Ischia
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Ischia: (anc. Aenaria, Pithekoussai, Pithecusa, Inarime) (NA). An island is situated off the coast of Campania, at the NW end of the Gulf of Naples. The earliest inhabitants on the island established themselves during the Bronze Age. A settlement existed on Mt. Epomaeus which traded with the Mycenaeans. The earliest Greek colony in Italy was established here by settlers from Eretria and Chalkis in the early 8th Century BC. Soon afterwards Greeks from this colony founded Kyme (Cumae) on the mainland (which, in turn, founded Neapolis [Naples]). Both of these settlements were ideally placed to facilitate trade with the Etruscans located to the north. There have been a number theories related to the origins of Ischia’s ancient names. Pliny explained that the Greek name Pithekoussai (Pithecusa) derived from the local clay deposits, while the Latin name Aenaria was connected with the story of Aeneas’s landing. It has also been speculated that the latter name may have derived from the abundant copper (Lat. aeneus= “made of copper”) from there. Eventually the Greek colony on the island was abandoned because of seismic and volcanic dangers. It eventually came under the control of the Greek city of Neapolis (Naples) and became a noted center for ceramics, fruit and fine wine. The seismic/volcanic nature of the island has led to it sometimes being identified with Homer’s land of the Arimi, the site where the monstrous Typhon (Typhoeus) lies buried.