{"id":7406,"date":"2022-08-03T15:05:46","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T19:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/?p=7406"},"modified":"2024-05-11T17:03:04","modified_gmt":"2024-05-11T21:03:04","slug":"pelasgians-and-arkadians-ephoros-on-their-relationship-mid-fourth-century-bce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/2022\/08\/pelasgians-and-arkadians-ephoros-on-their-relationship-mid-fourth-century-bce\/","title":{"rendered":"Pelasgian diasporas: Ephoros on legends of migration (mid-fourth century BCE)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ancient authors: <\/b><\/i>Ephoros of Kyme = FGrHist<\/i>\u00a0 70 F113 (link<\/a> to FGrHist<\/em>), as cited by Strabo, Geography<\/i> 5.2.4 (link<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Comments: <\/b><\/i>Ephoros (or: Ephorus) of Kyme’s works (ca. 340 BCE) survive only in brief citations by others. In this case Strabo (before 18 CE) cites Ephoros’ views on the origins of the Pelasgians and their relation to Arkadians and other Greeks, as well as their colonization of various areas in Greece. Ephoros’ account of Pelasgian migration and genealogies differs somewhat from Herodotos’ earlier material (on which go to this link<\/a>), although both suggest that certain Greeks (e.g. Aiolians) are descendents of Pelasgians.<\/p>\n

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Regarding the Pelasgians, almost everyone agrees that, first of all, some ancient tribe (phyl\u0113<\/i>) of that name spread throughout all of Greece, and particularly among the Aiolians of Thessaly. Again, Ephoros<\/b> says that he is of the opinion that, since they were originally Arkadians, they chose a military life. He is of the opinion that, because they converted many peoples to the same mode of life, they imparted their name to everyone and for this reason acquired a great reputation not only among Greeks but also among all other peoples to whom the Pelasgians happen to come.<\/p>\n

For example, the Pelasgians prove to have been colonizers of Crete, as Homer<\/b> says. Anyways, Odysseus says to Penelope: \u201cBut one tongue with others is mixed; there dwell Achaians, there Cretans of the old descent, proud of heart, there Kydonians and Dorians as well, of waving plumes, and goodly Pelasgians\u201d [Homer, Odyssey<\/i> 19.175-177]. Thessaly is called \u201cthe Pelasgian Argos\u201d (by which I mean that part that lies between the outlets of the Peneios river and Thermopylai as far as the mountainous country of Pindos) on account of the fact that the Pelasgians extended their rule over these regions. Further, the Dodonaean Zeus is by the poet himself named \u201cPelasgian\u201d: \u201cO Lord Zeus, Dodonaian, Pelasgian\u201d [Homer, Iliad<\/i> 16.233]. Furthermore, many have called the Epeirian peoples (ethn\u0113<\/i>) “Pelasgian,” because in their opinion the Pelasgians extended their rule even as far as that. Further still, because many of the heroes were called \u201cPelasgians\u201d by name, the people of later times have, from those heroes, applied the name to many peoples. For example, they have called the island of Lesbos \u201cPelasgia,\u201d and Homer has called \u201cPelasgians\u201d the neighbours of those Cilicians who lived in the Troad: \u201cAnd Hippothous led the tribes (phyl\u0113<\/i>) of spear-fighting Pelasgians, those Pelasgians who inhabited deep-soiled Larissa.\u201d\u200b [Homer, Iliad <\/i>2.840-841].<\/p>\n

But Ephoros<\/b>\u2019 authority for the statement that this tribe (phyl\u0113<\/i>) originated in Arkadia was Hesiod<\/b>. For Hesiod says: \u201cSons were born of god-like Lykaon, who, at one point, was begotten by Pelasgos.\u201d Again, Aischylos<\/b>, in his Suppliants<\/i> (249-253), or else his Danaan Women<\/i>,\u200b says that the descent group (genos<\/i>) of the Pelasgians originated in that Argos which is around Mykenai. According to Ephoros, the Peloponnesos was also called \u201cPelasgia.\u201d Furthermore, in his Archela<\/i>o<\/i>s<\/i> Euripides<\/b> says: \u201cDanaos, the father of fifty daughters, on coming into Argos,\u200b took up his abode in the city of Inachos. Throughout Greece, he laid down a law that all people previously named Pelasgians were to be called Danaians.\u201d And again, Antikleides<\/b> says that they were the first to settle the regions around Lemnos and Imbros, and indeed that some of these sailed away to Italy with Tyrrhenos the son of Atys. The compilers of the histories of The Land of Atthis<\/i>\u200b give accounts of the Pelasgians, believing that the Pelasgians were in fact at Athens too,\u200b although the Pelasgians were by the Attic people called \u201cPelargians,\u201d the compilers add, because they were wanderers and, like birds, resorted to those places wherever chance led them.<\/p>\n

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Source of the translation:\u00a0<\/b><\/i>H.L. Jones, Strabo<\/i>, 8 volumes, LCL (Cambridge, MA: HUP, 1917-28), public domain (passed away in 1932), adapted by Harland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ancient authors: Ephoros of Kyme = FGrHist\u00a0 70 F113 (link to FGrHist), as cited by Strabo, Geography 5.2.4 (link) Comments: Ephoros (or: Ephorus) of Kyme’s works (ca. 340 BCE) survive only in brief citations by others. In this case Strabo (before 18 CE) cites Ephoros’ views on the origins of the Pelasgians and their relation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,299,179,125,296,141,186,109],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-06-migration-ethnic-diversity-and-diasporas","category-ancient-ethnography-ethnographic-culture","category-arkadians-in-greece","category-ephoros-greek","category-ethnicity-ancient-world","category-greeks","category-pelasgians","category-strabo-greek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7406"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20505,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7406\/revisions\/20505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philipharland.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}