Now let us return to the genealogical problem. We have seen that Herodotus was familiar with a story which traced the descent of the Peloponnesian Achaeans from Phthios the son of Achaios. The same writer elsewhere (I 56, etc.) draws a distinction between 'Hellenic' and 'Pelasgian' peoples. Among the former he includes the Dorians; among the latter the Athenians (I 56, VIII 44), the Ionians (VII 94), the Arcadians (I 146) and the Aeolians (VII 95). By Αἰολέες he means here the inhabitants of the Asiatic Aeolis. But in view of other passages (I 57, VII 176) it can scarcely be doubted that he would have included the earlier population of Thessaly in the same category.
Now Herodotus himself believed the Pelasgoi to have been a barbarous nation. The peoples of whom he is speaking here were regarded by him as 'Hellenized' Pelasgoi. Some modern writers think that he was mistaken in this view, and that the Pelasgoi were a Greek people from the beginning[439]. Some hold also that the term Πελασγοί in most of these cases is due simply to the influence of genealogies[440]. It is a serious objection to this latter view that the well-known genealogy in which the descent of Ion, as well as Aiolos, is traced from Hellen, goes back at least two or three centuries before the time of Herodotus. But we are not primarily concerned here with Herodotus' opinions; for it is clear from the expressions which he uses (e.g. VII 95: τὸ πάλαι καλεόμενοι Πελασγοὶ, ὡς Ἑλλήνων λόγος) that the distinction between Πελασγοί and Ἕλληνες was one which was generally recognised in his time. Some of his contemporaries may have regarded the Pelasgoi as Greeks, others as barbarians. What was generally agreed was that the term Ἕλληνες was originally applied only to a portion of the inhabitants of Greece. We may refer to Thucydides (I 3[441]): "The different tribes, of which the Pelasgian was the most widely spread, gave their own names to different districts. But when Hellen and his sons became powerful in Phthiotis, their aid was invoked by other cities, and those who were associated with them gradually began to be called Hellenes, though a long time elapsed before the name prevailed over the whole country. Of this Homer affords the best evidence; for he, although he lived long after the Trojan War, nowhere uses this name collectively, but confines it to the followers of Achilles from Phthiotis, who were the original Hellenes." In a certain sense therefore we may regard Πελασγοί as a term of negative value, i.e. 'non-Hellenic.'
Herodotus does not expressly describe any people as 'Hellenic,' in the narrower sense, except the Dorians. But we are surely not justified in concluding from this that he regarded the Dorians as the only true Hellenes[442]. He is interested in pointing out that certain Greek (Hellenic) peoples were believed to be of Pelasgian origin. Doubtless he considered it unnecessary to say that those for whom no such origin was claimed were really Hellenes, except in such a passage as I 56, where a 'Hellenic' and a 'Pelasgian' people are specially contrasted with each other. In general then the presumption is rather that a people was believed to be truly Hellenic, unless we have a statement to the contrary. In particular however it is incredible that the Achaeans were regarded as Pelasgian, for it was in the Achaean Phthiotis—more properly perhaps in 'Phthia'—that traditional belief located the eponymous Hellen. Thucydides, as we have seen, observes that this belief was confirmed by the evidence of the Homeric poems. The term 'Hellenic' belongs essentially to the followers of Achilles (οἵπερ καὶ πρῶτοι Ἕλληνες ἦσαν).
It can hardly be contended either that the story of Hellen is derived from the Homeric usage, or that the Homeric usage is derived from the story of Hellen. Both alike are based on the common knowledge or belief that the names Ἕλληνες and Ἑλλάς belonged originally to Phthia. It is not difficult to see why names from such a district, obscure and remote as it was, should come to be applied to the whole nation. The valley of the Spercheios was regarded as the gate of Greece. Certain peoples, such as the Boeotians and Eleans, may have come into possession of their territories by maritime invasions. But there can be little doubt that in prehistoric, as in historical times—we may refer to the Persians and the Gauls—great invasions usually made their way through the pass of Thermopylai. That is true probably not only of the later invasions of the 'West Greek' peoples (the Achaeans, Locrians, Dorians, etc.) but also of those much earlier movements by which the first Greek populations—the ancestors of the Ionians and Arcadians—were introduced into the peninsula. But if we are to trust all the evidence at our disposal it was with the later movements that the names Ἑλλάς[443] and Ἕλληνες[444] were originally connected.
The results of our discussion may now be summarised as follows: (i) According to current hypotheses the language of the Achaeans of Phthiotis was Aeolic, while that of the Peloponnesian Achaeans was perhaps Arcadian; but in point of fact all the linguistic evidence which we have from both districts (including the colonies of the Peloponnesian Achaeans) is definitely West Greek. In all probability the valley of the Spercheios was one of the first, if not actually the very first, of the districts occupied by the West Greeks in the eastern and southern parts of the peninsula. (ii) According to a belief current in the fifth century certain Greek peoples were truly 'Hellenic,' while others were of 'Pelasgian' origin. The former category coincided, at least to a large extent, with the 'West Greek' linguistic division, the latter with the 'East Greek' division, or—to speak more accurately—with the northern, eastern and southern groups of dialects. In certain cases, owing to the silence of our authorities, it may be permissible to doubt whether a people was regarded as 'Hellenic' or 'Pelasgian'; but no such doubt applies to the followers of Achilles, 'who were the original Hellenes.' It was in Phthia that much earlier tradition located the eponymous Hellen; and from the same district came Archandros and Architeles, the legendary progenitors of the Peloponnesian Achaeans, several generations before the Trojan War. It is clear then that the 'West Greek' language of the extant inscriptions is in perfect agreement with the belief of the fifth century Greeks that this community was essentially Hellenic. We may dismiss therefore as totally without foundation the hypothesis that Achilles was an Aeolic (or Pelasgian) hero[445].
Now let us drop hypotheses and consider briefly the evidence actually furnished by the Iliad. The poem leaves us in no doubt as to who are regarded as the principal persons in the Achaean army. In II 404 ff. Agamemnon is represented as calling together "the elders, the chiefs of the whole Achaean host" (γέροντας ἀριστῆας Παναχαιῶν). They are Nestor, Idomeneus, Aias the son of Telamon and his Locrian namesake, Diomedes, Odysseus and Menelaos. In another council (X 194 ff.) we find the same party together with three additional persons, Thrasymedes, Meriones and Meges. In the debates, which occur so frequently, the leading speakers are almost always Agamemnon, Nestor, Diomedes, Odysseus and Menelaos. In the battle scenes the aged Nestor naturally does not play an active part. The other four heroes however, together with Idomeneus, Aias the son of Telamon and (to a somewhat less extent) the Locrian Aias, are by far the most conspicuous figures in the army. In response to Hector's challenge, from which Menelaos has been forced to retire, all the other six come forward, together with Meriones, Eurypylos and Thoas. There can be no doubt then that the eight leading men are Agamemnon and his brother, Nestor, Idomeneus, the two Aiantes, Diomedes and Odysseus. To these we must certainly add Achilles, who is in retirement throughout the greater part of the poem.
MAP OF GREECE
illustrating the 'Catalogue of Ships'
The numerals denote cities or territories belonging to the chief leaders of the Achaeans.