Topic summary
Epeii
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Ancient Elis.
Early history
The people of the region are mentioned by Homer for the first time under the title of Epeians (Epeii), as setting out for the Trojan War, and he described them as living in a state of constant hostility with their neighbours the Pylians. In the mythical Dorian invasion of the Peloponnese, Elis was assigned to Oxylus and the Aetolians. The dialect spoken in Elis in historical times was Dorian, which might indicate that there had been an influx of people from northwestern Greece. These people, amalgamating with the Epeians, formed a powerful kingdom in the north of Elis. Three independent groups developed in the region: the Epeians, Minyae and Eleans.