But we have yet to consider a more important question than this. In the Iliad itself only two of the leading heroes, namely Achilles and the Locrian Aias, are represented as coming from the northern parts of Greece. But the Locrians cannot be regarded as an Aeolic people. Achilles then is the only leading hero whose Aeolic nationality rests on any solid evidence, and it is, as we have seen, chiefly owing to their association with him that the same nationality is claimed by hypothesis for Agamemnon and the rest. But before we bring our discussion to a close it will be well to ask whether Achilles' nationality really is established beyond question by the evidence.

It has been mentioned above that 'the Pelasgian Argos' is said to be the home of Achilles, though unfortunately neither ancient nor modern scholars have been able to determine with certainty what is meant by that name. Of the other places recorded in the same context (Il. II 681 ff.[423])—viz. Alos, Alope, Trechis, Phthia and Hellas—all except the third are involved in somewhat similar obscurity. Phthia—whether it be a city or a district—was generally located between Mt Othrys and the Malian Gulf. Hellas was believed to be in the same neighbourhood, if not actually identical with Phthia; some placed it on the north side of Othrys, a short distance away. The names Ἄλος and Ἀλόπη were borne in historical times by places in Locris, and also by other places in Phthiotis, on the Pagasean Gulf and the Malian Gulf respectively. Opinion was divided as to which of these were the places mentioned in the Iliad. Trechis (Trachis) lay on the south of the Spercheios.

It must not be overlooked that, except the indefinite Hellas and Phthia, all these places, including 'the Pelasgian Argos,' are mentioned only in the Catalogue of Ships, a section of the poem which is commonly regarded with very little respect. Indeed the same scholars who lay so much stress upon the Pelasgian Argos as the home of Achilles have no hesitation about rejecting the evidence of the Catalogue as to the homes of Agamemnon, Menelaos, Nestor, Diomedes and others. Yet the Thessalian section of the Catalogue is admittedly far more difficult to understand than any other. It is scarcely credible that the poet responsible for it can have been personally acquainted with the places he was enumerating. Now in other parts of the poem Achilles and his followers are associated with the Spercheios or Ellada; from XVI 173 ff., XXIII 144 ff. it is quite clear that his home was supposed to be in the immediate neighbourhood of that river. According to IX 484 his vassal Phoinix rules over the Dolopes, a people who, at least in historical times, inhabited the mountainous country to the north-west[424]. These indications, it will be seen, agree perfectly well with the only place in the Catalogue which can be identified with certainty, namely Trechis. On the whole also they favour the view that 'Alope' is the Phthiotic Alope. Achilles' country then is the basin of the Spercheios, together probably with the coast lands on the Malian Gulf between the mountains of Oite and Othrys. It may have included the northern slopes of the latter, in the territory of the Dolopes; but neither the evidence of the Catalogue itself nor references in other parts of the Iliad give us any warrant for supposing that it extended into the plain of Larissa[425].

Now there is not a particle of evidence that an Aeolic dialect was ever spoken either in the basin of the Spercheios or in the districts bordering on the coasts of the Malian Gulf. A form (Μαχαειος) which may be an Aeolic patronymic occurs in an inscription from Melitaia[426]; but the inscription in other respects is definitely non-Aeolic, although Melitaia lies to the north of Othrys. A similar form (Ευβιοτεια) occurs in an inscription found near Pteleon[427], which is too short for us to determine its character; but Pteleon lies in the extreme east of Phthiotis, outside the Malian Gulf, and according to the Catalogue belonged to Protesilaos. The only inscription of definitely Aeolic (Thessalian) character as yet found in Phthiotis comes from near Eretria, just inside the boundary. This place is not mentioned in the Catalogue, or elsewhere in the Iliad; but Strabo (IX 5. 10) conjectured that it belonged to Achilles' territories. If we are to follow the indications given by the Catalogue the question would seem to lie between the territories of Protesilaos and those of Eurypylos; there is nothing to show that Achilles' country was believed to extend so far. It is most surprising therefore to find Prof. Cauer[428] concluding from such evidence as this that "we are justified in claiming the valley of the Spercheios also as an Aeolic district and Achilles as a hero of Aeolic nationality."

For the language of Achilles' country itself we are by no means without evidence. Fairly long inscriptions have been found at Hypate in the valley of the Spercheios and at Lamia, to the north of the Malian Gulf—to which may be added an inscription, apparently of the Oitaioi, at Drymaia in Phocis. All these show the form of language usually known as 'north-west Greek,' and the same is true of other inscriptions found in the north and east of Phthiotis. Although they are all late, there is no valid reason for doubting that this language is indigenous[429]. Only two inscriptions[430], so far as I know, contain references to Aetolian magistrates. The dialect is almost identical not only with that of the Aetolian inscriptions, but also with those of the Locrians and Phocians, the former of which is well known from much earlier times. Greek communities as a general rule were slow to change their language, and the influence of the Aetolian League was scarcely of such a character as to favour the permanent extension of its dialect[431].

If we are to trust all the evidence which we possess Othrys, and not Oite, was the southern limit of the Aeolic (Thessalian) dialect. The communities of Phthiotis were politically dependent upon Thessaly, but they seem never to have been subjugated in the same way as the Aeolic population north of the mountains[432]. They had their own troops and sent a separate contingent to Xerxes' army. Indeed Herodotus (VII 173, 196 ff.) clearly distinguishes between 'Thessaly' and 'Achaia' (i.e. Phthiotis). Moreover it appears to have been the general opinion among the Greeks themselves that this district was the original home of the Achaeans of the Peloponnesos. Pausanias (VII 1. 6) traces the Peloponnesian Achaeans to Archandros and Architeles, the sons of Achaios, who had come from Phthiotis[433]. Herodotus (II 98) was evidently familiar with some form of this story, though he calls Archandros son of Phthios and grandson of Achaios. The supposed connection therefore goes back at least to the fifth century. How far these genealogies were constructed upon linguistic affinities is a question which needs some discussion. We may remark in passing however that the dialect of the Peloponnesian Achaia, so far as it is known to us[434], shows but little difference from the dialects north of the Gulf of Corinth. It is commonly included in the list of 'north-west Greek' dialects.

In the meantime we may notice an argument which has sometimes been brought forward in support of the hypothesis that Aeolic was once spoken much further south. This is the presence of an Aeolic or semi-Aeolic form of language in Boeotia. The ancients themselves believed that the Boeotians were not indigenous. Thucydides (I 12) states that they had been expelled by the Thessalians from 'Arne' after the Trojan War; but this was not the only form of the story. On the other hand many modern scholars have adopted the view that the 'north-western' dialects of Locris and Phocis were intrusive[435], and that the non-Aeolic characteristics of the Boeotian dialect itself were due to an extension of the same movement—in short that Aeolic was the earliest form of Greek spoken throughout the whole region from Thessaly down to the borders of Attica. For such a displacement of population[436] no evidence is to be found either in history or tradition. Moreover this hypothesis has opposed to it the evidence of what may be called linguistic geography. The Ionic dialects of Euboea and Attica have much more in common with the 'north-western' dialects of Locris and Phocis than they have with Boeotian. The latter indeed stands quite isolated in many respects among the dialects of this part of Greece. It will be sufficient here to notice the close pronunciation of ē (e.g. in Gen. sg. μεινός) and the open pronunciation of ŏ (e.g. in Acc. pl. τώς)—both of which are probably to be regarded as Aeolic characteristics—the use of Aeolic patronymics in -ios (e.g. Ἵππων Ἀθανοδώριος) and more especially the Aeolic tendency to change labiovelar explosives into labials before ē̆, which we find exemplified at both extremities of the Boeotian area (Βελφοί, Πευματτός). The last peculiarity is doubtless one of the earliest cases of dialectal variation which can be traced in the Greek language; but it is impossible to date. All this evidence tends to show that Aeolic was the intrusive element—in other words, to confirm the tradition that Boeotia was at some time invaded by settlers from an Aeolic-speaking district[437].

In recent years there has been a tendency to classify the Greek dialects in two main groups—'East Greek' and 'West Greek.' In the former are included Arcadian, Cypriot, Ionic (with Attic) and the Aeolic dialects, i.e. Thessalian and Lesbian-Aeolic, together with the Aeolic element in Boeotian. To the latter are referred the remaining dialects, i.e. the Doric dialects and all the dialects of the mainland of Greece except Arcadian, Attic, Thessalian and Boeotian, so far as Boeotian can be regarded as Aeolic. It may be doubted whether this classification is altogether satisfactory, since the affinities of Aeolic with Ionic and Arcadian are by no means close; as much perhaps might be said for a division into 'North Greek' (Aeolic) and 'South Greek' (non-Aeolic). But there can be no doubt that the 'West Greek' dialects, i.e. Doric and north-western Greek, except perhaps Elean, do really form a homogeneous group. Indeed it can hardly be maintained that the Doric dialects as a whole show any divergence from the other members of the group[438], though there are marked differences between one Doric dialect and another. It is this West Greek group which specially requires our attention, for according to all the evidence we possess it included the dialects of both the Phthiotic Achaeans and the Peloponnesian Achaeans.