# Engyon

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{{Short description|Ancient Greek town in Sicily}}
'''Engyon''' ([Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek): {{lang|grc|Ἒγγυον}}; {{langx|la|Engium}}; {{langx|el|Ἐγγύον}} in some [Byzantine](/source/Byzantine_Greek) texts of [Ptolemy](/source/Ptolemy) and [Plutarch](/source/Plutarch))<ref>[Ptolemy](/source/Ptolemy), ''Klaudiou Ptolemaiou Geographike hyphegesis'', Volume 1, trans. [Karl Wilhelm Ludwig Müller](/source/Karl_Wilhelm_Ludwig_M%C3%BCller) ([Alfred Firmin Didot](/source/Didot_family), Paris: 1883), p. 405</ref> is an ancient town of the interior of [Magna Graecia](/source/Magna_Graecia) in [Sicily](/source/Sicily), a [Cretan](/source/Crete) colony, according to [Diodorus Siculus](/source/Diodorus_Siculus) and famous for an ancient temple of the [Magna Mater](/source/Magna_Mater) (Mother [Rhea](/source/Rhea_(mythology)))<ref name="OldfatherNote">''Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation'' by [C. H. Oldfather](/source/Charles_Henry_Oldfather). Vol. 4. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1889, Note 173, available at:[https://www.theoi.com/Text/DiodorusSiculus4D.html], accessed 24 June 2015.</ref> imported from Crete, which aroused the greed of [Verres](/source/Verres).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} It took its name from a spring that arose in the land chosen by the colonists, as explained in the following excerpt from Diodorus:

{{blockquote|οὐ μὴν ἀλλ᾽ οἱ κατὰ τὴν Σικελίαν Κρῆτες μετὰ τὴν Μίνωος τελευτὴν ἐστασίασαν διὰ τὴν ἀναρχίαν, τῶν δὲ νεῶν ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ τὸν Κώκαλον Σικανῶν ἐμπυρισθεισῶν τὴν μὲν εἰς τὰς πατρίδας ἐπάνοδον ἀπέγνωσαν, κρίναντες δ᾽ ἐν τῇ Σικελίᾳ κατοικεῖν, οἱ μὲν ἐνταῦθα πόλιν ᾤκισαν ἣν ἀπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτῶν Μινῴαν ὠνόμασαν, οἱ δὲ διὰ τῆς μεσογείου πλανηθέντες καὶ καταλαβόμενοι χωρίον ὀχυρὸν ἔκτισαν πόλιν ἣν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν τῇ πόλει ῥεούσης πηγῆς ὠνόμασαν Ἔγγυον.<ref name="DiodorusGreek">Diodori Bibliotheca Historica, Vol 1-2. Diodorus Siculus. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890, 4.79.5, available at: [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.perseus-grc1:4.79.5], accessed 24 June 2015.</ref>

However, the Cretans of Sicily, after the death of [Minos](/source/Minos), fell into factious strife, since they had no ruler, and, since their ships had been burned by the [Sicani](/source/Sicani) serving under [Cocalus](/source/Cocalus), they gave up any hope they had of returning to their native land; and deciding to make their home in Sicily, a part of them established on that island a city to which they gave the name Minoa after their king, and others, after wandering about through the interior of the island, seized a place which was naturally strong and founded a city to which they gave the name Engyum, after the spring which flowed forth within the city.<ref name="DiodorusEnglish">''Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation'' by [C. H. Oldfather](/source/Charles_Henry_Oldfather). Vol. 4.Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1889, 4.79.5, available at:[https://www.theoi.com/Text/DiodorusSiculus4D.html], accessed 24 June 2015.</ref>}}

[Timoleon](/source/Timoleon) attacked the city, while the tyrant Leptines (Ancient Greek: {{lang|grc|Λεπτίνης}}) was the ruler. After he defeated the Leptines, he restored its autonomy.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.perseus-grc3:16.72 Diodorus Siculus, Library, §16.72.1]</ref>

Its site is uncertain; some topographers have identified it with [Gangi](/source/Gangi%2C_Sicily), a town 30&nbsp;km SSE of [Cefalù](/source/Cefal%C3%B9), but only on the ground of the similarity of the two names.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Others{{who|date=November 2019}} identify it with [Troina](/source/Troina).

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Engyon|volume=9|page=646}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord missing|Italy}}

Category:Ancient Sicily
Category:Greek city-states
Category:Colonies in antiquity
Category:Colonies of Magna Graecia

{{Sicily-geo-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Engyon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engyon) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engyon?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.