Dryopes (; grc, Δρύοπες) or Dryopians () were one of the aboriginal tribes of ancient

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 wi ...

. According to

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...

, their earliest abode is said to have been on

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 ...

and its adjacent valleys, in the district called after them, Dryopis (Δρυοπίς). The Dorians settled in that part of their country which lay between Oeta and Parnassus, and which was afterwards called Doris; but Dryopis originally extended as far north as the river

Spercheius The Spercheios (, ''Sperkheiós''), also known as the Spercheus from its Latin name, is a river in Phthiotis in central Greece. It is long, and its drainage area is . It was worshipped as a god in the ancient Greek religion and appears in some c ...

. The name of Dryopis was still applied to the latter district in the time of

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...

, who calls it a tetrapolis, like Doris.

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

, in conjunction with the Malians, is said to have driven the Dryopes out of their country, and to have given it to the Dorians; whereupon the expelled Dryopes settled at Hermione and

Asine Asine (; grc, Ἀσίνη) was an ancient Greek city of ancient Argolis, located on the coast. It is mentioned by Homer in the Catalogue of Ships in the ''Iliad'' as one of the places subject to Diomedes, king of Argos. It is said to have bee ...

in the Argolic peninsula, at Styrus and

Carystus Carystus (; el, Κάρυστος, near modern Karystos) was a polis (city-state) on ancient Euboea. It was situated on the south coast of the island, at the foot of Mount Oche. It is mentioned by Homer in the Catalogue of Ships in the '' Iliad' ...

Euboea Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poi ...

, and in the islands of Cythnus and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

. These are the six chief places in which we find the Dryopes in historical times. Later,

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His '' History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of " scienti ...

identifies

as Dryopian, but nearby Styria as Ionian.

Dicaearchus Dicaearchus of Messana (; grc-gre, Δικαίαρχος ''Dikaiarkhos''; ), also written Dikaiarchos (), was a Greek philosopher, geographer and author. Dicaearchus was a student of Aristotle in the Lyceum. Very little of his work remains exta ...

gives the name of Dryopis to the country around

Ambracia Ambracia (; grc-gre, Ἀμβρακία, occasionally , ''Ampracia'') was a city of ancient Greece on the site of modern Arta. It was captured by the Corinthians in 625 BC and was situated about from the Ambracian Gulf, on a bend of the navigabl ...

, from which we might conclude that the Dryopes extended at one time from the

Ambraciot Gulf The Ambracian Gulf, also known as the Gulf of Arta or the Gulf of Actium, and in some official documents as the Amvrakikos Gulf ( el, Αμβρακικός κόλπος, translit=Amvrakikos kolpos), is a gulf of the Ionian Sea in northwestern Greec ...

to Mount Oeta and the Spercheius.

References

Ancient tribes in Greece Ancient tribes in Euboea Ancient tribes in central Greece Ancient tribes in Thessaly {{AncientGreece-stub Mythology of Heracles

See also

References