Megara
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Megara is an ancient city (pop. 28,591 in 2011) in Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken by Athens. Megara was one of the four districts of Attica, embodied in the four mythic sons of King Pandion II, of whom Nisos was the ruler of Megara. Megara was also a trade port, its people using their ships and wealth as a way to gain leverage on armies of neighboring poleis. Megara specialized in the exportation of wool and other animal products including livestock such as horses. It possessed two harbors, Pegae, to the west on the Corinthian Gulf and Nisaea, to the east on the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea.
Notable people
- Orsippus (8th century BC), runner
- Byzas (7th century BC), founder of Byzantium
- Theognis (6th century BC), elegiac poet
- Eupalinos (6th century BC), engineer who built the Tunnel of Eupalinos on Samos
- Theagenes (c. 600 BC), Tyrant of Megara
- Euclid (c. 400 BC), founder of the Megarian school of philosophy
- Stilpo (c. 325 BC), philosopher of the Megarian school
- Teles (3rd century BC), cynic philosopher.
See also
