Quick Facts
- Also spelled:
- Deceleia
- Related Places:
- Attica
- Greece
- ancient Greece
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Decelea
ancient city, Greece
Also known as: Deceleia
Decelea, in ancient Greece, an Attic deme (township) on the east end of Mount Párnis overlooking the Athenian plain. Its traditional friendship with Sparta is traced to the legend of Decelus, the hero for whom the deme was named. Decelus indicated to the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux) where Theseus had hidden their sister Helen at Aphidnae. During the later years of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 bce) the Spartans fortified themselves at Decelea, using it as a base to harass the Athenians, encourage sedition, and cut them off from the port of Oropus and their silver mines at Laurium.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.
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