XV – COLONIZATION ON NORTHERN PELOPONNESUS – EGIALA BY THE ACHAEANS

XV – COLONIZATION ON NORTHERN PELOPONNESUS – EGIALA BY THE ACHAEANS

a) The Thessalian Achaeans

Achaea is located on the northern part of the Peloponnesus between Argolida, Arcadia and Elida, on the shores of the Corinthian Gulf. Originally Achaea was called Egiala because it had such a large sea coast area shaped like an “eigialos”. The people living in Egiala were known as the Egialan Pelasgians.

The Achaeans arrived in the Balkans around 1600 to 1400 BC during the Mid-Minian epoch when the “Aegean Civilization” was at its zenith,.

The Achaeans are of Indo-European origin. Those of Kurgan ancestry migrated in a north westerly direction between the Aral and Caspian and headed in the direction of Europe, ending up in Pannonia. They then traveled along the valleys of the Morava and Vardar Rivers, or along the Adriatic coast, Epirus and along the Pindus massif until they reached Ftia in Thessaly. They couldn’t travel any further because the Thermopylae was guarded by the Phoenician Cadmians. (Thomson, G.: I Arhaia Eilliniki Koinonia-to Proistoriko Algaio, p. 183, Athina, 1954.) The earliest historic data about the Achaeans comes to us from the Hittites and from the Egyptians. During the 14th century BC, the Hittites had a powerful dynasty in Anatolia and during Mursil’s leadership, around 1350-1320 BC, they spoke about a people called “Ahhiiawa” or “Ahhiyawan”. (Papastavrou, I,: Istoria tis Arhaias Elladoс, p. 29, Hiotelli, Athinai, 1972.; Taylor, W.L.: The Mycenaeolns, p. 158, Thames and Hudson, London, 1983.; Macqueen, J.G.: the Hittites and their contemporaries in Asia Minor, London, 1986.) The Egyptians in their chronicles during Ramses II’s time, in 1288 BC, wrote on their monuments about the “Akaiwasha”. (Childe, VG: The Aryans, a Study of Indo-European Origin, p. 63, 72, London, 1927.)

The Pre-Balkan name of the Achaeans in mythology and in prehistory is unknown. They were named “Achaeans” by the native Thessalian Pelasgians of Ftia, descendants of Pelasg, son of Triop, who left Argolida around 1453 BC and conquered Ftia which was previously inhabited by wild tribes. Triop in mythology was of Aeolian Lapiti origin. According to Graves (Graves, R.: The Greek Myths, Penguin Books, Middlesex, 1972) the word “Achaia” means one who is constantly “grief”-stricken, sad and mourning. There are many toponyms in the Central Balkans associated with “grief”. Perhaps we should be looking for traces of their existence

there, before their arrival in Ftia, their new homeland. In history they are mostly noted as “Thessalian Achaeans” and rarely as “Aeolian Achaeans”.

In mythology “Ftei”, the Pelasgian leader, had a brother named Ismen and sister named Egina. Ismen had two daughters, Dirka and Strofia, whose names denote two Theban sources. Egina married Aktor, kings of Ftia, and had two sons Menetei and Eurition. Menetei lived in Lokrida and his son was Patroklo, a relative and inseparable friend of Achilles. (II., XI, 202-814)

Patroklo spent his early childhood in Lokrida. During a game he unwittingly and unintentionally killed his friend and because of that his father, Menetei, sent him to Ftia to be with king Pelei who cleansed the boy of his crime. Patroklo grew up in the company of Achilles, Pelei’s son, and the two developed a lasting friendship. Later, the two friends sought the hand of the beautiful Helen of Sparta. When preparations were being made for the Trojan War, Nestor of Pil and Odysseus of Ithaca came to Ftia and called on Achilles and Patroklo to join them. During the war Patroklo showed exceptional courage and Achilles was amazed at the cordiality of his friend. Unfortunately Patroklo was killed by Hector, the greatest Trojan hero during the war.

Later Achilles also was killed by Paris, son of Priam, and his body was burned in a large bonfire, while big games were carried out to mark the occasion of his death and the sacrifice of twelve captured young Trojan men. Later Achilles’s ashes were placed in a golden urn together with Patroklo’s ashes and buried in Leuk Island at the mouth of the Danube River, where Achilles had his own temple and bust. (Pauzania, Periigissis tis Ellados, III, 19th (Prev. Pasini: Vodič po Heladi), Logos, Split, 1989.)

Egina, Eak Pelei, Achilles, Neoptolem in the Macedonian rebus

Egina, Pelasg’s sister, had a son with Zeus named Eak whom she gave birth to at Enon Island in the Saronik Bay. The island was later renamed Egina. Egina did not stay on the island long and returned to Ftia where she married Aktor and had his son Menetei. Menetei was Patroklo’s father. Egina left Eak on the island. The island was uninhabited because the jealous Hera had destroyed its population, so Eak asked Zeus to grant him some company and some people over whom he could rule. As many people as there are ants crawling on a sacred oak tree, Eak suggested. Zeus then granted Eak his wish and turned all the ants into people, who then became known as the Mirmidoni (mirmiks means ant).

Eak was very religious and with his prayers was able to save many people and because of that he was respected not only in Egina and Athens, but also in Arcadia. Eak participated in building the Trojan walls and fortresses. Eak married Eneida who gave birth to two sons, Telemon and Pelei. Later Psamata bore him a son named Fok. During a disc throwing match, Telemon and Pelei inadvertently killed their half-brother Fok. Because of that Eak drove them out of Egina. Telemon took shelter in Salamis while Pelei went to live with king Evrition in Thessalian Ftia.

Evrition was Aktor’s son and king of the Thessalian Ftia. Evrition gave Pelei, Eak’s son, shelter in his own court and cleansed him of his sin of having killed Fok. Evrion then gave Pelei the hand of his daughter Antigona in marriage and one third of his own kingdom. However, while hunting the Caledonian wild boar, Pelei inadvertently killed Evrition. Because of that Pelei left Ftia and took shelter with king Akast in Iolk where he was cleansed of his crime. Pelei enjoyed Iolk’s hospitality until Astidamia, Akast’s wife, fell in love with him. Pelei rejected her love, but to sanctify it, Astidamia sent messengers to Pelei’s wife telling her that her husband was about to marry Steropa, Akast’s daughter. In despair, Antigona hung herself. On top of that, Astidamia told her husband that Pelei had tried to rape her. Akast did not want to kill his guest, so he instructed him to go on a hunt in Pelion Mountain among the centaurs, where he proved his exceptional hunting skills. After receiving a sign from Zeus he married Tetida, Nerei’s daughter, who bore him seven sons, among whom was Achilles, his youngest.

After leaving Achilles in the care of the centaur Hiron, Pelei left Ftia and blessed Akast, he then participated in the Argonaut Expeditions and in the funeral ceremonies. He became very sad in his old age because he outlived his son Achilles and his grandson Neoptolem. When they found out that Achilles was dead, Akast’s sons took over Pelei’s throne and expelled him from Ftia. The old king then fled to the Kos Island in the Carpathian Archipelago where he later died.

When Agamemnon was preparing for the Trojan campaign, the Eolians, Nestor and Odysseus, came to Ftia to persuade Achilles to join them. Achilles accepted the challenge and, as head of the Mirmidoni, went to war with fifty ships. Homer (Homer, Iliad and Odyssey, II, 681, Novi Sad, 1985. (Prev. MN Gjurigj)) dedicated the following song to them: “... Who were from Arg, where in the Pelasgian end they lived, who were from Alopa, from An and from Trehin, from Ftia and Helada with beautiful women, they called on the Mirmidoni, Heleni and still Achaeans, with fifty ships they came led by Achilles…”

During the Trojan War, Achilles lost his dearest friend Patroklo, killed by Hector, son of Priam. After Patroklo’s funeral, Achilles, in honour of his friend, challenged and killed Hector in a duel. Achilles then tied Hector’s body to his cart and dragged it through the camp three times and then surrendered it to Priam. During the war, Paris, Priam’s son and beautiful Helena’s abductor, with help from Apollo, shot Achilles in the heel, the only vulnerable part of his body, and killed him. Struggle over Achilles’s dead body was fierce. Afterwards all mourned Achilles’s death, especially the Mirmidoni. His body was burned in a bonfire, and his ashes were added to the ashes of his friend Patroklo in a golden urn. According to folk legends, Tetida, Achilles’s mother, took the urn to Leukas Island, located at mouth of the Danube River, where the divine part of his body continued to live. Achilles’s myth has been an inspiration for many works of literature and since Alexander the Greats’ time has been a great example for many rulers.

Achilles had a son named Neoptolem whose fate is tied to the plunder of the shrine in Delphi. After attempting to rob the shrine, Neoptolem was killed by Maharei, a resident of Delphi.

b) The Peloponnesian Achaeans

While the Achaeans lived in Thessalian Ftia (“ftio” meaning to destroy) along the river Sperhei (“sperho” meaning to persecute, to burn), in the cities Al and Alopa (“Aliot” meaning not forever) and the Eladiti (“elos” meaning swamp) and the Trahini (“trahino” meaning mean, bitter) were reduced to impoverishment, in the middle of the 13th century BC, that’s when Pelops from Asia Minor conquered the greater part of the Achaean Peloponnesus and became its eponimic hero.

The Lydian Pelops - Colonization leader and king of Elida

Pelops in mythology was the son of Lydian or Phrygian king Tanta. With help from Poseidon, Pelops obtained winged horses and golden chariots and, together with his Lydians and Phrygians and with all his wealth, flew over the island Lesbos and arrived among the poor residents of Ftia. Then with the Achaeans, by land or by boat, he arrived at the northwestern coast of the Peloponnesus. After Pelops defeated King Enomei, he married his daughter Hipodamia and reigned with Elida and became ruler of Piza. He colonized the shores of the Corinthian Gulf with the Achaeans where the Elialski Pelasgians lived and the region became known as Achaia. The peninsula, originally called Pelazgiotis, with the arrival of the Danai became known as Apis, named after their sacred Egyptian bull. But in the end, on account of Pelops, the region became known as the Peloponnesus. One part of the Achaeans who colonized the northern part of the peninsula became known as the “Egialski” Achaeans. They had 12 cities. Another, a smaller part, who colonized southern Laconia, known as the “Parakipariski” Achaeans, had 11 cities, among which the most significant were Giteon and Leuktra. Pelops and Hipodamia had several children, the most famous being sons Atrei and Tiest and daughter Nikipa. Nikipa married Stenel, king of Mikena, Persei’s son, who established links between the Danai and Pelopidi Dynasties. Born from this marriage was Evristei, who was delivered two months early in the pregnancy due to Heron’s wisdom. Evristei became master of Trinit, Mikena and Midei instead of Alkmen’s son Hercules who now had to obey Evristei because he was born later. Hercules’s adventures, due to his delayed birth, will be presented in a separate chapter.

Atrei - king of Mikena and father of the Pelopidi Dynasty

Atrei was married to Mini’s granddaughter Aeropa of Crete, who gave birth to sons Agamemnon and Menelai and daughter Anaksibia. One day tragedy struck that family when Atrei and Tiest were persuaded by their mother to kill their half brother Hristip, son of Pelops and Aksioha, and dump his body into a well. After this crime Pelops cursed his sons and they, fearing their father’s wrath, fled to Mikena to their brother-in-law king Stenel. And because Avristei, Stenel’s son, had no heir, the prophet advised the people of Mikena to choose one of Pelop’s sons as king. And thus Atrei became the first king of Mikena and, according to his agreement with the people, ruled Mikena around 1250 BC. During his reign he raised many architectural monuments, such as the lion’s gate, the Atrei treasury, the large palace walls, the Megara with two rooms and an open lobby and others. The Danai Dynasty was replaced by the Pelopodi Dynasty.

In time Tiest seduced his brother Atrei’s wife Aeropa and, because of that, fled Mikena and went to Sikion, where, without knowing, fell in love with his own daughter Pelopia who gave birth to Egist. When Egist grew up he murdered his uncle Atrei. While Agamemnon fought in Troy, Egist persistently flattered his wife.

Agamemnon - king of Mikena and leader of the opposition in the Trojan War

Agamemnon was the eldest son of Atrei who became king of Mikena (Mycenae). He married Klitemnestra, daughter of Spartan king Tindarei, who helped him become ruler. Klitemnestra gave Agamemnon a son named Orestes and three daughters named Electra, Iphigenia and Hrisotemida. Agamemnon’s fate is linked with the Trojan War, which lasted ten years, with the sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia, with the love vicissitudes during the war, with Hriseida, Briseida and Cassandra and with the quarrels with Achilles.

After the fall of Troy, Agamemnon returned to his homeland where he was killed by his wife Klitemnestra and her lover Egist, Tiest’s son.

Orestes - the last king of Mikena (Mycenae)

To avenge his father’s death, Orestes killed his mother Klitemnestra and Egist. Then after his court vicissitudes, he assumed rule of Mikena and was ruler for about 70 years. He died in his ninetieth year as a refugee in Tegei, after Argolida fell to the Hellenes. He was buried in Tegei.