The Canadian Institute in Greece

• History & Mission
• Membership & Services
• Fieldwork & Publications
  • Active Fieldwork
  • Pre-Pub. Fieldwork
  • Completed Fieldwork
  • Publications
• News & Events
• Greece Links
• Canada Links
• Further Links

Click on any image to the right for a full-size view - hold your mouse over the image for the image caption.

Search CIG

Mytilene

Mytilene is situated in the north-eastern Aegean on the island of Lesbos, which is noted for the cultural contributions it made to the ancient Greek world, especially in the 7th and 6th centuries B.C. when it lay claim to being home to famed lyric poets Sappho and Alcaeus. Despite the ongoing interest in its literary and cultural remnants, however, the island was largely overlooked archaeologically, particularly post-Bronze Age Mytilene. Then, in 1983, a team from the Canadian Institute in Greece (CIG), led by Dr. Caroline Williams, began investigations at Mytilene. Yearly excavations were subsequently carried out until 1990 by a team from the University of British Columbia, under the directorship of Dr. Hector Williams and the auspices of CIG.

The acropolis was the focus of an initial three-week survey, since this area had not previously been studied in much detail by archaeologists despite the reuse of ancient materials (inscriptions, column drums) visible in 14th-century Genoese fortifications. The survey was undertaken in order to record these observable elements and to detect buried architectural features, such as walls and cisterns, through the use of resistivity and magnetic survey techniques. The acropolis remained the main area of interest throughout the excavations, and also the lower town (at the north harbour site) when permit allowed major excavation work from 1986 onwards. The work of the Canadian team has provided valuable information, as well as continuity to the overall picture of this site from the 6th century B.C. to the 19th century A.D.

An important ancient discovery on the acropolis was that of the large sanctuary of Demeter and Kore, found under the 14th century Genoese castle that towered over the seaward side of Mytilene. Inscriptions to Demeter helped to identify the patron divinity of the sanctuary and may also suggest a conflation of Demeter with Cybele. There are also a series of five altars within the limits of the sanctuary, comprised of a stone socle and mudbrick superstructure and dating to the Hellenistic period, and modest rooms to the west which are interpreted as dining rooms. Of special note are the late Archaic Ionic column and base fragments found in the Hellenistic fill on the acropolis, suggesting for the first time the presence of the Ionic order on Archaic Lesbos.

The main harbour of the ancient city was located on the north side of the town. A Roman peristyle building was now shown to cover Hellenistic walls and paved areas, and an Archaic wall level below. The building, which went out of use in the 4th century A.D., is now understood through finds and its drainage system to have had a much longer history than previously believed, possibly dating its first construction to the 1st century A.D. Erotic scenes decorating lamps, together with an abundance of eating and drinking vessels, has suggested the building's function to have been a brothel or tavern.

Select Bibliography

• Williams, E.H., in Echos du monde classique/Classical Views (1984) 169-86; (1985) 225-34; (1986) 141-54; (1987) 247-62; (1988) 135-49; (1989) 167-81; (1990) 183-201; (1991) 175-91; (1995) 95-100.

Go to top of page