PYLUS (Navarino), an ancient town of Messina. Originally it seems to have stood at the foot of Mount Ægaleos. In that situation it was probably the "Sandy Pylos" so often mentioned in Homer as the city of Nestor.
Pym. Thither the venerable patriarch returned after the siege of Troy, and there he was found several years afterwards by the wandering Telemachus, still enjoying a green old age amid a family of valiant and intelligent sons. When the Nestorian capital was destroyed, the name Pylus was transferred to a new city on the neighbouring promontory of Coryphasium. This town in its turn was left to fall into decay and ruin when its inhabitants, at the end of the second Messenian war, emigrated in a body. Pylus then remained desolate and unfrequented until, in 425 B.C., it became the scene of one of the severest checks which Sparta received in the Peloponnesian war. In that year a fort, built on the site of the ruined city, and garrisoned by a small Athenian force under Demosthenes, was unsuccessfully attacked by a body of Lacedæmonians. The assailants found themselves foiled on all hands. On attempting to land in front of the stronghold, they were repulsed. Equally vain was their endeavour to maintain a blockade by settling down on the wild and rugged island of Sphacteria to the south of the fort. In course of time an Athenian fleet arrived, and, taking up its position in the Bay of Pylus, between the island and the mainland, blockaded them in their turn. They were now completely at the mercy of their enemies. In vain did they sue for a truce. Much harder conditions were in store for them. In no long time they were surprised in their strong position by a body of troops under Cleon, and were forced to give up their arms. (See NAVARINO.)