Crissa

Crissa or Krissa or Crisa or Krisa was a town in ancient Phocis. Crissa was regarded as one of the most ancient cities in Greece. It was situated inland a little southwest of Delphi, at the southern end of a projecting spur of Mount Parnassus. It is mentioned in the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad as the "divine Crissa" . According to the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, it was founded by a colony of Cretans, who were led to the spot by Apollo himself, and whom the god had chosen to be his priests in the sanctuary which he had intended to establish at Pytho. In this hymn, Crissa is described as situated under Parnassus, where no chariots rolled, and no trampling of horses was heard, a description suitable to the site of Crissa upon the rocks. In like manner, Nonnus, following the description of the ancient epic poets, speaks of Crissa as surrounded by rocks. Moreover, the statement of Pindar, that the road to Delphi from the Hippodrome on the coast led over the Crissaean hill, leaves no doubt of the true position of Crissa, since the road from the plain to Delphi must pass by the projecting spur of Parnassus on which the modern village of Chrisso stands. In the Homeric hymn to Apollo, Crissa appears as a powerful place, possessing as its territory the rich plain stretching down to the sea, and also the adjoining sanctuary of Pytho itself, which had not yet become a separate town. In fact, Crissa is in this hymn identified with Delphi. Even in Pindar, the name of Crissa is used as synonymous with Delphi, just as Pisa occurs in the poets as equivalent to Olympia. Metapontium in Magna Graecia is said to have been a colony of Crissa.

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