by Emily Hauser
Kissos, the – One of the streams on Mount Pelion.
Kromna – Also spelt Cromna, located at modern Tekkeönü on the Black Sea coast of Turkey; mentioned by Homer in the Iliad.
Kytoros – Also spelt Cytorus, this city on the southern shore of the Black Sea (the northern coast of modern Turkey) is mentioned in Homer’s Iliad and Apollonius’ Argonautica. The harbour, with its boxwood-covered cliffs, is located at modern-day Gideros in Turkey.
Laconia – The ancient city state in the south-east of the Peloponnese (also known as Lacedaimon or Lacedaimonia), of which Sparta was the major city; home of Tyndareus, father of Castor, Pollux and Helen (later Helen of Troy).
*Lechonia – A town inland from Kaladrosos, towards Iolcos and Pagasae.
Lemnos – An Aegean island to the west of Troy.
Lesbos – A large Aegean island to the south-west of the Troad; later the birthplace of the poet Sappho.
*Makronita – A spring of natural water on the slopes of Mount Pelion above Pagasae.
Masa – A region to the north of the Hittite Empire, adjoining the shores of the Propontis (modern Sea of Marmara).
Meliboea – A town on the eastern coast of Thessaly (modern Melivoia).
Mycenae – A city in the Peloponnese, one of the largest in the ancient Greek Bronze Age world. It was ruled by King Agamemnon and was rediscovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876. The ruins of the impressive palace can be seen today. Mycenae was famous for its gold: Homer calls it ‘rich in gold’.
Ocean, the – The ancient Greeks believed that the Ocean encircled the whole world like a river around a flat disc of land. The sun and moon were thought to rise and set from the waters of the Ocean.
Olympus, Mount – A mountain in northern Greece and the home of the Olympian gods.
Olynthos – A Bronze Age city in northern Greece, on the modern peninsula of Chalkidiki located near the modern city of the same name.
Onchestos – A Bronze Age city, mentioned in Homer, in the region of Boeotia in mainland Greece. It was located in the territory of Haliartus (modern Aliartos), and was probably located around five kilometres to the east of modern Aliartos, near the basin of Lake Copais – which has now dried up, but is still recognized in the name of the plain where it was located, Kopaida.
Ossa, Mount – A mountain in northern Greece (modern Kissavos), located between Mount Olympus and Mount Pelion. The myth tells that the giants, when they rebelled against the Olympian gods in the Gigantomachy, attempted to pile Mount Pelion on top of Mount Ossa in their attempt to reach the home of the gods.
Pagasae – An ancient coastal harbour city in Thessaly. The name is recorded in Apollonius as the starting point for the Argonauts’ voyage, and it is still retained in the modern name of the Pagasetic Gulf, or Pagasitikos in Greek. Pagasae is the home of Atalanta in this book.
Pelion, Mount – A mountain in the south-eastern part of Thessaly in Greece (Pilio in modern Greek), which forms a peninsula around the Pagasetic Gulf. Mythical home of the centaur Chiron and the mountain upon which Atalanta was exposed.
Peparethos – The ancient name for the island of Skopelos, one of the Sporades in the north-west Aegean.
Phasis, the – The river, which either bordered the southern edge of Colchis or ran through its centre, according to various different ancient writers; the modern river Rioni in Georgia.
Phthia – A city state in the north of Greece, in the southernmost part of Thessaly, and home to Peleus (father of Achilles).
Pieria – A region in the north of Greece, beyond Mount Olympus; said to be the home of Orpheus and the Muses.
Propontis, the – The ancient Greek name for the Sea of Marmara, the inland sea that connects the Aegean to the west and the Black Sea to the east. The straits to its south-western end were called the Hellespont (modern Dardanelles), and to the north-east, the Bosphorus.
Pylos – The ancient kingdom of Nestor in the south-west of the Peloponnese; impressive ruins of a Bronze Age palace were discovered nearby, at modern Ano Englianos, and you can still visit them today.
Sesamos – A city on the northern Anatolian coast of the Black Sea (modern Turkey), mentioned by Homer.
Skiathos – The small island just off the tip of the promontory of Mount Pelion.
Sparta – A city in the south of the Peloponnese, ruled at Atalanta’s time by Tyndareus; later the home of Menelaus and Helen of Troy.
Styx, the – The river that formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld; to enter the Underworld the ferryman Charon had to be paid to take the dead across. It was seen as sacred by the gods: they would often swear oaths by the River Styx. Its waters were thought to confer immortality, and it is into the River Styx that Thetis dips her son Achilles in the hope of making him immortal.
*Suzona – A village in the mountains of Colchis. The name is taken from the Zan (ancient Colchian) toponym, *Sužona–.
Thessaly – A large region to the north of Greece, incorporating Mount Olympus, Mount Ossa and Mount Pelion, as well as the cities of Pagasae and Iolcos.
Thrace – The mountainous region to the north of Thessaly in Greece.
Troy – The ancient city of King Priam, situated at the north-western coast of modern Turkey beside the Hellespont (modern Dardanelles), which was besieged by the Greek forces of King Agamemnon around the twelfth century BCE. It was rediscovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1871 on the hill of Hisarlık in north-western Turkey, and its ruins can be visited today.
Underworld, the – Also called Hades, this was where the ancients believed that the spirits of the dead went to spend eternity. It was reached by crossing the River Styx in a boat ferried by Charon. There were several different parts to the Underworld: Tartarus, where the wicked were punished, the Elysian Fields, where the heroes went, and the Isles of the Blessed, the eternal paradise.
About the Author
Born in Brighton and brought up in Suffolk, Emily Hauser studied Classics at Cambridge, where she was taught by Mary Beard, and completed a PhD at Yale University. She is now a Junior Fellow at Harvard University. For the Most Beautiful – the first book in the Golden Apple trilogy – was her debut novel and retells the story of the siege of Troy. Her second, For the Winner, is a brilliant reimagining of the myth of Atalanta and the legend of Jason, the Argonauts and the search for the Golden Fleece.
To find out more, visit her website: www.emilyhauser.com
Also by Emily Hauser
FOR THE MOST BEAUTIFUL
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First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Doubleday
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Copyright © Emily Hauser 2017
Map copyright © Liane Payne
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Author’s Note
fn1 Atalanta’s participation in the quest for the Golden Fleece is disputed by some ancient authors. Pseudo-Apollodorus includes her on the list of the Argonauts (Bibliotheca 1.9.16), but Apollonius of Rhodes mentions in his epic The Argonautica that Atalanta ‘eagerly desired to follow on that quest; but [Jason] of his own accord prevented the maid, for he feared bitter strife on account of her love for Meleager’ (transl. E. V. Rieu, Argonautica 1.769–771).
fn2 One of the most striking contrasts between Apollonius’ epic and those of Homer is in Apollonius’ depiction of the gods, who become even more realistic, ordinary, almost domestic in the Argonautica – in Book 3, for example, we see Aphrodite at her dressing-table combing her hair, quarrelling with her son Cupid, and then – as a bribe – buying him a ball to keep him happy.