XIV – PREHISTORIC PELOPONNESUS -COLONIZATION

XIV – PREHISTORIC PELOPONNESUS -COLONIZATION

The Peloponnesus is the geographic name of the southernmost part of the Balkans. It is a large peninsula attached to the mainland at Corinth. It has many banks along the sea coast like branches with numerous bays and peninsulas. The land is mountainous consisting of the mountains Taiget (2437 m), Pernon (1935 m) Erimant (2244 m), Kilen (2376 m) and others. The major rivers in the Peloponnesus are the Penei, Alphei and Evrotas.

Archaeological research conducted by Pliman, Kuntas, Blegen, Weiss, Papadimitriou, Milonas and others has revealed an abundance of archaeological material in the Arg, Mikena, Pil and other localities. According to Mycenaean culture predominance, several stages of development have been carried out from early 1600 to 1100 BC. Based on archaeological findings, historians have concluded that the Peloponnesus was inhabited during the Mesolithic period between 1900-1600 BC. Arg genealogy was used as a benchmark which was followed back for seventeen to eighteen generations from the Trojan War. And thus Argolida will be very important to this study.

Pelasgian colonization

In prehistoric times Argolida covered the northeast part of the Peloponnesus. It bordered Attica and Achaia to the north over the Corinthian Isthmus and Laconia to the south. Its prehistoric cities were Arg, Nauplei, Tirint, Mikena, Sikion, Epidaurus, Corinth, Trezen, Hermion, Lern and others.

The city “Arg” was named after its king “Arg”, grandson of Inah and god of the river “Inah” in Argolida. In mythology Inah was of Pelasgian origin from Asia Minor. He was the son of Ocean and Tetida (Tethys), from whom the mythical history of Argolida began. He was also mentioned as a contemporary to Erihtonei, mythical king of Athens. Inah led the people off the mountains when environmental conditions were right and the Argolian wetlands had dried up through channels dug to regulate river flow and by clearing forests.

Inah was believed to be an ancestor of the Argolian heroes and kings. His wife Melia bore him Foronei, Pelasg, Agialei, Arg, Mikena and Ia. Inah also instituted Hera’s cult in Argolia. (Pauzania, Periigissis tis Ellados, II, 15, 5, (prev. Pasini: Vodič po Heladi), Logos, Split, 1988)

When Foronei became king he united his people, who lived far away from each other, in mutual settlements and taught them how to use fire and to respect the gods. His daughter Nioba was the first mortal with whom Zeus fell in love, and from whose relationship Arg, the Argolian hero and founder of the city Arga, was born. Arg went to Liberia from where he procured grain and taught his countrymen how to grow crops.

Many mythical heroes from Arga, Thessaly and Arcadia were named “Pelasg” and many people from these regions boasted of being natives. One of the Argolian heroes, named Pelasg, was Triop’s son, who provided hospitality to the goddess Demeter while she was looking for her daughter Kora (Persephone). He erected a sanctuary for Demeter near which he was later buried. Pelasg built the fortress of Larissa which he named after his daughter. Larisa conceived three sons with Poseidon, “Pelasg”, “Ahai” and “Ftei”, who left the Peloponnesus and conquered Ftia in Thessaly, which was previously inhabited by wild tribes. (Pauzania, Periigissis tis Ellados, I, 14th 2, II, 22, (prev. Pasini: Vodič po Heladi), Logos, Split, 1988) Another of the Argolian kings, named Pelasg, was the son of the native Palehton. He provided refuge for Egyptian colonists who were led there by Danai and his daughters.

The Egialian Pelasgians were Pelasgians from the northern part of the Peloponnesus, located on the shores of the Corinthian Gulf, who changed their name to Aheitsi (Achaeans) with the arrival of the Achaeans. The Kaukonian were Pelasgians from the northwestern part of the Peloponnesus in Elida.

Colonization of the Peloponnesus by the Aeolians, Lapiti and Tiroi

According to Thomson (Thomson, G.: I Arhaia Eilliniki Koinonia-to Proistoriko Algaio, p. 268, Athina, 1954), based on “Minoan ceramic” archaeological findings from the Dimini Culture of the Peloponnesus, it can be concluded that the carriers of that culture were the Aeolian Lapiti and Tiroi. The genealogical trees of these two people were first established in Thessaly where they first stopped in the Balkans on their way south through the Beotian Orhomen. The Aeolian Lapiti left their footprints in Attica, Athens, Corinth, Elida, Arcadia, Argolida and on the Cycladic Islands including Serif, the smallest island.

The descendants of the Aeolian Tiroi left their footprint in Corinth, Elida, Mesena and other places.

The first person from the Lapiti to become king of Arg was Forbant. He became king after returning from Rod (Rhodes). Forbant had a son named Triop. In mythology Forbant was Triop’s son. According to Argolian tradition Triop had three sons, named Ias, Agenor and Pelasg. After their father’s death, Ias, along with his brothers Agenor and Pelasg, ruled the Peloponnesus. Ias had a daughter named Ia who was a princess, a priestess of the goddess Hera and mistress to the supreme god Zeus. Because of her relationship with Zeus, the jealous Hera banished Ia. To save her, Zeus transformed her into a white cow. But the wise Hera was not fooled and sent Ia an angry gadfly to annoy and victimize her no matter where she went. So Ia fled from country to country and then fled from Europe and crossed over to Asia through the Bosphorus (cow crossing) and eventually arrived in Egypt where Zeus returned her to her original form, gave her peace from the fly and impregnated her. In Egypt Ia gave birth to Epaf, son of Zeus, who later became king of Egypt. Epaf married Memfida, Nilo’s daughter, and they had three daughters, Libya, Lisianasa and Thebes. Epaf was thought to be the ancestor of the Danai and Cadmus. Later Epaf was identified with the Egyptian god Apid (Apis). Apis in Egypt was hailed as a god-bull. Later, with the colonization of the Peloponnesian Argolida by the Danans, the region was renamed Apia and its residents were called the Apidi.

Krotop, son of Agenor and grandson of Triop, was king of Arg. He had two children, a son named Stenel and a daughter named Psamat. Krotop paid his respects to Apollo after killing Python, a dragon near Delphi at the foot of Parnassus. After his death Krotop was buried in Arg and his son Stenel became king of Argolida. Stenel was replaced by his son Gelanor, who ruled as king of Argolida until the arrival of the Egyptian Danai colonists. Sisyphus, Eol’s son, was one of the wisest and cleverest of mortals. He was father to Glauk and grandfather to Belerofont. Sisyphus was king of Efir and founder of Corinth in the Peloponnesus. Sisyphus was also thought to be Odysseus’s father, another clever man. According to Homer (Homer, Iliad and Odyssey, II, VII, 152, Novi Sad, 1985 (prev. the MN Gjurigj)), “... there exists Efir, a town in the middle of Arg, famous for its horses, where Sisyphus lived, that most astute man, son of Eol, who had Glauk as his own son from whom the hero Belerofont was born...” After his death, Sisyphus was cruelly condemned for revealing divine secrets to people, for blasphemy and because he repeatedly raped Tira, his brother Salmonei’s daughter. In Hades, Sisyphus was made to push a huge rock uphill and when he reached the top the rock rolled back to the bottom. He had to do this in a dusty environment while sweating and without drinking water, for eternity. The phrase “Sisyphian work” was coined to describe the performance of never ending hard labour with low or no reward. Glauk inherited the throne of Corinth from his father Sisyphus. Efir became a famous horse breeder. Glauk was thought to be founder of the “Istamski” games and his son, Belerofont the Corinthian hero, for having killed Beler, from whom he got the name, had to leave Corinth and after that Tirint, where king Pret cleansed him of his sins. After that he went to Lycia, in Asia Minor, with the help of his winged horse Pegasus. In Lycia, Belerofont performed many heroic deeds and was revered as a great hero. He was also revered in Corinth. The myth about this hero was preserved by Euripides.

Orint, Sisyphus’s next son in line, inherited the throne from Glauk. Orint was replaced by his son Toant who became king of Corinth. In 1100 BC a few generations later, the Dorian and Hiantidi Helens, led by Alet, captured Corinth.

The Lapiti eventually colonized even the western part of the Peloponnesus. First to do that was Forbant, the elder son of king Lapit, who colonized Elida, the northwestern part of the Peloponnesus where the Kaukonian Pelasgians lived. According to Elidian folk lore, Forbant, from Thessaly crossed into the city Olen, in Achaia, west of Patra and here king Alektor helped him fight against Pelops, who from Ftia was bringing new Achaean colonists to Thessaly. In gratitude, Alektor divided his kingdom with the newcomers. To strengthen their friendship Alektor married Diogenia, Forbant’s daughter and Forbant took Hirmina, Alektor’s sister as his wife. Forbant had two sons, Aktor and Avgei, who, after their father’s death, divided their rule of Elida.

Aktor, king of Elida married Moliona and fathered the Molionidi twins Evrit and Kteat. They were the strongest of their generation but lost their young lives to Hercules during an ambush in Kelon where they went to compete in the “Istamski” games as representatives of Elida. Since then the residents of Elida stopped participating in these games. Avgei, Forbant’s second son, as king of Elida, was known for his wealth. He participated in the Argonauts expeditions in 1225 BC. During his rule he possessed the best and most numerous herds and flocks in the world. He had three hundred black bulls and two hundred reproductive cows. His livestock yards and stables had not been cleaned for several years. When Evristei, the king of Mikena, (Mycenae), Tirint and Mideia, from the Danaian Egyptian dynasty, ordered Hercules to clean the stables, Avgei was very happy because the awful stench was spreading around and threatening the entire country. Avgei, the king of Elida, promised Hercules one tenth of his cattle if he did the job in one day. Avgei believed that it would be impossible to do the job in one day.

When Hercules cleaned the stables in one day, Avgei refused to give him the promised reward, claiming that he did not do the job alone and that he

had help from the river gods who diverted the waters from the rivers Alphei and Peneus.

Avgei ruled Elida for a long time and died of extreme old age. After his death, his people became involved in the hunt for the Caledonian wild boar. Avgei was replaced by king Meget, Filei’s son. His mother was Laert’s daughter, Odysseus’s sister, and sister of Helena and Klitemnestra. Following the Lapiti genealogy of today’s southwestern Greece, Pausanius (Pausania, Periigissis tis Ellados, V, 3, (прев. Pasini: Vodič po Heladi), Logos, Split, 1989) said that from Toant, king of the Etolians, son of Andremon and founder of the city Amfis in Aetolia, through Hemon, Toant’s son and his own son Oksil to Endimion, there have been six generations of Lapiti kings ruling Elida. His son Epei was king of Elida when Lydian Pelops conquered Pisa and its neighbouring Olympia, separating it from Epeia. Because Epei had no children, the throne was inherited by his brother Etol, after which Peon fled to Macedonia.

Etol was married to Pronia, Forbant’s daughter, who bore him two sons named Pleuron and Kalidon, eponimic heroes of the two Etolian cities. Later, when Etol accidentally killed the Peloponnesian king Apid from Palantei, he fled north to Etolia where he fought with the Kureti. After that those lands were named Etolia. So, the Lapiti became masters of Etolia, a mountainous area west of Fokida, east of Akarnia and north of Corinth and the Gulf Petra.

Pleuron, son of Etol and Pronia, was the eponimic hero of the city Pleuron in Etolia. He had a temple with a monument dedicated to him in Sparta. Tindar’s sons from their maternal side, named Kastor and Polideuk, are Plauron’s descendants. (Pausania, Periigissis tis Ellados, III, 13, (прев. Pasini: Vodič po Heladi), Logos, Split, 1989)

Kalidon, Pleuron’s brother, became eponimic hero of the town Kalidon (Caledonia) in Etolia. The city later became famous for its game, where only the bravest warriors from the entire region hunted Artemis’s wild boar which destroyed crops. In mythology, this event was known as “The Hunt of the Caledonian wild boar” which took place during the Caledonian king Enei’s time, son of Pleuron. Enei was the first mortal to whom Dionysus, Zeus’s youngest immortal son, presented a grape vine and named the wine after him. It is also said that Enei’s eldest shepherd Stefil (grapes) one day spotted a goat eating a not yet known fruit. The shepherd collected some of the fruit and squeezed it, producing juice. King Enei then “patented” this juice and named it after himself, “Ionos” wine. Enei was well known for his hospitality and had served feasts for heroes and gods in his court. Besides Dionysus, included among his guests were Hercules, Belerofont, Agamemnon and Menelai. Enei had many children including son Meleagar and daughter Deianira.

Meleagar was one of the mythical heroes who hunted the Caledonian wild boar. His mother was Altea, Testei’s daughter, king of the city Pleuron in Etolia. Meleagar married Cleopatra who gave birth to a daughter named Polidora. Maleagar also had a son named Partenopei but with a woman named Atalanta. Polidora married Protesilai, a Thessalian hero from Filak, who participated in the Trojan War with 40 ships and who was killed immediately after his arrival at the battle zone. He was killed by Hector and his tragedy was described by Euripides.

Partenopei, Meleagar’s son, grew up in Arg in the Peloponnesus and distinguished himself with his exceptional physical charm and gigantic stature. He died during the campaign of the Seven against Thebes. His son Promahon participated in the Epigontsi campaign in Thebes.

Meleagar participated in the Argonaut expeditions and in the funeral games after Pelei’s death in Iolk. During a hunt of the wild boar in Caledonia a quarrel broke out over the skin of the pig, at which time Meleagar thoughtlessly killed both his uncles from the city Pleuron, where the Kureti tribe lived. Some say Meleagar also lost his own life while killing his uncles but others argue that he was killed by Apollo during the war with the Kureti. Later, when Hercules entered the underworld to search for Kerber, Meleagar’s shadow told him about his evil destiny and asked him to take his sister Daianira for a wife. Meleagar’s fateful story was preserved by Euripides and Sophocles.

After leaving the underworld, Hercules went to Caledonia where he married Daianira and then left for home. On their way, Hercules and Daianira arrived at the river Euen, where the Centaur Nes, son of king Ision and Nefeta, Lapiti from Thessaly, ferried passengers and bystanders across the river. The river at the time was running wild with rapids and vortices because of winter melt and rain, so Nes suggested that Hercules swim alone across the river and entrust Daianira to him. Heracles accepted Nes’s advice and paid him for the trip. When Heracles arrived at the other side of the river, he heard his wife screaming for help. Nes had raped her. Then Heracles mortally wounded the centaur with an arrow. So in order to take revenge on Hercules, Nes advised Daianira to collect his blood and seed, mix it together and use it on Hercules so that he would not lose his love for her. Daianira did what Nes recommended. Later when Hercules, during the war with the Phoenician Evhalii of Halkidiki, captured Iola, king Evrit’s daughter, an extraordinarily beautiful woman, Dainari became

jealous of her and used the potion on Hercules, which brought misfortune to her family and to Hercules’s homeland.

The Akarnanians were neighbours of Etolia. Akarnania is also a mountainous region which runs along the coast of the Ionian Sea, west of the river Aheloi. Eponimenal hero of the Acarnanians was Akarnan, an Eolian, son of Alkmeon and Kalironi, descendent of Melanpod from Arg of the Peloponnesus.

Colonization of Mesenia. Nelei, king of Pil

Mesenia was a region located in the southwestern part of the Peloponnesus. On its east it borders Laconia and Arkadia, on the north it borders Elida and on the southwest it borders the Ionian Sea. There is a fertile plain in between the mountains Taigrt (2437 m) on the east and Kapiricia (1218 m) on the west, which is open towards the Mesenian Gulf, through which the river Pamis flows. The first inhabitants of Mesenia were Lelezi from Asia Minor. Their rulers were Leleg and his descendants and later the Pelasgian Kavkons.

The Pannonian colonization of Mesenia began with Nelei, Pelei’s brother. After becoming king of Iolk in Thessaly, Pelei drove his brother Nelei out. When Nelei left he took with him his relatives Melampod and Biant. After traveling through Boeotia, Attica and Argolida, or by sea, they arrived in Mesena, where, on the southern part of the Gulf of Navarino, they founded the town Pil which, due to the popularity of its founder, Homer, in his epics, calls it Nelei’s city.

According to Pausanias (Pausania, Periigissis tis Ellados, VI, 2, (прев. Pasini: Vodič po Heladi), Logos, Split, 1989), when Nelei first arrived in Mesena he was received by his relative Afarei, who had founded the town Arena and named it after his wife. Afarei was the son of Periei and a descendent of the Eolians from Thessaly and the Enareti. Afarei was also ruler of Mesenia. He was married to Gorgofona, Persei’s daughter from Argos in the Peloponnesus. Afarei was father to Link, Id and Pis, all kings of Messenia. Periei also had three more sons, Leukip, Tintarei, and Ikarei. Leukip became king of Mesenia, and Tintarei of Sparta. Leukip had three daughters known as the Leukipidi. After Leukip became king, Ikarei fled to Akarnania and married Polikasta who gave birth to a daughter named Penelope and to two or five sons. When Penelope grew up there were many requests for her hand in marriage. This prompted Ikarei to organize a contest which was the won by Odysseus of Ithaca, who became her husband.

Being among his relatives in the Peloponnesus, Nelei married Hlorida, daughter of Amfion and Niobina of the Minean tribe from Podunavie. She bore him twelve sons and a daughter named Pera. The most famous of his son’s were Nestor and Periklimen.

As king of Pil, Nelei lived to a ripe old age. Archaeological research has revealed that Nelei, with Megaron’s help, built a great palace called “Nestor’s Palace”. Other discoveries include 1,200 ceramic tiles inscribed with Linear “B” letters, which date back to about 1200 BC.

According to Thomson (Thomson, G.: I Aрhaia Eilliniki Koinonia-to Proistoriko Algaio, p. 130, 285, Athina, 1954), it was the Neleidi and the Lapiti who brought the Paleo Balkan Glossology and religion from the Danube to the Peloponnesus. This can be concluded not only from the linear “B” writing but also from the place names, such as the names of the rivers Peneus, Enipei, Minei, located primarily in Elida and brought to Eolia and later to Thessaly. The Neleidi and the Lapiti also introduced the myth of their ancestress Tiro, daughter of Salmonei, son of Eol who spent his youth in Thessaly. The myth says that he later moved to Elida where he founded the town Salmon, located north of Olympia. Here Salmonei became king of Elida and married Alkidika, Alei’s daughter, who gave birth to the beautiful and wise Tiro.

The god Poseidon arrived in Mesena with the Neleidi. (Thomson, G.: I Aрhaia Eilliniki Koinonia-to Proistoriko Algaio, p. 285, Athina, 1954) The Neleidi were also excellent sailors. According to Aristotle, the people of Pil sailed not only to the Caucasus but also along the Ionian and Adriatic Seas, where they picked up amber. According to Herodotus (Herodotus, History, III, 155, Matica Srpska, Belgrade, 1988), the amber came from the river that the barbarians called Eridan, which today is the River Sava located near Belgrade. In mythology, Eridan accepted Faeton, son of Helios, whose desire was to imitate his father in operating the golden, solar chariot and who was struck down from the sky by Zeus and found dead in the waters of Eridan. Featon was buried by the Hesperiditi. Because his sisters, the Heleiditi, cried day and night, Zeus took pity on them and turned them into poplar trees and their tears into amber.

Large quantities of amber were found in Pil (1939, 1952-1964, Blegen, VK, and American archaeologists) during archeological digs. Pil was an important place on the “Kilibar Road” extending from the northern Balkans to the Mediterranean Sea. Periklimen, Nelei’s eldest son, participated in the Argonaut Expedition in 1225 BC. He was killed in battle by Hercules when he came to Pil to cleanse Nelei from the sin of having killed Ifit, the famous archer, son of king Evrit who ruled Enhaleia in Mesena. Nelei however refused to be cleansed because he was a great friend of Ifit’s father. Because of that, Hercules attacked the Neleiditi and killed eleven if Nelei’s sons, except for the youngest son Nestor who was absent. After that, Nelei entrusted his kingdom to his son Nestor and retired in Corinth with his relatives, where he died of old age and was buried with great honour. (Pausania, Periigissis tis Ellados, II, 2, III, 26, Logos, Split, 1989)

The myth about Hercules seizing Pil, it seems, was another event in the Ahelian penetration of Thessalian Ftia under the leadership of Pelops during the XIII-XII century BC (Graves, 1990). (Graves, R.: The Greek Myths, Penguin books, Middlessex, 1972)

Nestor, king of Pil, in the Trojan War

Nestor, Nelei’s youngest son, married Eurydice who bore him two daughters and seven sons. Their sons’ names were Pizistrat, Antioh, Trasimed, Aret, Persei, Stratih and Ehefton. He was a wise and brave king of Pil who participated in the famous hunt for the Caledonian wild boar and in the Argonaut Expedition. He was very much engaged in the preparations for the Trojan War, when he, with Odysseus, traveled the entire region looking to hire men for his army. He even went to Ftia in Thessaly to persuade Achilles and Patrokle to participate in the war. Nestor arrived in Troy with twenty war ships and brought with him two of his sons, Antioh and Trasimed. During the Trojan War he excelled in horsemanship, was an important counsel and a wise strategist. (Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey, II, IV, 170, Novi Sad, 1985 (prev. MN Gjurigj)) After Troy was taken he returned to his native Pil at his splendid palace where he spent his entire life. He died of old and was buried there.

When the Hellenic Dorians conquered the Peloponnesus in 1104 BC, many Neleidi left Mesena and settled in Athens where, together with the Lapiti, became royal ruling families. According to Herodotus and Pausanians (Herodotus, History, V, 65, Matica Srpska, Belgrade, 1988.; Pausanij, II, 18, 8), some Neleidi survived the Hellenic infestation in Mesena, as witnessed by the I and II Mesenan War, during the VIII and VII century BC. Among the closest relations to the Neleiditi of Pil and Athens were the Pizistratiditi, the Kodriditi, the Alkmeoniditi and the Peoniditi, about whom we will present more information in the chapter on the colonization of Athens.

Melampod, a celebrated physician and prophet

Nelei’s relatives Melampod and Biant, two brothers and sons of Amintei were of Podunsko (Danubian) origin. Melampod lived near Pil and became a famous prophet because he understood the speech of birds. He practiced medicine, human reproduction, and was especially known for his abilities to cure madness. His first success was curing Ifiklei of infertility. Ifiklei was the son of king Filak of Thessaly and as a reward Filak gave Melapod his cattle, who in turn donated them to his brother Biant when he returned to Mesena.

His next and even bigger success came when he healed king Pret’s daughters, Lisipa and Ifianasa. Pret was an Argolian king. His daughters made the goddess Hera, Zeus’s wife, very angry when they joined the Dionysian cult, so she punished them by making them go mad. King Pret called on Melampod to heal his daughters because madness was a very difficult affliction. As payment for his services, Melampod wanted one third of Pret’s kingdom. Pret, however, thought that the price was too high and thus dismissed Melampod. Unfortunately, in time, the madness spread to other Argolian women and caused collective hysteria. Women were leaving their husbands, children and homes and were wandering all over the Peloponnesus. The king was left with no choice but to call back Melampod, but this time Melampod raised his fee to two-thirds of Pret’s domain, one third for himself and the other third for his brother Biant. Pret begrudgingly accepted Melampod’s offer and when the deed was done and all the women were healed he was satisfied with Melampod’s services. As a result, he also allowed the two brothers to marry his daughters. Melampod’s descendants ruled Argolida for six generations. Included among those descendants were Abant, his son Amfiarei a hero from the Theban wars in 1213 BC, participant in the Caledonian hunt for the boar and participant in the Argonaut Expeditions. Amfiarei was followed by his son Alkmeon, king of Arg, participant in the war against Thebes, and by his son Akarnan, eponimic hero of Akarnania, etc.

Biant king of Arg

When Biant, Amintei’s younger son and Melampod’s brother, moved to Mesina to be with his relative Nelei, king of Pil, he fell in love with the king’s daughter Pera and asked the king if he could marry her. The king promised him his daughter under the condition that he first bring Filak’s famous Thessalian cattle to him. Biant accepted the challenge, went to Thessaly and tried to steal the cattle but was unsuccessful because they were guarded by a vicious dog which never slept. But thanks to his brother Melampod who had cured Ifiklei, Filak’s son of infertility, Nelei was able to get his cattle and allowed young Biant to marry the beautiful Pera.

Again, thanks to Melampod’s merits, Biant also got part of Pret’s Kingdom in Argolida.

Biant and Pera had several children, the most famous being Talai, Adrast’s father. Later, when he became ruler of Arg and married Lisipa who gave birth to a daughter named Anaksibia.

Talai participated in the Argonaut Expeditions and when he died he was buried in Arg. He had several children, including Partenopei, Pronak, Makistei, Adrast and Erifil. Partenopei grew up in Arg and was exceptionally handsome and a big man. He was a military leader in the Campaign of Seven against Thebes and fought against the Phoenicians. He was a courageous fighter but was killed by Aktor.

Pronak was also king of Arg and was revered as a hero. Pronak had two sons named Lycurgus and Amfitei. Lycurgus became king of Немеiа in Argolida and successfully ruled over his kingdom to a ripe old age.

Mekistei participated in the campaign of Seven against Thebes, where died. His son Evriat, mentioned in the “Epigonic war against Thebes”, was a participant in the Trojan War.

Adrast was king of Arg and had six children. He was a military leader in the war of “Seven against Thebes” and in the “Epigonic war against Thebes”, where he lost his son Egialei. He was well respected in the Aegean world. Kianip, grandson of Adrast and son of Egial, was king of Arg and a participant in the Trojan War. He was one of the men hidden inside the wooden horse.

Colonization of Laconia

Laconia is located at the southeastern tip of the Peloponnesus. To its north it borders Arcadia, to its west is Messenia, to its southeast it is surrounded by the Aegean Sea and by a deep bay. Located between the mountains Parnon (1935 m) and Taiget (2437 m) is the Laconian plain, through which the river Evropa flows. Laconia is an ancient name; its modern name is Sparta.

The oldest town in Lakedemonia was Amikle, situated on the right bank of the Evropa River, where Apollo’s glorious sanctuary was located. The sanctuary was all enclosed and located in its center was Hiakint’s grave, the youngest and most handsome son of king Amikle. The sanctuary was

at its zenith between the VII-VI centuries BC. Discovered in it were numerous items from prehistoric times.

The Leleziti from Asia Minor colonize Laconia

According to Pausanias (Pauzania, Periigissis tis Ellados, III, 1, (prev. Pasini: Vodič po Heladi), Logos, Split, 1989), the first colonists of Lakedemonia were the Leleziti from Asia Minor, a group of brave sailors who scattered themselves around the coastal areas of the Aegean Sea. Their mythical ancestor was king Leleg who, with the nymph Kleoharia, had sons Evrot, Milet and Polikaon and a daughter named Terapna. Milet replaced his father and was credited with inventing the mill. After his death, his brother Evrot took over from Milet and drained the stagnant waters into the sea by creating the river Evropa, which was named after him. Having no male children, Evrot’s rule was past on to Lakedemon, whose parents were Zeus and Taiget. According to legend Mount Taiget was named after Lakedemon’s mother Taiget. Lakedemon married Sparta, daughter of king Evrot. When he became ruler his name became known across the country and the country itself became known as Lakedemonia and its residents became known as Lakedemonians. After that, Lakedemon founded a city on the right bank of the Evropa River and named it Sparta, after his wife. Lakedemon was succeeded by his son Amikle, who founded the city Amikle south of Sparta, on the right bank of the Evropa River. After Amikle, rule was passed on to his eldest son Argal. Argal was replaced by his son Kinort and Kinort was replaced by his son Ebal. Ebal married Persei’s daughter Gorgofona, but according to other authors (Apollodori, Bibliotheca, (I-II century BC) III, 10, 3) Gorgofona was married to Perier, Eol’s son, a descendant of Thessaly, and gave birth to sons Afarai, Leukip, Tindarei and Ikarei. In another marriage with Ebal, she reportedly gave birth to Ikarei and Tindarei. (Pauzania, Periigissis tis Ellados, II, 21, (prev. Pasini: Vodič po Heladi), Logos, Split, 1989) According to another story, Ebal had a son named Hipokont with the nymph Bateia, who after his father’s death assumed the Spartan throne and drove his half-brothers out of the country. Tindarei and Ikarei took refuge with King Testei in Kalidon. Later, when Hercules killed Hipokont and his sons, Tindarei returned to Sparta and took over the throne.

Eoliand - Kings of Sparta

Tindarei and his wife Leda, daughter of Etolian king Testei, had twin sons, Kastor the tamer of horses and Polideuk the famous poet. According to their heavenly father Zeus the twins were called “Dioskuri” but according their earthly father, the Lakedemonian king Tindarei, they were called Tindaridi. Leda gave birth to twins Kastor and Polideuk as well as to the twins Helena and Klitemnestra at Mount Taiget. Polideuk and Helena were the immortal children of Zeus, who approached Leda in the form of a swan. Kastor and Klitemnestra were the children of Tindarei who shared the fate of mortals.

The “Dioskuri” participated in the Caledonian hunt of the wild boar and in the Argonaut Expeditions. Kastor was killed in combat with Afarei’s sons attempting to steal cattle. Feeling sad about his brother’s death, Polideuk asked his father Zeus to also send him to the underworld to be with his brother. Impressed by this gesture, Zeus rewarded their brotherly love by placing them at the Gemini constellation. The “Dioskuri” cult spread quickly throughout the Aegean world.

When the Pelopiditi of Asia Minor, a people of Lydian-Phrygian origin, established power in Mikena, king Tindarei was particularly sympathetic to the Atreian sons Agamemnon and Menelai. He forced his daughter Klitemnestra to marry Agamemnon, even though he had murdered her first husband Tantal. Then, on the advice of Odysseus, Tindarei married his other daughter to Menelai and later left him the Spartan throne. Later, during the Trojan War, he married his granddaughter Hermione to Agamemnon’s son Orestes, who after his father’s death became king of Sparta. Tindarei was buried in Sparta near Zeus’s sanctuary. And as such the Pelopoditi Dynasty came to power in Lakedomonia until Tisamen’s time, son of Orest, when Aristodem, leading the Hellenic Dorian, conquered Sparta in 1104 BC.

Arcadia – Land of the Pelasgians

The mountainous area in the middle of the Peloponnesus was called Arcadia, a word which etymologically is derived from the word arktos-arkos- Arcadia, i.e. country of bears.

According to Pausanias (Pauzania, Periigissis tis Ellados, II, 21, (prev. Pasini: Vodič po Heladi), Logos, Split, 1989), the first inhabitants of Arcadia were Pelasgians and their king was Pelasg, son of Zeus and Nioba, Foronei’s daughter. Pelasg taught his subjects to build huts, make clothing from pig skins and eat acorns.

Liakon, Pelasg’s son, had fifty sons and two daughters with his many wives. His sons became colonists and founded numerous towns in the Peloponnesus. Liakon was replaced by his eldest son Nikitim. According to later tradition, Liakon and his sons committed many crimes which resulted in the Deukalian flood. The next king of Arcadia was Arkad who ruled the Pelasgians of the Peloponnesus and because of him were called Arcadians. He instructed his people on how to grow cereals, how to made bread and how to create string from wool. He had three sons named Afeidant, Azan and Elat. Afeidant was ruler of the southeastern part of Arcadia, Azan was ruler of the northwestern part and Elat was ruler of the southwestern part. The capital of Afeidant’s kingdom was Tegei. Azan was king of the city Likozur. Klitor, one of his sons, was founder of the city Klitor. Klitor was the most powerful among the powerful kings. Elah had five sons, among who was Kilen, founder of the city Kilen and the mountain Kilen (2376 m), while his grandson Stimfol was the founder of the city Stimfol and the source of water by the same name.

Following are the names of Elat’s sons; Epit followed by Lycurgus, Ankei, who participated in the Argonaut expedition and the hunt of the Caledonian boar, etc. up to Ehem, Aerop’s son and king of the Tegeians in Arcadia. When the Helens came to conquer the Peloponnesus, Ehem opposed them by offering them a duel between himself and their leader Hil. The duel was held between Megara and Corinth, during which Ehem killed Hil. Later, when Ehem died he was buried in Tegei with great honours.

Three generations later the Hellenes tried to conquer the Peloponnesus again, this time from the northwest. At that time Polimestor was king of the Arcadians who successfully defended his homeland by involving and arming the entire Tegeian population, including the wives of the fighters. They defeated the Hellenes in battle and captured their leader and the rest of their army. Several years later the Arcadians helped the Mesenians in their fight against the Hellenes of Sparta. When the Hellenes occupied Argolida, king Orestes, son of Agamemnon, fled to Arcadia where he died of old age and was buried in Tegei.

According to Pausanias (Pauzania, Periigissis tis Ellados, VIII, 6, (prev. Pasini: Vodič po Heladi), Logos, Split, 1989), the Arcadians took part in the Trojan War and also participated in the war against the Persians in Platea in 479 BC.

Egyptian colonization of Argolida by the Danaidi

Danai - leader of the colonists

Gelanor was a Lapiti king of Arg and son of Argolian king Stenel. During his rule Egyptian colonists, led by Danai, arrived in the Peloponnesus. In mythology Danai was the son of Bel, king of Egypt, and his twin brother was called Egipt. Bel divided his kingdom so that Arabia was awarded to Egipt and Libya was given to Danai. Egipt had fifty sons and Danai had fifty daughters. According to Apollodori (Apollodori, Bibliotheca (I-II century BC), II, 1.4), Danai, fearing his brother and his children, fled to Argolida with his daughters. After he left, Egipt’s sons followed him in an attempt to settle their differences with their uncle and to ask him for his daughters. Danai promised his daughters to Egipt’s sons but ordered them to kill their husbands during the night of their wedding. Danai’s daughters did as their father asked, except for Hipermnestra who spared her husband’s life. Her husband’s name was Linkei. After that Egipt went to the Peloponnesus with a great army and made Linkei king of Arg.

Kings of Arg

Abant, king of Arg, married Aglaia and had two sons named Akrisei and Pret. Abant possessed a shield, whose power was so great that it made his Argolians antagonists very fearful. Pret became king of Tirint in Argolida and with Stenbei had a son named Megalent and two daughters named Lisipa and Ifiansa. Lisipa married Melampod and Ifiansa married his brother Biant, both Lapiti of Pannonian origin. They ruled Argolida for six consecutive generations.

Megalent rules Tirint after Pret dies

Akrisei, Abant’s son, became king of Arg but it was foretold that he would be killed by a grandson. So to avoid this tragedy he locked up his beautiful daughter Danaia in an underground room to which no one had access. However, Zeus, in the form of a raindrop, fell in love with her and she gave birth to his son Perseus.

Perseus, Elektrion, Alkemn, Amfitrion

When king Akrisei found out that Danaia had given birth, he locked her and his grandson into a wooden coffin and threw them into the sea. The waves took the coffin to Serif Island where mother and son were found by Diktis, brother of king Polidekt. Polidekt gave the two refuge at his own home and raised the boy as his own son. Perseus grew up to be an exceptionally handsome and strong young man. Meanwhile, the king fell in love with Danaia and, to remove Perseus from the island, he asked him to bring him Medusa’s head. Medusa was one of the Gorgons, an ugly monster in female form, whose head was full of snakes braided in her hair. She had teeth similar to those of a wild pig, a long tongue and hands of bronze, was winged and turned everything living into stone.

After wandering for a long time, suffering and performing heroic deeds with the help of the gods, with his winged outfit, his invisibility hat and with Hermes’s sword, Perseus eventually found and killed the monster and hacked its head off. Then, with Medusa’s head, and with Andromeda, king Etiopei’s daughter’s help, he returned to Serif Island and freed his mother. With the help of Medusa’s head, he was able to turn everyone present into stone. Perseus made Diktis king of Serif, and then, together with his mother and Andromeda, returned to Arg. When news of his return reached Akrisei, king of Arg, he fled in fear but Perseus went after him to talk him into coming back, but failed. Then during a match in Larissa, Perseus accidentally killed his grandfather with a discus and thus the prophecy was fulfilled. Perseus and the Thessalians gave Akrisei a state funeral with full honours and created a sanctuary for him.

Broken with pain, Perseus returned to Arg and, instead of becoming king of Arg, asked his relative Megapent, Pret’s son, king of Tirint to exchange with him Tirint for Arg. So Megapent became ruler of Arg while Perseus was king of Tirint. After that Perseus fortified Tirint, Midea and Mikena with high walls.

Perseus and Andromeda had six sons, Pers, Alkei, Stenel, Helei, Mestor and Elektrion and a daughter named Gorgofona. The arrival of Danai and Perseus at Serif Island was chronicled in Eshil’s satirical games.

Elektrion, son of Perseus and Andromeda, married his niece Anaksa, Alkei’s daughter, who bore him a daughter named Alkmena and nine sons. Amfitrion, Alkmena’s husband, was the son of Tirinian king Alkei, Perseus’s nephew. He was accidentally killed. Alkmena spent her first wedding night with both Zeus and Amfitrion and gave birth to twins.

Hercules was the son of Zeus, and Ifikle was the son of Amfitrion. Ifikle lived peacefully in Thebes with the Phoenicians and died in the war which the Thebans fought against the Minians of Orhomen in Boeotia, who were of Panonnian origin. He was buried in Thebes. We will talk about the myth of Hercules in the next chapter.

We can surmise from all this that the Danaian Egyptian colonizing dynasty, with its many descendants, left deep traces in the Peloponnesus, especially in Argolida. Many cultural achievements were associated with Danai and his daughters. It is said that Danai, before his relative Cadmus, introduced literacy in Greece. He first introduced artificial land irrigation and his daughters, the Danaiditi, passed on the skill of digging wells. (Strabo, Geographia, I, 23, 8, Meineke, Lipsiae, I, II, III, 1913) Perseus, through his son Elektrion, was the ancestor of Hercules, the greatest hero of that time. (Apollodori, Bibliotheca (I-II century BC)) The Herculean adventures in Hyperborea will be presented in a separate chapter. Did the Danai leave a genetic footprint that can be traced to the present day people? Let us see what researcher A. Donski (A. Donski, the language of the ancient Macedonians, Shtip, 2006, 20-211) has to say. In a publication published in the Danish medical journal “Tisseus Antigenes” (Tisseus Antigenes, 2001, 57, 2, 118-127), Donski says that today’s Greeks have significant similarities with the sub-Saharan nations (Ethiopia) that separates them from other Mediterranean groups.