The ancient Greek tribes (
Ancient Greek: Ἑλλήνων ἔθνη) were groups of
Greek-speaking populations living in
Greece,
Cyprus, and the various
Greek colonies. They were primarily divided by
geographic,
dialectal,
political, and
cultural criteria, as well as distinct traditions in
mythology and
religion. Some groups were of mixed origin, forming a
syncretic culture through absorption and assimilation of
previous and neighboring populations into the Greek language and customs. Greek word for tribe was Phylē (sing.) and Phylai (pl.), the tribe was further subdivided in Demes (sing. Demos, pl. Demoi) roughly matching to a
clan.
The name Pelasgians was used exclusively by the ancient Greek writers, who referred to the populations they considered the ancestors of the Greeks or "pre-Hellenic". Some, mainly later ones, use it to describe purely Greek populations.
With the dominion of land passing on from one tribe to the other, cultural exchange through art and trade, and frequent alliances toward common goals, the ethnic character of the different tribes had become primarily political by the dawn of the
Hellenistic period. The
Roman conquest of Greece, the subsequent division of the
Roman Empire into
Greek East and Latin West, as well as the advent of
Christianity, molded the common ethnic and political Greek identity once and for all to the subjects of the
Greek world by the 3rd century AD.
Phaeacians - They lived in the island
Scheria (may have been an old name for the island of
Kerkyra/
Corfu before Corinthian colonization) (mentioned in the
Odyssey as a people that welcomed
Odysseus before his return to
Ithaca).
Dryopes - They lived in
Dryopis, later known as
Doris (after driven out by the
Malians, a
Dorian tribe, many scattered to other Greek regions, mostly towards far southern of
Euboea Island).
Triphylians - They were a group of three tribes (Tri - Three, Phylai -Tribes) that lived in Western
Peloponnese, in southern part of
Elis (south of
Alpheiós river) but saw themselves as
Arcadians and not
Eleans.
Neapolitans - They lived in
Naples (many were descendants from Rhodean and Ionic colonies, the last ones were more numerous).
Ionians, Cycladian (Central Ionians) - They lived in
Cyclades Islands.
Delos Island that had the important
Delos sanctuary was in this group of islands.
Acarnanians, Northwestern Greek - They lived in
Acarnania (this region had two groups of Greeks: the native Northwestern Greek Acarnanians and the Dorians Proper Acarnanians, many of whom were descendants from Corinthian colonies).
Ithacians - They lived in
Ithaca Island (the land of the legendary
Odysseus, the main character of the
Odyssey and also one of the main ones in the
Iliad whose author is traditionally thought to be
Homer).
Acarnanians, Dorians Proper - They lived in
Acarnania (this region had two groups of Greeks: the native Northwestern Greek Acarnanians and the Dorians Proper Acarnanians, many of whom were descendants from Corinthian colonies).
Dorians (of
Doris) - They lived in
Doris (Upper
Cephissus river valley). They were viewed as a people close to the land were Dorians originated - roughly south
Epirus and
Aetolia in Northwest Greece (when they migrated towards south).
Magnetes - They lived in
Magnesia (most of
Thessaly's coastal region). They were seen by ancient Greeks as a people that shared a common ancestor with the
Macedonians.
Pre-Greek and non-Greek tribes (later Hellenized)
Pre-Greek and non-Greek tribes who became
hellenized and whom some of the later Greek tribes claimed descent from
Lemnian Pelasgians - They lived in
Lemnos island, in the North
Aegean Sea. They were conquered by
Athens at the end of the 6th century BC and later assimilated into an
Ionian Greek identity. Some of them moved to the peninsula's promontory of
Actē (today's
Mount Athos).
Cynurians - They lived in
Cynuria (
Cynuria had two enclaves, one on the coast of eastern
Peloponnese Peninsula, between
Laconia and
Argolis, and another inland, in the far southwestern
Arcadia, also called
Parrhasia) but it is not certain if
Cynurians of East Peloponnese coast and
Cynurians of the inland (
Arcadia) were the same people, two branches of an original people or even if they were directly related.
Hyantes Pelasgians (legendary or partly based on a true people and historical events) - Former Pelasgians inhabitants of
Boeotia, from which country they were expelled by the followers of
Cadmus (Peck; Pliny's Natural History, iv.12).
^Roger D. Woodard (2008), "Greek dialects", in: The Ancient Languages of Europe, ed. R. D. Woodard, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 51.
^The Illyrian Atintani, the Epirotic Atintanes and the Roman Protectorate N. G. L. Hammond, The Journal of Roman Studies Vol. 79 (1989), pp. 11-25 "There were Illyrian Amantini in Pannonia and Greek Amantes in North Epirus"
^Wilkes, John. The Illyrians (The Peoples of Europe). Wiley-Blackwell, 1995, p. 97.
^Mogens Herman Hansen and Thomas Heine Nielsen. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis. Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 345.
^Mogens Herman Hansen and Thomas Heine Nielsen. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis. Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 338.
^
abJohn Boardman and Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond. The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 3, Part 3: The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries B.C. Cambridge University Press, 1992, p. 284.
^Woodhouse, William John. Aetolia: Its Geography, Topography, and Antiquities. Clarendon Press, 1897, p. 70. "Ptolemy, however, makes them neighbours of the Epirot tribe of the Kassopaioi, who lived on the coast of the Ionian sea."
The ancient Greek tribes (
Ancient Greek: Ἑλλήνων ἔθνη) were groups of
Greek-speaking populations living in
Greece,
Cyprus, and the various
Greek colonies. They were primarily divided by
geographic,
dialectal,
political, and
cultural criteria, as well as distinct traditions in
mythology and
religion. Some groups were of mixed origin, forming a
syncretic culture through absorption and assimilation of
previous and neighboring populations into the Greek language and customs. Greek word for tribe was Phylē (sing.) and Phylai (pl.), the tribe was further subdivided in Demes (sing. Demos, pl. Demoi) roughly matching to a
clan.
The name Pelasgians was used exclusively by the ancient Greek writers, who referred to the populations they considered the ancestors of the Greeks or "pre-Hellenic". Some, mainly later ones, use it to describe purely Greek populations.
With the dominion of land passing on from one tribe to the other, cultural exchange through art and trade, and frequent alliances toward common goals, the ethnic character of the different tribes had become primarily political by the dawn of the
Hellenistic period. The
Roman conquest of Greece, the subsequent division of the
Roman Empire into
Greek East and Latin West, as well as the advent of
Christianity, molded the common ethnic and political Greek identity once and for all to the subjects of the
Greek world by the 3rd century AD.
Phaeacians - They lived in the island
Scheria (may have been an old name for the island of
Kerkyra/
Corfu before Corinthian colonization) (mentioned in the
Odyssey as a people that welcomed
Odysseus before his return to
Ithaca).
Dryopes - They lived in
Dryopis, later known as
Doris (after driven out by the
Malians, a
Dorian tribe, many scattered to other Greek regions, mostly towards far southern of
Euboea Island).
Triphylians - They were a group of three tribes (Tri - Three, Phylai -Tribes) that lived in Western
Peloponnese, in southern part of
Elis (south of
Alpheiós river) but saw themselves as
Arcadians and not
Eleans.
Neapolitans - They lived in
Naples (many were descendants from Rhodean and Ionic colonies, the last ones were more numerous).
Ionians, Cycladian (Central Ionians) - They lived in
Cyclades Islands.
Delos Island that had the important
Delos sanctuary was in this group of islands.
Acarnanians, Northwestern Greek - They lived in
Acarnania (this region had two groups of Greeks: the native Northwestern Greek Acarnanians and the Dorians Proper Acarnanians, many of whom were descendants from Corinthian colonies).
Ithacians - They lived in
Ithaca Island (the land of the legendary
Odysseus, the main character of the
Odyssey and also one of the main ones in the
Iliad whose author is traditionally thought to be
Homer).
Acarnanians, Dorians Proper - They lived in
Acarnania (this region had two groups of Greeks: the native Northwestern Greek Acarnanians and the Dorians Proper Acarnanians, many of whom were descendants from Corinthian colonies).
Dorians (of
Doris) - They lived in
Doris (Upper
Cephissus river valley). They were viewed as a people close to the land were Dorians originated - roughly south
Epirus and
Aetolia in Northwest Greece (when they migrated towards south).
Magnetes - They lived in
Magnesia (most of
Thessaly's coastal region). They were seen by ancient Greeks as a people that shared a common ancestor with the
Macedonians.
Pre-Greek and non-Greek tribes (later Hellenized)
Pre-Greek and non-Greek tribes who became
hellenized and whom some of the later Greek tribes claimed descent from
Lemnian Pelasgians - They lived in
Lemnos island, in the North
Aegean Sea. They were conquered by
Athens at the end of the 6th century BC and later assimilated into an
Ionian Greek identity. Some of them moved to the peninsula's promontory of
Actē (today's
Mount Athos).
Cynurians - They lived in
Cynuria (
Cynuria had two enclaves, one on the coast of eastern
Peloponnese Peninsula, between
Laconia and
Argolis, and another inland, in the far southwestern
Arcadia, also called
Parrhasia) but it is not certain if
Cynurians of East Peloponnese coast and
Cynurians of the inland (
Arcadia) were the same people, two branches of an original people or even if they were directly related.
Hyantes Pelasgians (legendary or partly based on a true people and historical events) - Former Pelasgians inhabitants of
Boeotia, from which country they were expelled by the followers of
Cadmus (Peck; Pliny's Natural History, iv.12).
^Roger D. Woodard (2008), "Greek dialects", in: The Ancient Languages of Europe, ed. R. D. Woodard, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 51.
^The Illyrian Atintani, the Epirotic Atintanes and the Roman Protectorate N. G. L. Hammond, The Journal of Roman Studies Vol. 79 (1989), pp. 11-25 "There were Illyrian Amantini in Pannonia and Greek Amantes in North Epirus"
^Wilkes, John. The Illyrians (The Peoples of Europe). Wiley-Blackwell, 1995, p. 97.
^Mogens Herman Hansen and Thomas Heine Nielsen. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis. Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 345.
^Mogens Herman Hansen and Thomas Heine Nielsen. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis. Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 338.
^
abJohn Boardman and Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond. The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 3, Part 3: The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries B.C. Cambridge University Press, 1992, p. 284.
^Woodhouse, William John. Aetolia: Its Geography, Topography, and Antiquities. Clarendon Press, 1897, p. 70. "Ptolemy, however, makes them neighbours of the Epirot tribe of the Kassopaioi, who lived on the coast of the Ionian sea."