Boeotia!
Boeotia provided the largest number of leaders, places and fighters: Iliad Book 2, lines 496 to 508. Perhaps that is why they were listed first. Strangely, however, the Boeotians played only a minor role in the poem. They came from 29 cities or places. They provided fifty ships. On board each ship were 120 men according to the poet (2.510). The leaders were Leïtus, Peneleos, Arcesilaus, Prothoenor and Clonius. Significant Mycenaean places in Boeotia do not appear in the Catalogue, like the fortress of Gla in Lake Copais. Some of these are included at the end of the poem's list of places.
Hyria - Dramesi
The location of Hyria is uncertain. Strabo said it was "near Aulis" (9.2.12). Pausanias didn't mention it. A few possibilities have been proposed. One is at Pyrgos, a low hill above the village of Dramesi (now Paralia Avlidos) near the coast about 7 kilometres from Aulis. There is a chapel Ayia Paraskevi on its slope. In 1945 unauthorised excavations uncovered a stone pillar with carvings of three ships on it. This is on display in the Archaeological Museum of Schimatari. It was examined by the archaeologist, Carl W. Blegen, in 1946. He suggested it was a monument for the leader of the Hyrian contingent to Troy. Accordingly, he placed Homeric Hyria here.
Location: 38°23'03.5"N 23°37'35.6"E
Hyria - Glypha Hill
Another possibility is the hill of Tseleroni, also known as Glypha or Vlicha, near Chalkis, about 3 kilometres from Aulis. Stephanos of Byzantium remarked that Hyria was on the Euripos, as this hill indeed is. Prehistoric remains have been found on the site. The archaeologist, John M. Fossey, placed Homeric Hyria here.
Location: 38°27'17.3"N 23°34'04.3"E
Aulis - Mikro Vathy
There are two harbours near the ancient village of Aulis. One was a deep harbour now called Megalo Vathi, the site of the Chalkis Shipyards, and a smaller harbour 2 km north, now called Mikro Vathi, which has a cement factory on its northern shore. Close to its southern shore was a 5th century BC Temple of Artemis and a spring, These were discovered in 1941. Strabo visited the two harbours. He considered the smaller one was only large enough for 50 ships, and therefore supposed the ships of the Achaeans were stationed at the larger harbour (9.2.8). He may have overestimated the size of Mycenaean ships, however, for there would have been room for many more such ships on the shores of Mikro Vathy. Pausanias also visited the site. He saw in the temple statues and the remains of the plane tree mentioned by Homer (2.307), and the spring by which the plane tree grew, and on a hill nearby the bronze threshold of Agamemnon's tent (9.19.7). Recent geoarchaeologuical reasarch has established that Mikro Vathy was much larger in antiquity than it is today. It extended south into a shallow cove or open lagoon. This area is now covered with olive trees. The bay and the lagoon would have provided ships with good protection from strong winds and currents.
Locations: 38°26'14.4"N 23°35'38.8"E (Mikro Vathy), 38°26'00.1"N 23°35'32.9"E (the Temple), 38°25'59.6"N 23°35'33.7"E (the spring)
Eteonus
The location of Eteonus "with its many ridges" (Homer, Iliad 2.497) is not known. Strabo did not know. He noted: "The name of Eteonus was changed to that of Scarphe, which belongs to Parasopia" (9.2.24). Pausanias never mentioned it.
Schoenus
Strabo placed Schoenus (or Schoinos) about 10 km from Thebes along the road to Anthedon, with a river of the same name passing through it (9.2.22). This has led scholars to the modern village of Mouriki. Above this village is an acropolis, a flat area with a small church, Ayios Ilias (Prophet Elias). Modern construction has completely obliterated any ancient remains. The river Schoenus once flowed about 500 metres south of Mouriki. It is now dry. It flowed into Lake Yliki (Hyliki). No archaeological evidence has been found in the area earlier than 700 BC, so whether the acropolis or village are the Homeric Schoenus is open to question.
Locations: 38°25'27.0"N 23°21'26.2"E (Mouriki), 38°25'24.0"N 23°20'51.3"E (River Schoenus, where video was taken, on road to the waterworks), 38°25'39.3"N 23°21'44.2"E"E (Prophet Elias Church)
Scolus
The whereabouts of the village of Scolus (or Skolos), mentioned in the Catalogue of Ships (2.497), by Strabo (9.2.23) and Pausanias (9.4.4), are not precisely known. However, scholars have identified the mountain of the same name, known to some in Thiva 7 km to the west, as "the mountain of the gods". It is a very arduous climb to the summit from the fields below. It matches Strabo's description as "a place that is rugged and hardly habitable; whence the proverb, ‘neither go to Scolus thyself nor follow another thither’." The inhabitants probably lived closer to their fields, near Neochoraki, and went up to the mountain for worship or refuge. Mycenaean pottery has been uncovered on the mountain, and Mycenaean tombs have been found in the area.
Location: 38°19'4" N 23°24'14" E (summit marker)
Thespeia
Ancient Thespeia (2.498) lay beneath the modern village of Thespies and in the fields below. The archaeologist John Fossey wrote in 1988: "There can be no site in Boiotia more depressing than Thespiai, not in itself but on account of the inexcusable destruction wrought there by Jamot in the years 1888-1891, for he completely dismantled the fortifications which had survived well until his day.” (Topography and Population of Ancient Boiotia, vol. 1, p. 135) Mycenaean sherds have been found in the area. Later inscriptions confirm it was the site of ancient Thespaia. But there is nothing to be seen today.
Locations: 38°18'14.9"N 23°09'10.8"E (Archaeological Museum of Thespies), 38°17'37.7"N 23°09'05.6"E (field 500 metres south of Thespies)
Graea
Several proposals have been made for the location of Graea (or Graia, Greia) listed in the Catalogue (2.498): a site near Skala Oropou, a mound near Skala Oropou, modern Tanagra and Ancient Tanagra, and Dramesi/Paralia Avlidos (= Hyrie). There is nothing to be seen at the site, now built over, near Skala Oropou. Nor at the mound about a kilometre east of Nea Palatia, a suburb of Skala Oropou, which is now covered with olive trees. Modern Tanagra is a modern village with a museum. Ancient Tanagra has the remnants of a gate and the shape of a theatre both of which post-date Homer. Many Mycenaean graves have been found in the area. The beach of Skala Oropou looks across to Eritrea on Euboea.
Locations: 38°19'21.4"N 23°47'01.7"E (Skala Oropou), 38°19'07.3"N 23°47'01.7"E (Skala Oropou property), 38°18'56.6"N 23°48'26.8"E (Skala Oropou mound), 38°19'38.0"N 23°32'13.0"E (Modern Tanagra), 38°18'28.5"N 23°35'00.4"E (Ancient Tanagra), 38°18'21.4"N 23°35'05.7"E (Ancient Tanagra theatre gate), 38°23'04.0"N 23°37'38.4"E (Dramesi/Paralia Avlidos)
Mycalessus
The location of "spacious Mycalessus" (Mykalessos) (2.498), and identified by scholars, is about 500 metres south-west of the locality of Ritsona, and 300 metres from the Thebes-Chalcis (Thivas-Chalkidas) road. Strabo mentioned it: "It is situated on the road that leads from Thebes to Chalcis; and in the Boeotian dialect it is called Mycalettus.” (9.2.11) It is barely recognisable from the road. There is no signpost. There is a modern pumping shed over a spring about 100 metres south-east of the site. Vineyards grow around. Mycenaean sherds have been revealed by ploughing. Old rocks, remnants of a wall perhaps, are visible. None looks fashioned. Much of the site is covered in bushes.
Location: 38°24'23"N 23°31'8"E
Harma
The location of Harma (2.499) was on the Thebes-Chalcis (Thivas-Chalkidas) road near Mycalessus (Mykalessos) according to Strabo and Pausanias. It was a deserted village in Strabo's day (9.2.11) and in ruins in Pausanias's (9.19.4). One possible site is a 290-metre hill one kilometre north of the Thebes-Chalcis road, and about three kilometres north-east of Mycalessus. Some scholars seem to describe a location, not precisely given, that differs from that on this hill, for example: "The summit, at the south end of the hill is enclosed by a wall of polygonal masonry" (Hope Simpson) which was not seen. The summit is mostly covered in scrub. The modern town called Harma is three kilometres south of the Thebes-Chalcis road, and seven kilometres south-west of Mycalessus. It is not on the Thebes-Chalcis road.
Locations: 38°23'18" N 23°29'14" E (hill near Thebes-Chalcis road), 38°21'05.1"N 23°29'08.8"E (modern Harma)
Eilesium
The location of Eilesium (or Eilesion) (Homer, Iliad 2.499) is not known. Neither Strabo nor Pausanias knew where it was. Strabo speculated it had been close to marshes, based on the name's etymology “hele” = “marsh” (9.2.17). It may have been close to Lake Kopais, now drained and fertile fields.