Extract

The second most powerful *polis of *Lesbos, on the NW coast; birthplace of the poet *Arion(2). The earliest finds are geometric; later remains include an Archaic street, a theatre-like building, an aqueduct tower, cemeteries, and a harbour mole. Its limited arable was increased by the incorporation of *Arisbe (2) and the Kalloni plain in the Archaic period; cult sites at Klopedi and Mesa may have lain within its territory. It had important sanctuaries of *Apollo and *Dionysus, and its wine was esteemed.Methymna's independent history is dominated by rivalry with *Mytilene. It did not back the Mytilenean Revolt in 428, but broke with Athens after the Sicilian expedition. The Spartans resisted *Thrasybulus' attempt to recapture Methymna; later it joined the *Second Athenian Confederacy. After the *Social War (1) it endured tyrannies and was briefly held by Persia before *Alexander(3) the Great freed Lesbos.