An Alphabetical Visit to Ancient Greece Quiz

Answer: River

The Acheron (in Greek: Αχέρων) nowadays is a river in Epirus, flowing from a suburb of Dodoni (Δωδωνή) to the Ionian Sea (Ιόνιο Πέλαγος). Dodoni was one of the major oracle sites in ancient Greece, and the theatre over there is worth a visit.

In Greek myth, the Acheron was the River of Woe, the entrance to the underworld, where dead souls where ferried across by Charon (Χαρων). The best known city starting with alpha is of course the present capital Athens (Ἀθῆναι). Islands starting with alpha include Aegina (Αίγινα), a few dozen kilometres south of Athens, and the mythical Atlantis (Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος). And besides the highest point of Athens, the Acropolis (Ἀκρόπολις) the ancient Greeks knew at least one other mountain starting with alpha: the Etna. Yes indeed: in ancient Greek this Italian volcano was called Αἴτνη, which is transliterated as Aitne.

Answer: Boeotia

Thebes is the largest city in the present regional unit of Boeotia (Περιφερειακή ενότητα Βοιωτίας), which more or less corresponds to the ancient Greek Boeotian league - a loose conglomeration of about a dozen city-states, including Thebes (Θῆβαι), Plataea (Πλάταια) and Chaeronea (Χαιρώνεια). At the end of the Peloponnesian War Thebes arose as a major military power, but only until the death of the famous Theban general Epaminondas ( Ἐπαμεινώνδας) in 362 BC.
According to myth, Thebes was founded by Cadmus (Κάδμος) on the site where a magnificent cow chose to lay down to rest. Cadmus thus followed the advice of an oracle. Cadmus was not only known as the mythical founder of Thebes, but also as the first to popularise the alphabet he imported from Phoenicia (Φοινίκη).
Bactria (Βακτρία) was and still is a region in Central Asia, north of the Hindu Kush mountain chain. It was conquered by Alexander the Great (Ἀλέξανδρος).
Beroea (Βέροια) was either a small town in Macedonia (now carrying the name Veria), or the big Syrian city nowadays known as Aleppo.
Baetis (Βαῖτις) was the ancient Greek name for the Spanish river now known as Guadalquivir.

Answer: Gerontia

Gioura used to be known as Gerontia (Γεροντία), which literally translates to "place of old people". This abandoned island is part of the Alonissos Marine Park. Stubborn tourists who want to visit Gioura, do so to find some kri kri goats (almost extinct wild goats) or explore the Cyclops Cave - where according to legend Odysseus ( Ὀδυσσεύς) and his crew were captured by the Cyclops Polyphemus (Πολύφημος). Odysseus and a few of his men escaped after Odysseus put a burning wooden stake in Polyphemus' only eye.
Gela (Γέλα) is a city on Sicily, founded by Greek colonists from Rhodes or Crete. The theatre author Aeschylus (Αἰσχύλος) died and was buried in this city.
Gortyn ( Γόρτυν) is a municipality on the south side of Crete, and once served as the capital of the Roman province Creta et Cyrenaica (including Crete and a coastal are of present day Libya). Gortyn gave its name to the most ancient codification of Greek law.
Gavdos (Γαύδος) is a small island belonging to the regional unit Crete (Κρήτη) and the southernmost island of Europe. On the south shore has been erected a giant chair in concrete as a symbol of the south border of Europe.

Answer: Delphi

Delphi (Δελφοί) is situated in Central Greece, a bit to the northwest of Corinth (Κόρινθος). The ruins of the ancient site are classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Close to the ruins a new settlement with the same name emerged, and tourists are welcomed in the new Delphi.
The main structure of ancient Delphi was a temple dedicated to Apollo (Απολλων), who defeated a giant snake there. Next to the temple was a sacred cave in which an elder woman sat on a tripod, inhaling toxic fumes and speaking cryptic messages. The priests of Apollo translated these utterances into the Greek poetic device of hexameters. These hinted at future events, but were mostly ambiguous. For instance when Croesus (Κροῖσος) of Lydia asked the oracle whether he should attack Persia, the answer was "when you wager war on Persia, a great empire will be destroyed". Croesus thought the oracle predicted the destruction of the Persian empire, but it was his own empire that went down the drain.
Delos (Δῆλος) is one of the many islands in the Aegean Sea. It gave its name to the Delian League, an alliance between Athens and more than hundred other city-states in the years 478 BC - 404 BC.
Damascus (Δαμασκός), today's capital of Syria, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities. It was no part of the Greek civilization until the arrival of Alexander the Great.
The Decapolis (Δεκάπολις) was a loose alliance of ten cities, mostly on the left bank of the river Jordan. Between roughly 63 BC and 106 AD, the Decapolis concentrated Greek civilization at the outskirts of the Roman Empire, in a region where Greek was not the native tongue of most people.

Answer: Epidaurus

Erymanthus (Ερύμανθος) is a quite versatile name. It can refer to a river in the regional unit Achaea (Αχαΐα), a mountain near the river, a municipality consisting of four villages near the river, all in the part of the Peloponnese peninsula that is administrated by Western Greece. Or it can also refer to an ancient city in Arcadia (Ἀρκαδία), in the centre of the same peninsula. But this ancient Arcadian city is nowadays known by the name of Psophis (Ψωφίς).
Hermione (Ἑρμιόνη) was a city in Argos, on the south shore. Alas, it was destroyed. The site is now an interesting archaeological excavation. The reason for the transliteration starting with our letter H is that this vowel was aspirated, and our letter H comes closest to this phenomenon.
Heptanese (Ἑπτάνησα) literally translates to "seven islands". Six of the major islands, including Corfu (Κέρκυρα) are in the Ionian Sea west of Epirus and Western Greece, while Cythera (Κύθηρα) is at the south tip of the Peloponnese peninsula.

Answer: Zakynthos

Zakynthos (Ζάκυνθος) is the original Greek name of the island known in English and in Italian as Zante. It is an Ionian island, one of the major islands in the Heptanese. In ancient Greece, Zakynthos was praised as a source of tar to protect ship keels from decay. The tar was scraped out of the lake nowadays known as Lake Keri. I have not found any reliable source as to the name of the lake in ancient Greek times.
Zancle (Ζάγκλη) was the original name of a city we now know as Messina. This city on Sicily was founded by Greek colonists.
Zab (Ζάβατος) is the name of two contributories of the river Tigris (Τίγρης). The Great Zab is the first to join the Tigris, and a few kilometres later the Little Zab also joins.
Zeugma (Ζεύγμα) was a city near the river Euphrates (Εὐφράτης) in the south of present-day Turkey, the place where a number of ships were tied together to create a bridge spanning the river. The city ceased to be inhabited in the Seventh Century AD, and beautiful mosaics have been excavated on site.

Answer: Epirus

Epirus (Ἤπειρος) was and still is the region in the north-western corner of Greece. During the classical age (roughly 500 BC - 400 BC) it played only a very minor role in the Greek history - the only reason any Athenian or Spartan would consider visiting Epirus, was the oracle of Dodona dedicated to Zeus. But around 300 BC, king Pyrrhus (Πύρρος) of Epirus gained fame throughout all of Greece, when he decided to wager war on Rome at the request of the Greek colony Taras (Τάρας); known to the Romans as Tarentum and to modern quiz players as Taranto. Pyrrhus even defeated the Roman legions twice, but at a heavy cost. He would have sighed "Another such victory and we're lost" (but in Greek, of course).
Elysium (Ἠλύσιον) was the mythical place in the underworld for heroes and other worthy deceased.
Elis (Ἦλις) was and still is a region in the Peloponnese peninsula, close to the site of Olympia - where the ancient Olympic Games were held.
Eridanus (Ἠριδανός) can indicate several rivers: a river (now subterranean) in Attica (Ἀττική), a former river where now the Baltic Sea is situated, or even the Italian river Po.

Answer: Thermopylae

The Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC was indeed a glorious defeat for Sparta. According to the contemporary historian Herodotus, there were about 7 000 Greeks against at least a million Persians. Although the number of a million Persians is probably a vast exaggeration, the Greeks were indeed largely outnumbered - according to modern historians probably 20 to 1. Nevertheless, the Greeks had a few advantages.
Up till the Second World War, defending troops almost always had an edge over the attackers - especially when they could pick a good defensive position. Thermopylae was such an excellent defensive position: a narrow path between steep hills on the left side (as seen by the Greeks) and the sea at the right. Moreover, part of the pass was a swamp area and part of it was protected by a strong wall. And the core of the Greek army was formed by 300 of the best Spartan warriors - the greatest heavy infantry of the time. The Persians had also to cope with the problem of too long supply lines, so they lacked many necessary resources.
After two days of battle which had caused the loss of thousands of Persian troops, a Greek traitor showed the Persian army a narrow path they could use to outflank the Greeks. And thus the remaining Greeks (including the aforesaid 300 Spartans) were massacred on the third day.
Theodosia (nowadays spelled Feodosia in Ukrainian) was and still is a regional harbour in the Crimea. The Turks call this city Kefe, and the Italians prefer the name Caffa.
Thesprotia is the present name of the Greek regional unit known in ancient times as Thesprotis (Θεσπρωτίς). It is situated in Epirus, just south to the Albanian frontier.
Thyatira (Θυάτειρα) was a city in Asia Minor. Nowadays it is called Akhisar and it lies in the western part of Turkey, some 80 km from the Aegean Sea. It was mentioned in the Book of Revelation as one of the early Christian communities.

Answer: Ithaca

Ithaca (Ἰθάκη) is an island in the Ionian Sea, to the west of the Greek mainland. It is one of the Heptanese islands (six islands in the Ionian Sea, plus one on the southeast tip of the Peloponnese peninsula). The geography of the real Ithaca does not correspond to the mythical description given by Homer and others, so perhaps the early poets confused present-day Ithaca with a neighbouring island.
According to myth, Ithaca was the home of Odysseus, the most cunning of all Greek warriors involved in the Trojan War. As an oracle predicted, Odysseus was absent for twenty years, and meanwhile dozens of male bachelors vied for the favours of Odysseus' wife Penelope. But Odysseus returned (disguised as a beggar), and he and his son Telemachus slaughtered all the suitors.
Icaria (Ἰκαρία) is a small island in the Aegean Sea, named after the mythical character Icarus who fell into the Aegean Sea near this island when the wax holding his improvised wings melted, as he flew too close to the sun. Icarian red wine is a local specialty.
Issus (Ἰσσοί) is a small community in present-day Turkey, on the coast and the Syrian border. It became world famous by the battle in which Alexander the Great defeated the Persian king Darius III.
Iolcus (Ἰωλκός) is a city in the Magnesia foothills, in the region of Thessaly. During the ancient Greek times it was a city-state of little importance, as most historians neglect to mention it.

Answer: Kalamata

What is this all about? This is after all an alphabet quiz, and now we should have arrived at K (kappa)? Well, all these place names did indeed start with kappa in the ancient Greek spelling. But some have known different transliterations.
Kalamata (Καλαμᾶται) is the harbour we were looking for. It is one of the most populated cities in the Peloponnese peninsula, located between the western and central tip of the peninsula. The city of Kalamata periodically organises an International Dance Festival, and apart from the usual museums in a large city, there is also a museum dedicated to the opera singer Maria Callas.
Gallipoli (Καλλίπολις) is a peninsula in Turkey. It was the site of a disastrous landing by British and ANZAC troops during the First World War.
Cyrene (Κυρήνη) was a Greek colony in North Africa, nowadays in Libya. One of the inhabitants is mentioned in the Bible: Simon of Cyrene helped Christ carry His cross to Golgotha.
Qazvin (Κασπία) is a city nowadays in Iran, near the Caspian Sea. Today it is best known for the Soltani Mosque (locally known as the Masjed Al-Nabi).

Answer: Lesbos

Lesbos (Λέσβος) is an island in the north of the Aegean Sea, close to the Turkish coast. In the Twenty-First Century most income of the Lesbians is from agriculture (especially olive oil), fishing, tourism, and production of ouzo. One of the main sites in Lesbos is a petrified forest, one of the very few extant examples of this geographical feature.
The best known inhabitant of Lesbos was the poetess Sappho (Σαπφώ), born around 630 BC. She died on Lesbos around 570 BC. Popular rumours state she killed herself because of an unrequited love. Around 600 BC, she was briefly exiled to Sicily, probably as part of a family meddling in local politics. Sappho's poetry was quite extensive, but only one single complete poem, the "Ode to Aphrodite", and a few fragments of other texts are preserved. Sappho is considered a love poetess, although some of the remaining fragments indicate she wrote about other subjects too.
Leucosia (Λευκωσία) is an ancient name of the Cypriot capital Nicosia.
Lipari (Λιπάρα) is an island near Sicily. A Greek colony was founded there about 580 BC.
Locris (Λοκρίς) was the name given to the plains where an eponymous tribe settled on the Greek mainland. Oddly enough there were three distinct settlements: the Ozolian Locris on the north shore of the Gulf of Corinth, and the Opuntian Locris as well as the Epicnemidian Locris on the south shore of the North Euboean Gulf. The two parts of Locis were separated by the regions Doris and Phocis.

Answer: Mycenae

Mycenae was a fortified acropolis south of Corinth during the bronze age. The archaeological remains are the Lion's Gate, an entryway to the city crowned by a colossal bas-relief of two large felines, and two cemetery circles including tombs which are said to have contained the remnants of the mythical king Agamemnon and his wife Clytemnestra.
Indeed: Mycenae is cited by Homer as the home of the great warrior king Agamemnon, who together with his brother, king Menelaus of Sparta, raised an invasion army to fight against Troy.
Marathon (Μαραθών) is the plain where the Persian army landed in 490 BC. An Athenian army claimed victory over a Persian force at least twice as large.
Massalia (Μασσαλία) is the ancient name of the French harbour Marseilles, founded as a Greek colony.
Melita (Μελίτη) is an ancient name of the island Malta, where both Greeks and Carthaginians had established a colony to support sea trade routes.

Answer: Naxos

Naxos (Νάξος) is the largest island in the Cyclades group in the southern part of the Aegean Sea. Its agricultural production is cheese and citrus fruits, while a marble quarry flourishes. Many tourists visit Naxos for the splendid beaches, while the prevailing winds encourage windsurfing and kitesurfing.
According to myth, Theseus abandoned Ariadne on the island of Naxos, where the god Dionysus fell in love with her. But before Dionysus could move on to amorous gestures, Ariadne killed herself or was taken up to heaven.
The myth of Ariadne on Naxos was the theme of an opera by Richard Strauss that had its first night in 1912. In 1987 Klaus Heymann founded the music publishing company Naxos, with a name that refers to Strauss' opera. The company Naxos specializes in classical music and jazz, but has also diversified into audio books and e-books.
The Peloponnesian port city Nafplio (Ναυπλία) was capital of Greece between 1827 and 1834, when the capital moved to Athens (Αθήνα).
Neapolis (Νεάπολις) is the ancient name of the Italian city Naples, founded as a Greek colony.
Nicaea (Νίκαια) was a Greek colony in Anatolia (nowadays Turkey). It is best known for the councils of early Christianity which agreed on the content of the creed.

Answer: Yellow

Xanthi translates literally to yellow, but it was not named after the colour. The city name is derived from one of the thousand Greek mythical ladies, this one with yellow (blonde) hair: either a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, or one of the Amazon warriors.
The origins of Xanthi are somewhere in the bronze age, but by 300 AD the town was almost deserted. A thousand years later the Turks started repopulating the area, and during the Eighteenth Century it was a centre of tobacco production. Today it is best known (other than the typical architecture) for a spring festival at the start of lent.
White is leukos (λευκός), green is chloros (χλωρός) and red is kokinos (κόκκινος) - in ancient Greek. Modern Greeks prefer prasinos (πράσινος) for green and aspro (άσπρο) for white.

Answer: Olympus

The highest peak of Greece is Mount Olympus (Όλυμπος), according to myth the home of the gods. But technically Olympus is more than one high point. It contains 52 peaks, of which the highest reaches 2 917 m. The shape of Mount Olympus (almost circular, but with many peaks and gorges between them) indicates the influence of wind and water on the landscape. Presumably Olympus rose as one single peak, but wind and water eroded deep gorges and slopes, leaving over fifty high points.
Each year tourists engage in climbing Olympus. Let's hope they don't undertake such a hike in the disdainful way the mythical hero Bellerophon did: he was convinced his place was with the gods on Mount Olympus, so he mounted his flying horse Pegasus and stormed the slopes - until Zeus sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus. Bellerophon came tumbling down and landed with his behind on a thorny bush. Ouch!
Othrys (Ὄθρυς) is a mountain range in Central Greece. Its highest peak reaches 1 726 m.
Omiroupoli (Ὁμηρούπολις) was a village on the island Chios. Since 2011 it has merged into the municipality of Chios.
The Orontes (Ὀρόντης) is a river that flows from Lebanon via Syria and Turkey to the Aegean Sea.

Answer: Patmos

Revelation 1:9 is clear: "I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ." (King James Version).
Patmos (Πάτμος) is an island in the Aegean Sea, close to the Turkish mainland. During the heyday of ancient Greece (roughly 500 - 400 BC), Patmos did not play any role of significance. The first reference in history is the quote from the book of Revelation. In later centuries Saint Christodulos founded the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian, which is inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites (as part of a larger site, including the cave where reputedly John lived to take note of his vision).
Piraeus (Πειραιεύς) is not an island, but the Athenian suburb containing the harbour.
Persepolis (Περσέπολις) is not in Greece. It once was one of the capitals of the Persian Empire, nowadays a site of remarkable ruins in Iran.
Pontus (Πόντος) is short for Pontus Euxinus (Πόντος Εύξινος), the ancient Greek name for the Black Sea.

Answer: Rhodes

Rhodes (Ῥόδος) is one of the larger Greek islands, the largest of the Dodecanese island group in the Aegean Sea. It is situated close to the Turkish mainland and was alternatively called Lindos (Λίνδος ). Capital city is Rhodes and the local airport is at Paradisi (what a nice place name to land).
After the death of Alexander the Great, several of his successors hoped to occupy Rhodes because of its strategic location. Demetrius, the son of Alexander's general Antigonus, went all out for it. Although he brought with him a vast assortment of siege engines, he could not conquer the city of Rhodes and abandoned the island after a year, leaving behind many military provisions. The Rhodians sold this booty and used the money to build a gigantic statue of the sun god Helios.
The Colossus, as it was later known, was about the same size as the present-day Statue of Liberty. At that time it was the largest free standing statue in the world known to the Greeks, and thus it was soon listed as one of the Seven World Wonders. Alas, the statue broke off at the knees in an earthquake some 54 years after its completion, and the Rhodians did not try to rebuild it.
Rhodope (Ῥοδόπη) is a mountain range in Bulgaria and northern Greece.
Rhegium (Ῥήγιον) was the Greek name for the Greek colony in Italy, nowadays known as Reggio di Calabria.
Rhamnous (Ῥαμνοῦς) was a city in Attica, facing the island of Euboea across the Euboean Strait. Nowadays it is a ruinous site near the plains of Marathon.

Answer: Samothrace

Samothrace (Σαμοθρᾴκη) is a mountainous island in the northern part of the Aegean Sea. As it had no natural harbour, it was of little historic interest during the heydays of classical Greece. But the few inhabitants had erected a shrine for the major gods, and filled it with statues. In 1863 the French archaeologist Champoiseau dug up several parts of a marble statue. He puzzled the pieces together and came up with a Hellenistic statue of a winged woman in a long flowing gown - a goddess which he identified as Nike (Νίκή), the goddess of victory.
Today Samothrace is equipped with a nice harbour. The number of goats largely exceeds the number of human inhabitants.
Seleucia (Σελεύκεια) was a major city on the river Tigris. This archaeological site can be found in present-day Iraq.
Sicania (Σικανία) was home to the Sicani, who lived in the middle part of the island of Sicily, between the habitat of the tribes of the Elymoi in the west and the Sikeloi on the east. These three tribes disappeared when the Greeks and Carthaginians started colonizing the island.
Stageira (Στάγειρα) was a city in Macedonia, in the Chalkidice peninsular region. It is best known as the birthplace of the philosopher Aristotle and most of his family members.

Answer: Taygetus

The Taygetus (Ταΰγετος) mountain range runs for about 100 km north to south, with the southern part ending on Cape Matapan (Ακρωτήριον Ταίναρον) - the middle of the three small peninsulas in the southern part of the Peloponnese. To the west lies the harbour of Kalamata (Καλαμάτα), to the east lies the modern town Sparti (Σπάρτη) on the same spot as the ancient well-known city-state Sparta. The highest peak of the Taygetus mountain range reaches 2 405 m.
Taormina (Ταυρομένιον) is a municipality on Sicily. The Greeks settled there around 734 BC.
Tevere (Τίβερις) is another name for the river Tiber, flowing through Rome.
Tyrrhenia (Τυῤῥηνία) was the Greek name for Etruria, the Italian region north of Rome (and more or less the same as the present-day region Tuscany).

Answer: Hydrama

The name Hydrama (Ὑδράμα) has been shortened to Drama (Δράμα), one of the main cities in the region. In fact the region is subdivided in six regional units, of which Drama (the regional unit) has as capital city Drama (the city once known as Hydrama). The original name refers to the fact that it is situated in a plain where there is no shortage of water. The paper mills (needing plenty of water) that were abundant up till about 2000, moved to nearby Bulgaria because of the difference in salary between Greeks and Bulgarians. Drama still has a significant tobacco industry.
The Hydaspes (Ὑδάσπης) was the Greek name for the river Jhelum in Pakistani Punjab, the border of the Macedonian Empire under Alexander the Great.
Hyccara (Ὕκκαρα) was the Greek name for a settlement on Sicily, pillaged by the Athenians in 415 BC. It is now named Carini and is a major community on the coast near Palermo.
There were several places with the ancient name of Hybla (Ὕβλα), all on the island of Sicily: one near Palermo (northwest part of Sicily), two near Syracuse (eastern shore of Sicily) and one near Ragusa (south part of Sicily). A fifth place Hybla on Sicily has not been identified with certainty.

Answer: Pharmakonisi

Pharmakonisi (Φαρμακονήσιον) literally translates to "island of poison". And as most medicines are to a certain extent poisonous, it made sense to the Greek that medicinal ingredients can be harvested on this island. Today Pharmakonisi is a small island with only a dozen inhabitants, and no tourist facilities. Most tourists who want to visit the Dodecanese spend their time on the bigger islands of Kos, Patmos or Rhodes. The Dodecanese translates to "twelve islands", but there are in fact fifteen larger and 93 small islands in this group. Pharmakonisi is one of the smallest of those, not one of the fifteen major islands.
To the ancient Greeks, Philadelphia (Φιλαδέλφεια) was a municipality across the Aegean Sea (in the present-day country of Turkey). It rose to prominence as one of the early Christian communities. Today, the ancient Philadelphia is renamed Alasehir, while another more prominent city Philadelphia is in the USA.
Phrygia (Φρυγία) was a kingdom a bit west of the centre of present-day Turkey. Two of the best-known mythical kings were Gordias (famous for the knot with which he tied his chariot) and Midas (the one with the touch of gold).
Phthiotis (Φθιῶτις) is a present-day regional unit just south of Thessaly, Greece. Its name is derived from the mythical kingdom Phthia (which did belong to Thessaly), with as best-known inhabitant Achilles.

Answer: Chalcidice

Chalcidice (Χαλκιδική) is a regional unit in the present-day region of Central Macedonia. If you look at the map of Greece, you'll find in the north a series of three small peninsulas. Two of these peninsulas together with part of the connecting mainland form the regional unit of Chalcidice, while the eastern most peninsula is the largely autonomous polity of Mount Athos. The Chalcidician economy is based on agriculture (mostly olives) and tourism.
Chania (Χανιά) is a city on the southern part of the island Crete.
Chersonese (Χερσόνησος) was a Greek colony on the Crimean peninsula, near Sebastopol, but there were also other places named Chersonese.
Chrysopolis (Χρυσόπολις), literally "the golden city", is now known as Uskudar, one of the districts of Istanbul.

Answer: Psyche

Psyche (Ψυχή) was a mortal woman, the most beautiful out of a family of three sisters. Her beauty was so renowned that even the love goddess Aphrodite envied her. So Aphrodite devised a cunning plot: she ordered her son Eros to enchant Psyche so that she would fall in love with the first man she met (and Aphrodite hoped that this man would be a good-for-nothing). Alas, Aphrodite's plot backfired, because Eros fell in love with Psyche. He visited her each night at full dark, until she lit a candle and found out who was her secret admirer. Aphrodite imposed on Psyche several hard labours, but eventually she would get permission to marry Eros and become a minor deity.
Psara (Ψαρά) is a rather small island in the Aegean Sea, containing only one village. But it was one of the first combatants in the war for Greek independence, and its flag still refers to that period in history (1821-1831 AD).
Pseira (Ψείρα) is a small island near Crete.
Pserimos (Ψέριμος) is one of the smaller islands of the Dodecanese, near the Turkish coast.

Answer: Oropus

Oropus (Ὠρωπός) is a small town on a plain near the Attican - Boeotian border. It belonged to Boeotia, but on many occasions the Athenians tried to get hold of the town. The town was known in classical Greece for the many import taxes, in so far that a comedy author thought the Oropian tax consultants were even worse than highway robbers.
Oricum (Ὠρικόν) was a town in Epirus. Nowadays it is in the southern part of Albania.
Oxus (Ὦξος) was the Greek name for the river Amu Darya in present-day Afghanistan, near the border with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Ostia (Ὠστία) was the Greek name for the ancient harbour of Rome.