Erytheia

Erytheia, (in Greek Ἐρύθεια) is the name of an ancient island located in a region that was identified with the Gaditan archipelago (the present-day Bay of Cadiz). The term was used by the geographer Ephorus of Cyme and by Philistides, and referred to the fact that its first inhabitants, of Tyrian origin, said they came from the Erythrian sea.

Gaditan archipelago

Mythology

The island, first mentioned in Hesiod 's Theogony, is connected with the tenth labor of Heracles; in it he defeated Geryon and stole his cattle, protected by the two-headed dog Orthrus and Eurytion.

In another source (consisting of fragments of Stesichorus' poem Geryoneid) which deals with the same story, the island is located to the opposite side of the sources of the silver-rich Tartessos, which is most likely the Spanish Guadalquivir.

According to Apollodorus, it was Erytheia where the Giant Alcyoneus stole the sacred herd of Helios.

History

the bay of Cádiz today

Since ancient times there has been discussion about which of the islands in the Bay of Cadiz could correspond to the name of Erytheia. The existence of several islands, mentioned in ancient sources, has been confirmed by modern topographical and geological research. According to the testimony of Strabo, the first to identify the island with the Bay of Cadiz was a 5th century BC author, Pherecydes of Athens.

Pliny the Elder stated that: "On the side facing Spain, about 100 feet away, there is another long island, three miles wide, on which stood the original city of Gades."

Strabo also mentions that Gadeira was the name used by the natives to indicate the place where the Phoenicians settled (1104 BC) who founded the city of Cadiz (from the Phoenician word - "fortified") and was also the site of one of the Punic colonies.

The Guadalquivir served as a natural harbor for the Phoenicians, and here archaeologists have identified Phoenician-Punic port structures (along with ceramics, amphorae, and historic wood) dating back to the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, now buried under meters of earth and modern structures.

Huge quantities of sea snail shells were found in the remains attributed to the island, testifying to the island's thriving industrial activity for the production of the highly prized Tyrian purple dye and to the commercial importance of the Phoenician outpost in the Mediterranean. It was among the most known on the trade route, particularly for the transport of bronze. It was also a major source of tin and silver, used by the kingdom of Tartessos. The island was the last stop of the movement of the kingdom of Geryon, of which there are traces near Ambracia in Epirus, in the country of the Chaonians and according to the testimony of Hecataeus of Miletus, various traces in Italy.

In the Middle Ages, the island was called "San Pedro Island".

The island disappeared due to the exploitation of its caves and marine erosion, merging first with the nearby island of Kotinusa and later with the mainland.

The city extended from the Castle of Santa Catalina to the tip of the Nao, where the temple of Astarte or the Marine Venus was located.

Etymology

The toponym Ἐρύθεια, derives directly from the Greek adjective ἐρυθρός (erythrós), which means "red" (from which today words such as erythrocytes or Eritrea derive).

In ancient times, the association with this color was explained with various motivations.

Located at the westernmost point known at the time, the island was identified as the place where the sun sets, being ideally colored by the red.

The name could recall the colour of the coat of the famous Geryon oxen.

Modern scholars point out that the term "red" could have been an indirect reference to the Phoenicians, linked to the production of purple on the island.

The historian Pliny the Elder also attests that the indigenous population (Celto-Iberian from Andalusia) originally referred to the island with the name of Asis, while in some texts by Timaeus, it appears with the name of Aphrodisias (island of Aphrodite). This is a probable Greek translation of an earlier Phoenician temple dedicated to the goddess Astarte. It was instead called Érythia by Ephorus.

References

• Bernal Casasola, Darío; Gutiérrez López, José Manuel; et al. (2020). "The maritime landscape of Gadir/Gades (Cádiz, SW Spain): New geoarchaeological insights". Geoarchaeology. 35 (4): 455–478.
• Bernal Casasola, Darío (2015). "Gadir y el sector haliéutico fenicio-púnico: la producción de púrpura y salazones". Congreso Internacional de Estudios Fenicios y Púnicos: 112–135.