Locrians
The Locrians lived on the mainland opposite the holy island of Euboea (Iliad, 2.535). The men that went to Troy were not equipped for close combat. They did not have helmets, shields or spears. Instead, they fought from behind the lines of well-armed warriors with bows, arrows and slings. “They shot thick and fast.” They threw the Trojans into confusion (Iliad, 13.712-722). Their leader was Ajax, son of Oïleus, far less a warrior than Ajax, son of Telamon, but good with the spear (Iliad, 2.527-530). He led a fleet of 40 ships. He was not particularly heroic in the poem (Iliad, 23.449-498), and on his return from Troy was drowned by Poseidon (Odyssey, 4.499-511). The exact location of the nine Locrian settlements listed in the Catalogue is not always certain or known.
Cynus
Cynus (Kynos) (Iliad, 2.531) was situated on a low hill, looking east from the shore of the North Eubean Gulf. Its other names are Pyrgos after the ruined tower on top, Loutro and Pati. It is about two kilometres north-east of modern Livanates. It provided the main port of Eastern Locris. Where this port was exactly is uncertain - the rocks at the foot of the hill are suggestive of an ancient harbour. Archaeological evidence has demonstrated habitation from the Neolithic Age to the Byzantine Age. Many items from the Late Bronze Age are now in the Archaeological Museum of Atalanti. These include the "Cynus ship" dating from the 12th century B.C., illustrated on the Catalogue of Ships entry page. There are abundant sherds to be seen on the hill, despite the grass and bushes, and on the seashore. The extensive modern excavations are protected by a roof that does not obstruct viewing, and there is an information board - a rare feature of a site in the Catalogue of Ships. Ancient sources are almost unanimous in ascribng the name Cynus to this hill near Livanates.
Locations: 38°43'25"N 23°3'45"E (geo marker on ruined tower on top of hill), 38°42'41.9"N 23°02'55.8"E (Livanates), 38°39'12.2"N 22°59'50.5"E (Archaeological Museum of Atalanti).
Opoeis
The whereabouts of Opoeis (Iliad, 2.531) are uncertain. It was the most important of the towns in Locris: it was where Patroclus was born (Iliad, 23.85). Its port city was Cynus (Strabo 9.4.2). It was on the road to Phocis. The ancient sources are otherwise of litte help. The Archaeological Collection of Atalanti considers its city "may be identified as ancient Opous". Most archaeologists agree, though the evidence is scant, having been obliterated by the modern town. No remains earlier than Early Iron Age have been found. Another suggested site has been an acropolis at Kastraki (or Kokkinovrachos), about 9 kilometres south-east of Atalanti on a mountain above Kiparissi where there are some ruins of polygonal walling. The inaccessibility of this site from the fertile fields below, however, (I was unable to get to the top), make it more likely to have been a refuge than a settlement. The location of Homeric Opoeis remains an open question.
Locations: 38°39'12.9"N 22°59'52.4"E (Atalanti), 38°37'50.6"N 23°04'44.5"E (Kiparissi), 38°37'32.0"N 23°05'07.0"E (Kastraki, or Kokkinovrachos, on a hill above Kiparissi).
Calliarus
The location of Calliarus (Kalliaros) (Iliad, 2.531) is unknown. Strabo said it was "no longer inhabited" in his day and was "now a beautifully-tilled plain" (9.4.5), presumably somewhere in the Atalanti plain. (Strabo's text is corrupted at this place.) Stephanus of Byzantium had little to add: it was "near a pleasant place", which could mean many a place in Locris. One location proposed has been at Skala, about six kilometres east of Atalanti where some Bronze Age sherds were found on a mound by the seashore. Mycenaean sherds have been found elsewhere, however. Certainty about Calliarus is impossible.
Bessa
The Homeric Bessa (Iliad, 2.532) fares no better. Strabo wrote, "Bessa, too, does not exist; it is a wooded place" (9.4.5). In recent years one proposed location has been an acropolis known as Roustiana about six kilometres north-west of Livanates. The archaeologist, Fanouria Dakoronia, found Mycenaean sherds strewn about. She suggested that the site, "mountainous and woody", could have been the location of Bessa ("Homeric Towns in East Lokris," Hesperia, 1993, p.126). The Homeric Bessa remains to be definitively located.
Scarphe
The Homeric Scarphe (Iliad, 2.532) was somewhere near the modern village of Skarfia. Strabo gave a good indication: "ten stadia above the sea, thirty stadia distant from Thronium, and slightly less from the harbor itself" (9.4.4). This has enabled archaeologists to identify one possible site, Trochala, a hill 110 metres above the plain before the Malian Gulf. From aerial imagery the site looks as if it is encircled by a wall. The circular outline, however, is of cypress trees. In the middle are olive trees. Many sherds lie on the ground: thick, heavy, some shaped, dates undetermined. They extend down the slope towards the road to a higher hill (200 metres) some 700 metres south-east, with a level grassed area (an acropolis?), formerly ploughed, with occasional bushes. There are no remnants of walls on either site. From the higher hill there are extensive views over the plain and the town of Molos and the distant village of Skarfia. The area clearly was once a substantial settlement, but whether it was the Homeric Scarphe is not known for certain.
Locations: 38°48'39.8"N 22°40'58.5"E (Skarfia), 38°47'51.1"N 22°38'37.4"E (Trochala), 38°47'33.0"N 22°38'56.0"E (hill above Trochala).
Augeiae
The location of “lovely Augeiae” (Iliad, 2.532) is unknown. There is a "lovely Augeiae" in Lakedaimon (Iliad, 2.583), but in the case of "the Augeiae in Locris, it no longer exists at all" (Strabo, 8.5.3); its "territory is held by the Scarphians" (9.4.5, the text is uncertain at this point). We do not know where precisely it used to be. We can only speculate it may have existed somewhere in the territory around Skarfia seen in the panorama shot for Scarphe above.
Tarphe
The location of Tarphe (Iliad, 2.533) is conjectural. Strabo wrote that "Tarphe is situated on a height, at a distance of twenty stadia from Thronium; its territory is both fruitful and well-wooded, for already this place had been named from its being thickly wooded. But it is now called Pharygae; and here is situated a sanctuary of Pharygaean Hera" (9.4.6, a passage not free from textual corruption). William Leake (1835) associated Tarphe with the medieval town of Pundonítza [Boudonitza] above the village of Mendenitsa. This site "from its strength, its fertile plain, and the relative importance and convenience of its position, is more likely than any other to have preserved its inhabitants then, as it does to this day. Its territory perfectly corresponds to the well-wooded and productive district which Strabo ascribes to Tarphe." (v. 2, p.179) Mendenitsa Castle, as it is now known, was built in 1204 on the ruins of an unidentified city. According to Hope Simpson, "No evidence of prehistoric habitation here has yet been found." The official information at the site states, by contrast, that excavations had revealed occupation since the Early Bronze Age, that it had been associated with Homeric Tarphe, the Hellenistic city of Pharygae, and by others with Homeric Augeiae. There is no certainty on the point. From where the castle walls once stood, there are magnificent views over wooded hills, the plain below and the Malian Gulf beyond.
Location: 38°45'10"N 22°36'56"E (the tower of Mendenitsa Castle)