Sunium
Cape Sunium, located at the southeastern tip of Attica in eastern Greece, is a notable geographical feature that served as a landmark for Athenian sailors returning from their voyages in the Aegean Sea. The cape is historically significant for its role in maritime navigation and is mentioned in Homer's "Odyssey." It is crowned by the Temple of Poseidon, a Doric structure built around 444 BC by Pericles, which remains a prominent archaeological site today alongside the remains of a smaller temple dedicated to Athena Sounias. In ancient times, Cape Sunium was a prosperous town and a vital port for grain shipping, connecting regions such as Euboea and the Piraeus. The site also features remnants of fortifications built during the Peloponnesian War to protect against naval threats. Over the centuries, Sunium's reputation evolved, facing challenges such as pirate activity and slave revolts, which reflect the complex social dynamics of the area. Today, Cape Sunium is celebrated for its historical and cultural heritage, attracting visitors interested in ancient Greek history and architecture.
Sunium
Sounion, Cape
A precipitous headland at the southeastern extremity of Attica in eastern Greece, joined to the mainland by a low isthmus. The sight of the cape welcomed Athenian seamen returning home from their Aegean voyages, and a narrow creek on its eastern side afforded a sheltered anchorage for mariners unable to weather the promontory owing to strong westerly winds. According to Homer's Odyssey it was off Sunium that Apollo struck down Menelaus' pilot Phrontis; and the place probably contained a sanctuary of Phrontis in historic times.
The western part of Cape Sunium was crowned by a Doric temple of Poseidon built by Pericles c 444 BC near the edge of the cliff, on the foundations of a shrine that had been built shortly before 490 and was destroyed by the Persians soon afterward; and its precinct was entered by a monumental gateway (Propylaea). Some of the temple's columns have now been reerected. A low hill commanding the isthmus on the north displays the remains of a small temple of Athena Sounias, to which an Ionic colonnade was added c 460/450 along the sides of an earlier structure.
At the head of the bay stood the town of Sunium, proverbial for its prosperity in ancient times. After the battle of Salamis (480) the Athenians dedicated a captured Phoenician ship there. The harbor was a port of call for grain ships from Euboea to the Piraeus, and for their safety the entire headland was enclosed in 413—during the Peloponnesian War against Sparta—by a double fortification wall, strengthened by square towers. This acropolis-fortress was involved in third-century wars; however, the Roman comic dramatist Terence, in the second century, described the place as a haunt of pirates, while its inhabitants had a reputation for harboring and enfranchising runaway slaves. During a revolt of the slave mine workers at Laurium (104/100), Sunium was seized by a gang of slaves who devastated the neighborhood.