Doris (Greek: ἡ Δωρίς: Eth. Δωριεύς, pl. Δωριῆς, Δωριεῖς; Latin: Dores, Dorienses), is small mountainous district in ancient Greece, bounded by Aetolia, southern Thessaly, the Ozolian Locrians, and Phocis; the original homeland of the Dorian Greeks. It lies between Mounts Oeta and Parnassus, and consists of the valley of the river Pindus (Πίνδος), a tributary of the Cephissus, into which it flows not far from the sources of the latter. The Pindus is now called the Apostoliá. (Strabo ix. p. 427; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. pp. 72, 92.) This valley is open towards Phocis; but it lies higher than the valley of the Cephissus, rising above the towns of Drymaea, Tithronium, and Amphicaea, which are the last towns in Phocis. Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... The ancient Region of Aetolia, Greece Aetolia is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania. ... Map showing Thessaly periphery in Greece Thessaly (Θεσσαλια; modern Greek Thessalía; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. ... Locris was a region of ancient Greece, made up of two districts. ... Phocis (Greek, Modern: Φωκίδα, Ancient/Katharevousa: -s, also Phokida, Phokis) is an ancient district of central Greece. ... [[Im Category: ... Oeta (modern Kotawthra) is a mountain to the south of Thessaly, in Greece, forming a boundary between the valleys of the Spercheius and the Boeotian Cephissus. ... Mount Parnassus (also Mount Parnassos) is a mountain in central Greece that towers above Delphi. ... Cephissus (Greek Κήφισσος: Kifissós, Kephissós, or Kêphissos) or Cephisus (Greek Κήφισος: Kêphisos) the name of several rivers in Greece: Cephissus (Boeotia), a river arising in Phocis and flowing through northern Boeotia into Lake... The Greek geographer Strabo in a 16th century engraving. ...

Geography

Doris is described by Herodotus (viii. 31) as lying between Malis and Phocis, and being only 30 stadia in breadth, which agrees nearly with the extent of the valley of the Apostoliá in its widest part. In this valley there were four towns forming the Doric tetrapolis, namely, Erineus, Boium, Cytinium, and Pindus (Strab. x. p. 427.) Erineus, as the most important, appears to have been also called Dorium. (Aesch. de Fals. Leg. p. 286.) The Dorians, however, did not confine themselves within these narrow limits, but occupied other places along Mount Oeta. Thus Strabo describes the Dorians of the tetrapolis as the larger part of the nation (ix. p. 417); and the Scholiast on Pindar (Pyth. i. 121) speaks of six Doric towns, Erineus, Cytinium, Boium, Lilaeum, Carphaea, and Dryope. Lilaeum (Lilaea) seems to have been a Doric town in the time of the Persian invasion, since it is not mentioned among the Phocian towns destroyed by Xerxes; Carphaea is probably Scarphea near Thermopylae; and by Dryope is probably meant the country once inhabited by the Dryopes. The Dorians would appear at one time to have extended across Mount Oeta to the sea coast, both from the preceding account and from the statement of Scylax, who speaks (p. 24) of Λιμοδωριεῖς. Among the Doric towns Hecataeus mentioned Amphanae, called Amphanaea by Theopompus. (Steph. B. s. v. Ἀμφαναί.) Livy (xxvii. 7) places in Doris Tritonon and Drymiae, which are evidently the Phocian towns elsewhere called Tithronium and Drymaea. There was an important mountain pass leading across Parnassus from Doris to Amphissa in the country of the Ozolian Locrians: at the head of this pass stood the Dorian town of Cytinium. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Pindus (Greek: Πίνδος, Albanian: Pino) mountains are a range located in northern Greece, roughly 160 km (100 miles) long, with a maximum elevation of 2636 m (8650 ft), along the border of Thessaly and Epirus. ... In Greek mythology, Dryope[1] was the daughter of Dryops (oak-man) or of Eurytus (and hence half-sister to Iole). ... For other uses of this term see: Persia (disambiguation) The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ... Xerxes the Great (Persian: خشایارشا, Khšāyāršā, Old Persian: XÅ¡ayāršā) was a Persian Emperor (Shahanshah) (reigned 485–465 BCE) of the Achaemenid Dynasty. ... For the famous battle, see Battle of Thermopylae. ... Scylax Of Caryanda, Carian explorer. ... Theopompus, a Greek historian and rhetorician, was born at Chios about 380 BC. In early youth he seems to have spent some time at Athens, along with his father, who had been exiled on account of his Laconian sympathies. ... Stephanus Byzantinus (Stephanus of Byzantium), the author of a geographical dictionary entitled Εθνικα (Ethnica), of which, apart from some fragments, we possess only the meagre epitome of one Hermolaus. ... A portrait of Titus Livius made long after his death. ... Amphissa redirects here, for the ancient town near todays Roccella Ionica, see Amphissa, Italy Amfissa (Greek: Άμφισσα), other form: Amfissa, Latin: Amphissa is a town and the capital of the Phokida prefecture and the Parnassida province with the population around 10,000. ...

Doris is said to have been originally called Dryopis from its earlier inhabitants the Dryopes, who were expelled from the country by Heracles and the Malians. (Herod. i. 56, viii. 31, 43.) It derived its name from the Dorians, who migrated from this district to the conquest of Peloponnesus. Hence the country is called the Metropolis of the Peloponnesian Dorians (Herod. viii. 31); and the Lacedaemonians, as the chief state of Doric origin, on more than one occasion sent assistance to the metropolis when attacked by the Phocians and their other neighbours. (Thuc. i. 107, iii. 92.) Hercules, a Roman bronze (Louvre Museum) For other uses, see Heracles (disambiguation). ... Peloponnesos (Greek: Πελοπόννησος, sometime Latinized as Peloponnesus or Anglicized as The Peloponnese) is a large peninsula in Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Isthmus of Corinth. ... Laconia (Λακωνία; see also List of traditional Greek place names), also known as Lacedaemonia, was in ancient Greece the portion of the Peloponnese of which the most important city was Sparta. ... Bust of Thucydides residing in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. ...

Origin of the name

The Dorians were supposed to have derived their name from Dorus, the son of Hellen. According to one tradition, Dorus settled at once in the country subsequently known as Doris (Strab. viii. p. 383; Conon, c. 27); but other traditions represent them as more widely spread in earlier times. Herodotus relates (i. 56) that in the time of king Deucalion they inhabited the district Phthiotis; that in the time of Dorus, the son of Hellen, they inhabited the country called Histiaeotis at the foot of Ossa and Olympus; that, expelled from Histiaeotis by the Cadmeians, they dwelt on Mount Pindus, and were called the Macedonian nation; and that from thence they migrated to Dryopis; and having passed from Dryopis into the Peloponnesus, were called the Doric race. For this statement Herodotus could have had no other authority than tradition, and there is therefore no reason for accepting it as an historical relation of facts, as many modern scholars have done. In Apollodorus (i. 7. § 3) Dorus is represented as occupying the country over against Peloponnesus on the opposite side of the Corinthian gulf, and calling the inhabitants after himself Dorians. By this description is evidently meant the whole country along the northern shore of the Corinthian gulf, comprising Aetolia, Phocis, and the land of the Ozolian Locrians. This statement, according to Smith, is at least more suitable to the facts attested by historical evidence than the legends given in Herodotus. It is impossible to believe that the inhabitants of such an insignificant district as Doris Proper conquered the greater part of Peloponnesus; and the common tale that the Dorians crossed over from Naupactus to the conquest is in accordance with the legend of their being the inhabitants of the northern shore of the gulf. In Greek mythology, Dorus is the name of several individuals: Dorus was a son of Hellen and founder of the Dorian nation. ... Note: Hellen was not the same person as Helen of Troy, or Helenus, son of King Priam of Troy. ... Deucalion In Greek mythology, Deucalion, or Deukálion (new-wine sailor) was the name of at least two figures: a son of Prometheus, and a son of Minos. ... Phthiotis, or (Greek, Modern: Φθιώτιδα - Fthiótida, Ancient/Katharevousa: Φθιώτις) is one of the fifty-one prefectures of Greece. ... For the mountain in Tasmania,Australia see Mount Ossa. ... This article is about the Greek mountain. ... The Cadmea, or Cadmeia, was the citadel of ancient Thebes, named after the legendary Phoenician founder of Thebes, Cadmus. ... Pindus Mountains Pindus Mountains Pindus Mountains, as seen from a plane The Pindus (Greek: Πίνδος, Aromanian: Pind) mountain range is located in northern Greece. ... Apollodorus was a common name in ancient Greece. ... The Gulf of Corinth is the body of water separating Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. ... Sir William Smith (1813 - 1893), English lexicographer, was born at Enfield in 1813 of Nonconformist parents. ... Naupactus or Nafpaktos (Latin: Naupactus or Naupactos; Turkish: Ä°nebahtı; Italian, Spanish and Portuguese Lepanto; modern Greek, Ναύπακτος, rarely Epakto), is a town in the prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania, Greece, situated on a bay on the north side of the straits of Lepanto. ...

History

In the historical period the whole of the eastern and southern parts of Peloponnesus were in the possession of Dorians. Beginning with the isthmus of Corinth, there was first Megara, whose territory extended north of the isthmus from sea to sea; next came Corinth, and to its west Sicyon; south of these two cities were Phlius and Cleonae: the Argolic peninsula was divided between Argos, Epidaurus, Troezen, and Hermione, the last of which, however, was inhabited by Dryopes, and not by Dorians. In the Saronic gulf, Aegina was peopled by Dorians. South of the Argive territory was Laconia, and to its west Messenia, both ruled by Dorians: the river Neda, which separated Messenia from Triphylia, included under Elis in its widest sense, was the boundary of the Dorian states on the western side of the peninsula. The districts just mentioned are represented in the Homeric poems as the seats of the great Achaean monarchies, and there is no allusion in these poems to any Doric population in Peloponnesus. In fact the name of the Dorians occurs only once in Homer, and then as one of the many tribes of Crete. (Od. xix. 177.) The silence of Homer indicates that the Dorian conquest of Peloponnesus must have taken place subsequent to the time of the poet, and consequently must be assigned to a much later date than the one usually attributed to it. Corinth, or Korinth (Greek: Κόρινθος, Kórinthos; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a Greek city-state, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. ... Megara (Greek: Μέγαρα (Big Houses); see also List of traditional Greek place names) is an ancient city in Attica, Greece. ... Sicyon was an ancient Greek city situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea. ... Phlius was a Greek city in the northwestern Argolid, in the Peloponnese. ... Argolis (Greek, Modern: Αργολίδα Argolida, Ancient/Katharevousa: Αργολίς -- still the official, formal name) is one of the fifty-one prefectures of Greece. ... Coordinates 37°37′ N 22°43′ E Country Greece Periphery Peloponnese Prefecture Argolis Province Argos Population 29,505 Area 5. ... Panoramic view of the theater at Epidaurus Epidaurus (Epidauros) was a small city (polis) in ancient Greece at the Saronic Gulf. ... Troezen (TREE-zun) is a city in Argolis located southwest of Athens and a few miles south of Methana. ... Ermioni is a small town and a popular tourist resort in the Peloponnese, Greece. ... The Saronic Gulf or Gulf of Aegina in Greece forms part of the Aegean Sea and defines the eastern side of the isthmus of Corinth. ... Coordinates 37°45′ N 23°26′ E Country Greece Periphery Attica Prefecture Piraeus Population 13,552 source (2001) Area 87. ... Laconia (; see also List of traditional Greek place names), also known as Lacedaemonia, is a prefecture in Greece. ... Messenia (Greek: , in Modern Greek Messinia; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a prefecture in the Peloponnese, a region of Greece. ... Elis, or Eleia (Greek, Modern: Ήλιδα Ilida, Ancient/Katharevousa: Ήλις, also Ilis, Doric: Άλις) is an ancient district within the modern prefecture of Ilia. ... Homer (Greek: , ) was an early Greek poet and aoidos (rhapsode) traditionally credited with the composition of the Iliad and the Odyssey. ... Achaea (Greek: , Achaïa; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is an ancient province and a present prefecture of Greece, on the northern coast of the Peloponnese, stretching from the mountain ranges of Erymanthus and Cyllene on the south to a narrow strip of fertile land on the... For the famous World War II battle, see: Battle of Crete For other uses, see Crete (disambiguation). ...

From the Peloponnesus the Dorians spread over various parts of the Aegean and its connected seas. Doric colonies were founded in mythical times in the islands of Crete, Melos, Thera, Rhodes, and Cos. About the same time they founded upon the coast of Caria the towns of Cnidus and Halicarnassus: these two towns, together with Cos and the three Rhodian towns of Lindus, Ialysus, and Camirus, formed a confederation usually called the Doric Hexapolis. The members of this hexapolis were accustomed to celebrate a festival, with games, on the Triopian promontory near Cnidus, in honour of the Triopian Apollo; the prizes in those games were brazen tripods, which the victors had to dedicate in the temple of Apollo; and Halicarnassus was struck out of the league, because one of her citizens carried the tripod to his own house instead of leaving it in the temple. The hexapolis thus became a pentapolis. (Herod. i. 144.) Look up Aegean Sea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Milos (formerly Melos, and before the Athenian genocide Malos) is a volcanic island in the Aegean Sea. ... Santorini (Greek Σαντορίνη, IPA: ) is a small, circular group of volcanic islands located in southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km south-east from Greeces mainland. ... Rhodes (Greek: Ρόδος (pron. ... Port and city view of Kos town on the island Kos. ... Location of Caria Photo of a 15th century map showing Caria. ... Knidos or Cnidus (modern-day Tekir in Turkey) is an ancient Greek city in Asia Minor, once part of the country of Caria. ... Map of the Aegean Sea, showing the location of Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum, Turkey) Halicarnassus (; modern Bodrum; see also List of traditional Greek place names), an ancient Greek city on the southwest coast of Caria, Asia Minor, on a picturesque and advantageous site on the Ceramic Gulf (Gulf of Cos, Gulf... Lindos (Greek Λινδος) is a town and an archaeological site on the east coast of the island of Rhodes (Rhodhos) in the Dodecanese Islands in south-eastern Greece. ... Lycian Apollo, early Imperial Roman copy of a fourth century Greek original (Louvre Museum) In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo (Ancient Greek , Apóllōn; or , Apellōn), the ideal of the kouros (a beardless youth), was the archer-god of medicine and healing, light, truth, archery and also a...

The Doric colonies founded numerous further colonies in historic times. Corinth, the chief commercial city of the Dorians, colonised Corcyra, and planted several colonies on the western coast of Greece, of which Ambracia, Anactorium, Leucas, and Apollonia were the most important. Epidamnus, further north, was also a Doric colony, being founded by the Corcyraeans. In Sicily we find several powerful Doric cities: Syracuse, founded by Corinth; the Hyblaean Megara, by Megara; Gela, by Rhodians and Cretans; Zancle, subsequently peopled by Messenians, and hence called Messene; Agrigentum, founded by Gela; and Selinus, by the Hyblaean Megara. In southern Italy there was the great Doric city of Tarentum, founded by the Lacedaemonians. In the eastern seas there were also several Doric cities: Potidaea, in the peninsula of Chalcidice, founded by Corinth; and Selymbria, Chalcedon, and Byzantium, all three founded by Megara. (This article is about the Greek island known in English as Corfu. ... Ambracia (more correctly Ampracia) was an ancient Corinthian colony, situated about 7 miles from the Ambracian Gulf in Greece, on a bend of the navigable river Aracthus (or Aratthus), in the midst of a fertile wooded plain. ... There have been several places called Apollonia: An ancient Greek city in Illyria near to the sea and the river Vjosa, 12 km from Fier, Albania. ... The Greek city of Epidamnos (Strabo Geography vi. ... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ... Syracuse (Italian, Siracusa, ancient Syracusa - see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a city on the eastern coast of Sicily and the capital of the province of Syracuse, Italy. ... Megara Hyblaea (perhaps identical with Hybla Major) is the name of an ancient Greek colony in Sicily, situated near Augusta on the east coast, 12 miles NNW of Syracuse, Italy. ... Gela is a city in the province of Caltanissetta in the south of Sicily, Italy. ... Location within Italy Messina with a population of about 260,000 is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, Italy and the capital of the province of Messina. ... Map of central Mediterranean Sea, showing location of Agrigentum (modern Agrigento). ... Selinunte is an ancient Greek archaeological site in the south province of Trapani, in the island of Sicily. ... Map of Italy showing Taranto in the bottom right Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, southern Italy. ... Potidaea (Greek: Ποτίδαια Potidaia, modern transliteration: Potidea) was a colony founded by the Corinthians around 600 BC in the narrowest point in Pallene (now Kassandria) in the western point of Chalkidiki (Chalcidice) in what was known as Thrace, Potidaea was maintaining trade with Macedonia. ... Chalkidikí or Chalcidice (in Greek: Χαλκιδική, alternative romanizations Khalkidhikí) is one of the fifty-one prefectures of Greece. ... Silivri is a 300-square mile district of Istanbul along the Sea of Marmara in Turkey. ... Chalcedon (Χαλκηδών, sometimes transliterated as Chalkedon; see also list of traditional Greek place names) was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari (modern Ãœsküdar). ... Byzantium (Greek: Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city, which, according to legend, was founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas or Byzantas (Βύζας or Βύζαντας in Greek). ...

In the invasion of Xerxes, Doris submitted to the Persians, and consequently its towns were spared. (Herod. viii. 31.) Subsequently, as we have already seen, they were assisted by the Lacedaemonians, when attacked by the more powerful Phocians and neighbouring tribes. (Thuc. i. 107, iii. 92.) Their towns suffered much in the Phocian, Aetolian, and Macedonian wars, so that it was a wonder to Strabo that any trace of them was left in the Roman times. (Strab. ix. p. 427.) The towns continued to be mentioned by Pliny (iv. 7. s. 13; comp. Müller Dorians, book i. c. 2; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 90, seq.). Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus (SPQR) The Roman Empire. ... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19th Century portrait. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography by William Smith (1857).