Oetaea ( grc, Οἰταῖα) was a historic region of

ancient Thessaly Thessaly or Thessalia (Attic Greek: , ''Thessalía'' or , ''Thettalía'') was one of the traditional regions of Ancient Greece. During the Mycenaean period, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, a name that continued to be used for one of the major tribes ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

inhabited by the Oetaei (Οἰταῖοι). It was the mountainous district around

Mount Oeta Mount Oeta (; el, Οίτη, polytonic , ''Oiti'', also transcribed as ''Oite'') is a mountain in Central Greece. A southeastern offshoot of the Pindus range, it is high. Since 1966, the core area of the mountain is a national park, and much of ...

in the upper valley of the Spercheius, and to the east of

Dolopia Dolopia ( grc, Δολοπία) is a mountainous region of Greece, located north of Aetolia. Geography Dolopia was located between Epirus and Thessaly, eventually absorbed into the latter. It was a mountainous district in the southwestern corner of ...

. The Oetaeans appear to have been the collective name of the various predatory tribes, dwelling upon the northern declivities of Mt Oeta, who are mentioned as plundering both the

Malians This article is about the demographic features of the population of Mali, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Population ...

on the east, and the

Dorians The Dorians (; el, Δωριεῖς, ''Dōrieîs'', singular , ''Dōrieús'') were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Hellenes (or Greeks) of Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the Aeolians, Achaeans, and Ionian ...

on the south. The most important of these tribes were the Aenianes (Αἰνιᾶνες - Aeniānes), called Eniēnes (Ἐνιῆνες) by

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

and

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

, an ancient Hellenic Amphictyonic race. They are said to have first occupied the Dotian plain in

Pelasgiotis Pelasgiotis ( grc, Πελασγιῶτις, Pelasgiōtis) was an elongated district of ancient Thessaly, extending from the Vale of Tempe in the north to the city of Pherae in the south. The Pelasgiotis included the following localities: Argos Pela ...

; afterwards to have wandered to the borders of

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...

, and finally to have settled in the upper valley of the Spercheius, where

Hypata Ypati ( el, Υπάτη) is a village and a former municipality in Phthiotis, central peninsular Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality of Lamia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an a ...

was their chief town. Besides Hypata, which was the only place of importance in Oetaea, we find mention of Sperchiae and Macra Come by

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

, and of Sosthenis (Σωσθενίς), Homilae (Ὅμιλαι), Cypaera (Κύπαιρα) and Phalachthia (Φαλαχθία) by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

. Oetaea formed a political unit in antiquity. It minted silver and bronze coins with the following legends: «ΟΙΤ», «ΟΙΤΑ», «ΟΙΤΑΩΝ», and «ΟΙΤΑΙΩΝ».

References

Geography of ancient Thessaly Historical regions in Greece {{AncientThessaly-geo-stub