Locrians
The Locrians (Greek: Λοκροί, Lokroi) were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Locris in Central Greece, around Parnassus. They spoke the Locrian dialect, a Doric-Northwest dialect, and were closely related to their neighbouring tribes, the Phocians and the Dorians. They were divided into two geographically distinct tribes, the western Ozolians and the eastern Opuntians; their primary towns were Amphissa and Opus respectively, and their most important colony was the city of Epizephyrian Locris in Magna Graecia, which still bears the name "Locri" to this day. Among others, Ajax the Lesser and Patroclus were the most famous Locrian heroes, both distinguished in the Trojan War. Zaleucus from Epizephyrian Locris devised the first written Greek law code, the Locrian code.
History and distribution
The Locrians are said to have arrived in southern Greece in the late 2nd millennium BC from their homeland on Pindus, when the Greek tribes moved southwards. In historical times, the Locrians were divided into two distinct tribes, differing from each other in customs, habits and civilization. Of these, the eastern Locrians, called the Opuntian and Epicnemedian, dwelt on the eastern coast of Greece, opposite the island of Euboea, while the western Locrians, called Ozolian or Esperian, dwelt on the Corinthian gulf and were separated from the former by Mount Parnassus and the whole of Doris and Phocis.[1]
It is likely that Locrian territory once extended from sea to sea, then was divided as a result of the immigration of the Phocians and Dorians.
In his History of Rome, Livy includes the Locri and other Greek cities among the defectors during the Punic Wars, even though they had initially opposed Hannibal in 216 BC. The Locri surrendered to Hannibal in 215 BC and were given peace by his order. They were permitted to live in freedom, keep control of their harbour, and be governed by their own laws. Their city was expected to be open to the Carthagenians, and their alliance was based on mutual commitment for support during peace and war. The Locri finally made peace with Rome in 204 BC.[4]
Culture
Language
The Locrians spoke a Northwest dialect of Ancient Greek, known today as Locrian. It belonged to the Doric dialectal group and it was roughly divided into two varieties in accordance to their tribal distribution; the Ozolian branch along the northwest coast of the Gulf of Corinth around Amfissa, and the Opuntian branch on the coast of mainland Greece opposite northwest Euboea, around Opus. Unlike some other Northwest varieties, that are not so well known from a dialectal point of view, Locrian, along with Phocian, is generally considered to be a well–attested and recognizable dialect.[5]
Mythology
In Greek mythology, the Locrians were the descendants of Locrus, great-grandson of Deucalion and Pyrrha, the founders of the Greek race. According to some traditions, Deucalion was a native of the Locrian city of Opus,[6] thus the Locrians are said to have been the first tribe to be called "Hellenes". Some ancient writers supposed the name of the Locrians to be derived from an ancient king of the Leleges,[7] the prehistoric residents of Locris, named Locrus, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus mention that "Locrians" is the later name of the Leleges,[8] in the way that many ancient writers inaccurately identified several Greek tribes with the aboriginal peoples of Greece. It is argued that the word "locros" means "branch" and that the "Locrians" was not a specific nation but the various "branches", ie the tribes, participating in an alliance / amphictyony.[9]
The Locrians around
James M. Redfield, professor of Classics at the University of Chicago, in his book The Locrian Maidens: Love and Death in Greek Italy, states that the Locrians of Epizephyrian Locri had a special way to treat the sex difference.[10] Although the Locrians hardly viewed men and women as equals, women held special religious rights, which men could gain access to only by marrying them. Locrian women became the vehicles for the transmission of status, and marriage maintained the social order of a traditional oligarchy.
Ajax the Lesser
The national hero of the Locrians was
The curse
According to
The goddess is referred to as "Athena Ilias", a name not necessarily derived from Ilion, but maybe from the family deity Oileus, the father of Ajax and the ancestral hero of the Locrians. She could have protected the maidens during their period of initiation.
Locrian maidens had the appearance of a Greek mourner, as they went to Ilion barefoot, wearing only one garment and their hair was loose or cut. Cut hair symbolizes maturity for both sexes and plays a part in marriage rituals, while loosened or cut hair are required in other cults such as to Demeter and Dionysus, and bare feet in other as well. In addition to these, loosened hair and bare feet are signs of a witch.
These maidens were not given proper burials, as most of them were burnt on a pyre of barren branches and the ashes were thrown to the sea. This kind of pyre was used in Greece to burn criminals and the barren trees were used to burn portents and prodigies, while criminals were hanged from these trees. Locrian maidens were seen as marginal beings and scapegoats, separated from normal life, a feature of rites of passage. The three stages of rites of passage are separation, marginalization and reincorporation, and according to this, the maidens left for Ilion, spent a year there and returned home.[citation needed] In Epizephyrian Locri, maidens were prostituted as a reminder and punishment for a certain act. Ancient basis for prostitution was that girls would marry earlier than their coevals and foreigners would complete the rites. The completion of the rites enhances the status of girls.
In the middle of the 6th century, this cult became more epic focused and centered on the expiation for the crimes of Ajax. As a result, later generations forgot its significance and put an end to this tribute; but a Greek inscription, discovered in Locris at the end of the nineteenth century, proves that the Locrians continued to send out pairs of maidens until the 3rd century BC.[14]
See also
References
- ^ Strab. ix. p. 425.
- ^ Niebuhr, Lectures on Ancient Ethnography, vol. i. p. 123.
- ^ Thuc. i. 5.
- ^ Dillon & Garland 2015, p. 190.
- ^ Crespo, Giannakis & Filos 2017, p. 73.
- ^ Pind. Ol. ix. 63, seq.; Strab. ix. p. 425.
- ^ Aristot.; Hes. ap. Strabo vii. p. 322; Scymnus Ch. 590; Dicaearch. 71; Plin. iv. 7. s. 12.
- ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, Book 1, 17, online at LacusCurtius
- ^ H. Harissis "Pindar's Paean 8 and the birth of the myth of the first temples of Delphi" Acta Classica 62, pp 78 –123 (2019) [1]
- ^ "What did the Locrian maidens know about sex differences?". The University of Chicago Chronicle. 2004-02-05. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
- ^ Homer, Iliad, Book II, verses 494–760, PP Il.2.494
- ^ Apollodorus, E.6.20–22.
- ^ Aelian, Fr. 47.
- ^ Agreement to Provide Locrian Maidens at attalus.org.
Sources
- Crespo, Emilio; Giannakis, Georgios; Filos, Panagiotis (2017). Studies in Ancient Greek Dialects, From Central Greece to the Black Sea. De Gruyter. ISBN 9783110532135.
- Dillon, Matthew; Garland, Lynda (2015). Ancient Rome, Social and Historical Documents from the Early Republic to the Death of Augustus. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317485209.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray. {{cite encyclopedia}}
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