Pergamon
Pergamon lies on the north edge of the Caicus plain in the historic region of Mysia in the northwest of Turkey. The Caicus river breaks through the surrounding mountains and hills at this point and flows in a wide arc to the southwest. At the foot of the mountain range to the north, between the rivers Selinus and Cetius, there is the massif of Pergamon which rises 335 metres above sea level. The site is only 26 km from the sea, but the Caicus plain is not open to the sea, since the way is blocked by the Karadağ massif. As a result, the area has a strongly inland character. In Hellenistic times, the town of Elaia at the mouth of the Caicus served as the port of Pergamon. The climate is Mediterranean with a dry period from May to August, as is common along the west coast of Asia Minor.
Telephus
Telephus was considered to be the mythical founder of Pergamon, as well as the ancestor of the Attalids, Pergamon’s ruling dynasty (from 241 BC). As early as a Milesian inscription (after 129 BC), the people of Pergamon were called Telephidai, descendants of Telephus. According to Pausanias, the Pergamon people claimed to be descendants of the Arcadians who had come with Telephus to Mysia. Inscriptions record the association between Pergamon and Tegea, and the most important cult of Pergamon, the cult of Athena, was said to have been brought from Tegea, and established at Pergamon by Auge.