The oldest mention of the city is found in
Homer's
Iliad,
Catalogue of Ships, where it is given the epithet "furthermost", i. e. the most geographically remote town of Boeotia to the northern Gulf of Euboea. Ancient inhabitants of Anthedon derived their origin from the sea-god
Glaucus, who was believed to have been originally a native of the place. A surviving ancient coin now stored in the Archaeological Museum of Chalkis bears on one side a representation of Glaucus. The Anthedonians appear to have been a different race from the other people of Boeotia, and are described by one writer as
Thracians (this is a misinterpretation; in this case Anthedon is a Thracian man and not Anthedon the city in Boeotia).
Dicaearchus informs that they were chiefly mariners, shipwrights and fishermen, who derived their subsistence from trading in fish, purple (dye, from seashells), and sponges. He adds that the
agora was surrounded with a double
stoa, and planted with trees. An important archaeological guide to Anthedon is
Pausanias'
Description of Greece, which informs that there was a sacred grove of the
Cabeiri in the middle of the town, surrounding a temple of those deities, and near it a temple of
Demeter and
Persephone. Outside the walls was a temple of
Dionysus, and a spot called “the leap of Glaucus.” The wine of Anthedon was celebrated in antiquity. The tomb of
Iphimedeia and her sons, the
Aloadae, was shown at Anthedon. ==Archaeology==