Cynaethe or Cynaetha (Κύναιθα) was an ancient city-state

City-state

A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...

 in ancient Arcadia

Arcadia

Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...

 which was located in near the present day Kalavryta

Kalavryta

Kalavryta is a town and a municipality in the eastcentral part of the peripheral unit of Achaea, Greece. It is the southern terminus of the Kalavryta - Diakopto Road and the eastern terminus of the Patras - Kalavryta Road. It is located approx...

 and is part of the Achaia prefecture.

It is believed to be founded by the Azania

Azania

Azania is the name that has been applied to various parts of sub-Saharan Africa. In Roman times—and perhaps earlier—the name referred to a portion of the Southeast African coast south of the Horn of Africa, extending south perhaps as far as modern Tanzania....

ns, and ancient Arcadian folk. Its name derived from its love of its inhabitants for the hunting and was the northernmost city in the Arcadian Azania

Arcadian Azania

Arcadian Azania was one of the subdivisions in ancient Arcadia along with Parrhasia and Lycaonia.Ancient Azania was in an area that are now the area of Kalavryta, Achaea and Feneos, western Corinthia...

. Cynaithe did not ran the city-state but was part of the state of Lousoi

Lousoi

Lousoi or Lousai was an ancient city in Arcadian Azania that is now in the Achaia prefecture.Lousoi was located between the ancient cities of Kleitor and Kynaitha at an elevation of 1,140 m. From Lousoi was Agesilas , winner in the sporting road at the Pydiada in 542 BC...

 and Kleitor

Kleitor

Kleitor is a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortynia, of which it is a municipal unit. Its population was 2,584 as of 2001...

 which was located nearby. From the city, Pausanias

Pausanias (geographer)

Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...

 visited the city which is mentioned in Arcadica and mentioned that it was 50 stadia (30 km) from Lousoi and the temple of Artemis

Artemis

Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name and indeed the goddess herself was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals"...

. In the city featured the temple of Dionysus

Dionysus

Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...

 in which had a celebration every year in honor of the god which sacrificed a bull. Its city residents gave to Olympia

Olympia, Greece

Olympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. Both games were held every Olympiad , the Olympic Games dating back possibly further than 776 BC...

, the statue of Zeus

Zeus

In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

 which held a thunder in his hand.

Next to Cynaethe founded Alysus (Άλυσος) a spring which it was believed that anyone drank the water were cured from the rabies.

Cynaethe was a member of the Achaean League

Achaean League

The Achaean League was a Hellenistic era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese, which existed between 280 BC and 146 BC...

 but in, 220 BCE the opening stages of the Social War a faction in the city open the gates to the Aetolians. Further bloodshed ensured which Polybius

Polybius

Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...

 attributes to the Aetolians

Aetolian League

The Aetolian League was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered on Aetolia in central Greece. It was established, probably during the early Hellenistic era, in opposition to Macedon and the Achaean League. Two annual meetings were held in Thermika and Panaetolika...

. Grainger, however, puts the blame on the irreconcilable political differences in the city.