Hephaestion

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography

HEPHAE´STION(Ἠφαίστιον), a district near Phaselis, in the south of Lycia; it derived its name from the fact that fire constantly was issuing from the loose soil. (Ctesias, ap. Phot. Cod. 73, p. 146; Senec. Ep. 79.) According to Pliny (Plin. Nat. 2.110) these fires appear to have arisen from springs of burning naptha. (Comp. Plin. Nat. 5.28; Solin. 39.)
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