MAP OF GREECE
illustrating the 'Catalogue of Ships'
The numerals denote cities or territories belonging to the chief leaders of the Achaeans.
- possessions of Odysseus
- " Nestor
- " Menelaos
- " Agamemnon
- " Diomedes, etc.
- " Aias son of Telamon
- " Aias son of Oileus
- " Achilles
MAP OF GREECE
showing the distribution of the dialects in historical times
| Aeolic (Thessalian and Boeotian) | ▥ |
| Ionic (with Attic) | ▤ |
| Arcadian | ▨ |
| West Greek dialects not shaded. |
Hypothesis after hypothesis has been tried in order to claim an Aeolic or Ionic origin for most of these heroes. The plain fact is that all except one[446] belong to communities which in the fifth century were regarded as truly 'Hellenic'—or at all events to districts where dialects of the West Greek type prevailed in historical times. The leading Aeolic hero is Eurypylos; but he ranks only with Meriones, the Cretan second-in-command, Thoas the Aetolian and Nestor's sons. The other Aeolic and Ionic leaders are distinctly less prominent.
From the evidence at our disposal it seems to me that, if the poets of the Iliad, or rather their predecessors, were interested in any nationality at all, that nationality must have been West Greek or 'Hellenic.' Of the two chief leaders one belongs to Achaia Phthiotis, the other to the Peloponnesian Achaeans; the Catalogue of Ships (Il. II 569 ff.) assigns to him territories which in the main coincide with the later Achaia, though they cover a somewhat larger area. We have scarcely any evidence worth consideration that either Achaia Phthiotis or the Peloponnesian Achaia was ever held by a different nationality within the period embraced by history and tradition[447]. The territories of the other chief Peloponnesian leaders were occupied in historical times by the Dorians. But it was the unanimous belief of the ancient world that the Dorian period had been preceded by an age of Achaean domination in the east, south and west of the peninsula. Lastly, the Odyssey (XIX 175), in a passage which is commonly believed to preserve a true ethnographical record, speaks of the presence of Achaeans in Crete. Thus at least six[448] of the nine principal leaders come from regions with an Achaean population. In view of this fact is it any wonder that Ἀχαιοί is by far the commonest term applied in the poems to the Greeks collectively[449]? This then must be the nationality in which the poets were interested. But the Achaeans of historical times, as we have seen, everywhere used a form of language which is West Greek. Moreover, it is to the northern Achaeans that we first find the name Ἕλληνες applied (Il. II 684). The facts noted seem to indicate that the Achaeans were the dominant people of the West Greeks—indeed, we may say, of the Greeks generally—during the Heroic Age, a position in which they were eventually succeeded by the Dorians.
But the poems themselves are of Aeolic origin. It is this fact—supported by speculations of writers of the Roman period, who included under the term 'Aeolic' every dialect not obviously Doric, Ionic or Attic[450]—which has led to the unfortunate equation 'Achaean' = 'Aeolic.' In reality the heroes and the poems belong to two entirely different sections of the Greek nation. Shall we then set up another hypothesis—that the original poems were Achaean? But then we should only be repeating the old error of building hypothesis upon hypothesis. For it is a hypothesis, and nothing more, that the original poems were concerned with tribal or national interests; the poems which have come down to us deal with the fortunes of individuals. Moreover we should not thereby save the theory that the Iliad is a reflection of the Greek settlement of the north-western coast of Asia Minor; for that settlement was not Achaean but Aeolic. The truth is that the initial hypothesis is entirely unjustified. We have no more reason for supposing that the heroes must be Aeolic if the poems are Aeolic—or that the poems must be Achaean if the heroes are Achaean—than we have for assuming that the Anglo-Saxon poems were of Danish or Gothic origin because Danes and Goths figure in them more prominently than persons of English nationality. It is likely enough that poems once existed dealing with Aeolic heroes, such as Iason, perhaps also Peirithoos and others. But the reason for the prominence assigned to Achaean heroes, at all events in the poems which have survived, is to be found not in the national sympathies or interests of the poets, but in the fact that during the Heroic Age the Achaeans were the dominant people in Greece.
FOOTNOTES:
[401] Achilles himself was worshipped as a deity in certain localities; and the same is true of some other heroes. We may refer to the story of St Ansgar, quoted above (p. 255 f.). With such cases as that of 'Zeus Agamemnon' we shall have to deal later.
[402] According to Völsunga Saga, cap. 2, Sigmundr, the father of Sigurðr, had a divine mother (cf. p. 114).
[403] Some resemblance to the case of Peleus and Thetis is shown by a story in Hrólfs S. Kraka, cap. 15, where an elf-woman bears a daughter to Helgi, the father of Hrólfr Kraki. Such incidents are not uncommon in folk-tales. We may note especially those cases in which the supernatural bride is a mermaid, perhaps representing the Swan-maiden of earlier times. Thetis has a good deal in common with the latter class of beings.
[404] Cf. Aeneas Sylvius, Hist. de Eur., cap. 26, and the first Daina in Schleicher's Handb. d. litau. Sprache. Night and day or dawn are also frequently personified—the last especially where, as in Greece, the sun is regarded as a male. But none of these lend themselves so readily as the sun and moon to the development of mythical stories. The personification of light, darkness, etc. in the abstract seems to belong to a much more advanced stage of thought.
[405] Eclipse-myths (usually of a simple character) are widespread and fairly common. A probable example is to be found in Gylfaginning, cap. 12 (cf. also Tylor, Primitive Culture4, I p. 328 ff.). But a good deal of scepticism is justifiable in regard to the interpretation of stories which are supposed to have originated in myths of sunrise and sunset. This remark applies even to those Polynesian and Red Indian stories which are commonly regarded as among the best examples of their class.
[406] The personification of the sun and the dawn in the Homeric poems is very similar to what we find in the north of Europe, e.g. in Gylfaginning, cap. 10 f., and the first four Dainos in Schleicher's Handbuch. The most important difference is that the Dawn-goddess, like other deities, has sexual relations with mortals (see the Addenda). But her true character is not for a moment forgotten.
[407] There is probably an allusion to this story in Il. III 144, although a different explanation is quoted by Plutarch (Theseus, cap. 34) from Istros. But the verse in question was condemned by some ancient, as well as modern, scholars. It is 'inorganic' (cf. Od. II 331) and due in all probability to the same process as Il. II 831 ff. (cf p. 244, note).
[408] This list is by no means exhaustive. We may mention also the story of Helen and Achilles in the 'White Isle' (cf. Pausanias III 19. 11) and that of Ariston's wife, related by Herodotus (VI 61). The Rhodian story (cf. Paus. III 19. 10) is obviously due in part to the influence of the Homeric poems; but it is at least questionable whether this Ἑλένη Δενδρῖτις was originally identical with the other Helen.
[409] Attention should be paid not only to the case of the Leucippides but also to the story of Phormion (Paus. III 16. 3).
[410] In Il. II 828 ff. (if the name Ἄδρηστος is taken from VI 37 ff. or XVI 694) we have apparently the case of an already existing character being turned to account as an eponymous hero.
[411] Αἰολίδης occurs occasionally as a patronymic for individuals. The 'keeper of the winds' seems to have no connection with these characters.
[412] In the Homeric poems it is in the case of minor characters among the Trojans and their allies that names of this type are most common. In this case the use of such names may be accounted for with considerable probability under the head of fiction (cf. p. 300, note).
[413] Murray, Rise of the Greek Epic, p. 197 (from Bethe, N. Jahrb., VII 672).
[414] Cf. Crusius, S.-B. d. k. bayer. Akad., 1905, p. 774 f.
[415] Cf. Brückner, Troja und Ilion, p. 557 ff.
[416] Cf. Crusius, op. cit., p. 761 ff.
[417] As a matter of fact the name Melanippos is borne by three Trojans and one Achaean in the Iliad. Nothing is stated regarding the home of the Achaean. The name Orestes is borne by one Trojan and one Achaean, besides the son of Agamemnon.
[418] I have dealt with only one of the groups of names treated by Prof. Bethe; but it is the one which he has discussed most fully. A second (Laconian) group is treated by him on p. 672 f. On this it will be sufficient here to refer to Crusius, op. cit., p. 771 ff., where it is pointed out that the chief argument rests apparently on a mistranslation.
[419] Cf. Neue Jahrb., VII 662-9; XIII 2 ff.
[420] Grundfragen der Homerkritik2, p. 223 ff.
[421] Cf. Crusius, S. B. der k. bayer. Akad., 1905, p. 755 ff.
[422] It must be clearly understood that I am using the term 'Aeolic' in the modern (linguistic) sense. I am under the impression that Prof. Cauer uses the term in the same sense. The only difference, so far as I can see, between his terminology and mine is that—in accordance, I think, with general usage—I would include Boeotian as well as Thessalian and Lesbian-Aeolic in this category. Some ancient writers of course use the terms Αἰολεῖς and Αἰολίς in a totally different sense. Thus Thucydides (III 102) applies the name Αἰολίς to the district about Pleuron and Calydon, and again (IV 42) he speaks of the ancient inhabitants of Corinth as Αἰολῆς. There may be some difference of opinion as to whether the use of these names in such cases is due to the influence of genealogies—in the former case through Aethlios and Endymion, in the latter through Sisyphos—or whether the genealogies themselves are due to a current use of the names Αἰολεῖς, Αἰολίς, etc. The form Αἰολίδης in Il. VI 154, Od. XI 237 rather suggests that these names may have belonged to a family (or possibly a clan) before they came to be applied to a people; but into this question we need not enter. The term 'Aeolic' (in its linguistic sense) belongs properly to the Asiatic Aeolis, and this name itself is derived in all probability from the Thessalian Aeolis (cf. Herod. VII 176), the fatherland of the Asiatic Aeolians. There may possibly have been some connection between the reigning families of the Thessalian Aeolis and those at Calydon, Corinth and elsewhere which claimed descent from Aiolos; but there is not the slightest evidence that an Aeolic dialect (in the modern sense) was ever spoken at either Calydon or Corinth. It may be added that nothing but confusion of thought can arise from introducing into this discussion the terminology of writers of the Roman age (cf. especially Strabo VIII 1. 2), who apply the name 'Aeolic' to every dialect which is not Attic, Ionic or Doric.
οἵ τ' Ἄλον οἵ τ' Ἀλόπην οἵ τε Τρηχῖν' ἐνέμοντο,
οἵ τ' εἶχον Φθίην ἠδ' Ἑλλάδα καλλιγύναικα, κ.τ.λ.
In v. 681 Zenodotos read:
[424] This passage seems to indicate that the poet included the basin of the Spercheios in Phthia.
[425] So far as I can see, the identification of 'the Pelasgian Argos' with the plain of Larissa rests merely on a conjecture, of the truth of which even Strabo himself (IX 5. 5) was not confident. It may very well have been suggested by the name (Pelasgiotis) borne by this district in later times. The oracle quoted by Prof. Meyer (Forsch., p. 30, note 1) proves nothing, and there is no evidence that the name was used in historical times. On the other hand the fact that the citadel of the Peloponnesian Argos was called Λάρισα (cf. Pausanias II 24. 1) does suggest a connection between this name and Ἄργος. But if so, it is more natural to think of Larissa Cremaste, which according to Strabo (IX 5. 13, 19) was also called Pelasgia. This place is much nearer to the Spercheios than the northern Larissa, and in spite of Strabo (IX 5. 14) may quite possibly have been included within the same territory.
[426] Cauer, Delectus2, No. 388.
[427] ib., No. 390.
[428] Grundfragen der Homerkritik2, p. 214.
[429] By this of course I do not mean that the inscriptions give an absolutely faithful reproduction of the local pronunciation, any more than do those of the Aetolians. From the fourth century onwards 'phonetic spelling' appears to have been superseded in most parts of Greece. No earlier inscriptions, representing the Achaean dialect in its purity, have been found as yet. From Thetonion however, near Cierion in Thessaliotis, about twenty miles north of the border, we have an inscription of the fifth century (C. I. G., XII ii 257) in a curious mixed dialect, which combines north-western Greek and Thessalian (Aeolic) characteristics in the proportion of about 7:3 (or 4). The evidence of this inscription seems to me to dispose definitely of the hypothesis that the introduction of north-western Greek into this region was due to the influence of the Aetolian League. Even the dialect of Pharsalos is not quite pure Thessalian.
[430] Cauer, Delectus2, Nos. 239, 386. The former is included by Prof. Cauer, no doubt rightly, among the Aetolian inscriptions.
[431] The extension of the Dat. pl. ending -οις to consonant-stems etc. has often been quoted as a mark of Aetolian influence. But in reality it is common to all the dialects of western Greece. The earliest examples apparently occur in Elean and Locrian inscriptions.
[432] According to the generally accepted view, which there seems to be no reason for doubting, the language of the Thessalian (Aeolic or 'North-Thessalian') inscriptions belonged originally to the indigenous population. The name 'Thessalian' however, properly speaking, belonged to the invaders, regarding whose language we have no information.
[433] Strabo (VIII 5. 5) likewise connects the Peloponnesian Achaeans with Phthiotis; but he attributes their settlement in the Peloponnesos to an invasion by Pelops. In this passage (as in many others) it is greatly to be questioned whether Strabo (or the authority whom he followed) was recording genuine tradition—whether he was not rather endeavouring to provide an explanation of the traditions.
[434] The inscriptions are late; but their evidence as to the general character of the dialect is confirmed by some short but early inscriptions from the Achaean settlements in Italy. It is assumed by many scholars that Arcadian was the original language of the Peloponnesian Achaeans; but I am not aware that any evidence worth consideration has been adduced in support of this view. No ancient authorities, so far as I know, connect the Arcadians with the Achaeans, nor do the Arcadians themselves appear to have claimed such a connection.
[435] This theory is of course quite distinct from the theory which traces the language of the Phthiotic inscriptions to the influence of the Aetolian League. The two are scarcely reconcilable if it be held that the Locrians and Phocians came from the north-west; for in that case their route must have lain through the valley of the Spercheios, a district which would not readily be neglected by peoples seeking new territories.
[436] I.e. in times subsequent to the Heroic Age. I do not mean of course to suggest that the north-west Greek dialects belonged originally to these districts; but I see no reason for supposing that the previous language was Aeolic. The Ainianes may have moved southwards later. But the language of their inscriptions (at Hypate) is indistinguishable from that of the surrounding peoples. It is to be remembered also that, according to the common tradition, the Dorians themselves had come from a district within this area.
[437] It may be added that the fertile plains of Boeotia are more likely to have attracted invaders than the mountainous lands to the north-west.
[438] Cf. Meister, Sächs. Ges. d. Wiss. Abhandl. 1906, Nr. 3, summarised p. 96 ff., where it is pointed out that the characteristics commonly described as Dorian belong in reality also to Achaean and that in general they are rather to be ascribed to the latter. At the same time it is to be noted that some of the characteristics here claimed as specifically Dorian are shared also by Cypriot, a fact which rather suggests that they may be indigenous to the south-east of the Peloponnesos. If the Dorians came from the same quarter as the Achaeans—and not very many generations later—it is intelligible enough that the two groups of dialects should be difficult to distinguish, even apart from the fact that an Achaean stratum—however insignificant numerically—underlies the Dorian practically everywhere.
[439] Cf. especially Meyer, Geschichte des Alterthums, II p. 55 f., Forsch. zur alten Geschichte, I p. 112 ff.; Ridgeway, Early Age of Greece, p. 659 ff., etc.; Kretschmer, Glotta, I 17 ff. Prof. Meyer has subsequently abandoned this view (Gesch. d. Alt.2, I p. 687).
[440] Cf. Meyer, Forsch. I (passim). The genealogical explanation seems to me to be pressed too far here. The case of the Arcadians is the one in which it is most probable, since apart from genealogies there is no real evidence that this people was connected with the Pelasgoi in any way. Yet even here the cause assigned (ib., p. 53 ff.) is scarcely adequate. One might rather suspect a confusion or identification of the names Λυκάων and Λυκαῖος; but I have no inclination to propound a theory on the subject.
[441] Quoted from Jowett's translation.
[442] Cf. Meyer, Forsch., I p. 115; yet in another passage (ib., p. 111 note) considerations are pointed out which can hardly have been unfamiliar to Herodotus.
[443] It is to be remembered that the name ἡ μεγάλη Ἑλλάς appears to have come from the Achaean colonies in Italy.
[444] It is worth noting that stems in -ān-, as names of peoples, seem to have been specially characteristic of north-western Greek; e.g. Αἰνιᾶνες, Ἀθαμᾶνες, Εὐρυτᾶνες, Κεφαλλᾶνες, Ἀκαρνᾶνες.
[445] It is scarcely necessary to notice the subsidiary arguments which have been adduced in favour of the hypothesis—e.g. that Achilles had been instructed by the Centaur Cheiron and that his spear had come from Pelion. They are sufficiently accounted for by the fact that the poems are of Aeolic origin. The suggestion that Peleus himself is the eponymus of Pelion belongs to a class which has been sufficiently discussed above (p. 267 ff.).
[446] The exceptional case is that of Aias the son of Telamon. But we have no information relating to Salamis before its conquest by the Athenians in the sixth century. It may have been under Achaean rule in early times.
[447] In the case of the Peloponnesian Achaia it is conceivable that a genuine tradition of a conquest of earlier (Ionic) inhabitants may be preserved in Herod. I 145. But the story that this conquest was connected with the Dorian invasion can hardly be due to anything but 'combination'; and traces of such a process can be distinguished plainly enough in Herodotus' account. The important fact is that the author of the Catalogue of Ships evidently knew nothing of the story.
[448] We may probably add Odysseus. In the Odyssey the hero's subjects are regularly described as Ἀχαιοί. They are not called Ἀργεῖοι or Δαναοί, although the three names are used interchangeably as collective terms for the Greek army before Troy. Regarding the national affinities of the inhabitants of the Ionian Isles in later times we have little information; but the language was clearly of the 'north-west Greek' type. Indeed Aias the son of Oileus is the only one of the nine heroes in whose case Achaean nationality is distinctly improbable.
[449] The figures for the Iliad are: Ἀχαιοί 605, Ἀργεῖοι 176, Δαναοί 146; cf. Cauer, Grundfragen2, p. 220.
[450] Cf. especially Strabo, VIII 1. 2.