The Hyperia Fountain at Phera - Illustration from Views of Greece by Edward Dodwell

The Hyperia Fountain at Phera is an illustration from the collection Views in Greece from Drawings published by Edward Dodwell in 1821.

The Hyperia Fountain in Phera is an ancient spring surrounded by legends and myths. Its clear waters spring forth amidst lush nature, offering a place of refreshment and rest. This sacred site has inspired poets and locals since time immemorial.

The literal transcription of the notice accompanying this plate is reproduced below:

The fame of this Fountain dates back to the earliest times, for Homer, describing Hector conversing with Andromache about the imminent catastrophe of which the Trojan War seems to be the inevitable result, makes him express the fear that she will be taken prisoner to Greece, and makes him groan at the foresight that she will find herself reduced to the humiliating condition of drawing water from the Fountain of Hyperia.

Its source was located in the middle of the city of Thebes, which dates back to the most remote antiquity, and which existed before the expedition of the Argonauts, since it was founded by one of the ancestors of Jason, their leader. This city later became important because of the riches it drew from the plains surrounding it. The strong position of its acropolis preserved the tyrant Alexander from the fury of those whose repeated cruelties had naturally made enemies of his tyranny. However, today, it is difficult to find a vestige of its walls, and a few fragments of broken columns and a few scattered stones would hardly suffice to indicate the trace, without the help of a less subject to vicissitude index, that is to say, the Fountain, whose waters still contribute to maintaining in its vicinity a modern village called Elestina. This village, with its gardens, plane trees, poplars, cypresses, olive trees, and palm trees, which surround it, is quite similar to the ancient city whose place it holds. These trees contrast admirably well with the high white minarets of its different Mosques, and are repeated in the smooth ice of the Fountain which bubbles as it comes out of the ground, and will form of itself into a small, but deep lake of pure crystal about 280 feet (100 yards) in diameter. One can go there by means of stones placed expressly from step to step, but the continual humidity of the place makes the surface slippery, and dangerous for anyone who ventures to walk there without precaution.