SAMOTHRACE săm’ ə thrās (Σαμοθράκη). An island in the NE Aegean Sea.

It is located directly S of the Hebrus River of Macedonia, N of Imbros, and NE of Lemnos. It is very mountainous. The central peak, Mt. Fengari (5,577 ft.), is the most conspicuous landmark of the N Aegean. From it Poseidon was said to have surveyed the plains of Troy. Homer called it Poseidon’s island (Iliad 13. 12).

The island was virtually uninhabited until the 7th cent. b.c., because of its hostile coast. Pliny (NH 4. 23) says that it became an anchorage for ships plying the N Aegean because they had to anchor somewhere, due to the hazards of sailing at night.

The cults of the great mother, Cybele, and of the Cabeiri flourished on the island. During Hel. times the cult of the Cabeiri rivaled that of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis. Philip of Macedon and his wife, Olympias, were initiates as were many prominent Romans later. The Cabeiri were twin gods of unknown origin. Herodotus assigned them to the Pelasgians, the traditional settlers of Greece. Others consider them of Phrygian or Phoenician origin.

The island has been excavated by French and Austrian teams in the 19th cent. and more recently by New York University. The sanctuary of the great gods, a rotunda dedicated to Queen Arsinoë II of Egypt and a propylon of Ptolemy II have been uncovered. The most famous find was the “Winged Victory of Samothrace,” now in the Louvre, which was erected in a fountain to commemorate a naval victory of the Rhodians, in c. 190 b.c.

The Apostle Paul anchored off Samothrace on his first journey to Europe (Acts 16:11).

Bibliography K. Lehmann, Samothrace, A Guide to the Excavations and the Museum (1955).