E / 39.383; 22.983Coordinates: 39°23′N 22°59′E / 39.383°N 22.983°E / 39.383; 22.983
Location within the regional unit
Government
Country:	Greece
Administrative region:	Thessaly
Regional unit:	Magnesia
Municipality:	Volos
Population statistics (as of 2011)[1]
Municipal unit
- Population:	2,138
- Area:	1.981 km2 (1 sq mi)
- Density:	1,079 /km2 (2,795 /sq mi)
Other
Time zone:	EET/EEST (UTC+2/3)
Elevation (center):	156 m (512 ft)
Postal code:	385 00
Telephone:	24210
Auto:	ΒΟ
Website
www.iolkos.gr

Iolcos (/aɪˈɒlkəs/; also rendered Iolkos or Iolcus, Greek: Ιωλκός) is an ancient city, a modern village and a former municipality in Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Volos, of which it is a municipal unit.^[2] It is located in central Magnesia, north of the Pagasitic Gulf. Its land area is 1.981 km². The municipal unit is divided into three communities, Agios Onoufrios (pop. 475), Anakasia (pop. 1012) and Ano Volos (pop. 651), with a total population of 2,138 (2011 census). The seat of the former municipality was the village of Ano Volos.

Mythology

Pelias sends forth Jason, in an 1879 illustration from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church.

Coin (Chalkous) of Iolcos. 4th century BC. Obverse: Head of Artemis Iolkia. Reverse: Prow of Argo, ΙΩΛΚΙΩΝ (of Iolcians).

According to ancient Greek mythology Aeson was the rightful king of Iolcos, but his half-brother Pelias usurped the throne. It was Pelias who sent Aeson's son Jason and his Argonauts to look for the Golden Fleece. The ship Argo set sail from Iolcos with a crew of fifty demigods and princes under Jason's leadership. Their mission was to reach Colchis in Aea at the eastern seaboard of the Black Sea and reclaim and bring back the Golden Fleece, a symbol of the opening of new trade routes.

Along with the Golden Fleece Jason brought a wife, the sorceress Medea, king Aeetes' daughter, granddaughter of the Sun, niece of Circe, princess of Aea, and later queen of Iolcos, Corinth and Aea, and also murderer of her brother Absyrtus and her two sons from Jason, a tragic figure whose trials and tribulations were artfully dramatized in the much staged play by Euripides, Medea.

The place of ancient Iolcos is believed to be located in modern-day nearby Dimini, where a Mycenaean palace was excavated recently .

Historical population

References