Stymphalus (Arcadia)

Stymphalus was an ancient town in northeastern Arcadia in Greece, sited on a rocky promontory on the southern edge of Lake Stymphalia, named for Stymphalus, son of Elatus and grandson of Arcas. It is listed in Homer's Iliad among the towns sending troops under Agapenor in the Catalogue of Ships, and it is best known for its association with the Stymphalian birds, whose destruction was one of the twelve labors of Heracles; the town also held a sanctuary of Artemis Stymphalia displaying images of the birds. Stymphalus belonged to the Achaean League in later antiquity, and the emperor Hadrian built an aqueduct carrying water from its spring to Corinth. The site was refounded as a grid-planned city in the 4th century BC, and archaeological excavation there has continued since 1924.