Abydos (Hellespont) 2.11

Abydos or Abydus, was an ancient city and bishopric in Mysia in Asia Minor. It was located on the coast of the Hellespont.In Greek mythology, Abydos is presented in the myth of Hero and Leander as the home of Leander. The city is also mentioned in Rodanthe and Dosikles, a novel written by Theodore Prodromos, a 12th century writer, in which Dosikles kidnaps Rodanthe at Abydos.HistoryClassical periodAbydos is mentioned in the Iliad as a Trojan ally, and, according to Strabo, was occupied by Thracians after the Trojan War. Abydos was settled by Milesian colonists contemporaneously with the foundation of the cities of Priapos and Prokonnesos in c. 670 BC. Strabo related that Gyges, King of Lydia granted his consent to the Milesians to settle Abydos. Abydos was ruled by Daphnis, a pro-Persian tyrant, in the 520s, but was occupied by the Persian Empire in 514. Darius I destroyed the city following his Scythian campaign in 512. In 480, at the onset of the Second Persian invasion of Greece, Xerxes I and the Persian army passed through Abydos on its march to Greece.