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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §1.17.1-1.17.3

Origins of the Pelasgians and Their Alliance with the Aborigines

Passage 17 of 962 · Greek

Summary

It recounts how the Pelasgians, having been expelled from Thessaly, allied with the Aborigines to fight the Sicels, and outlines the Pelasgians' origin in the Peloponnesus and their history of migrations within Greece.

§1.17.1ἔπειτα Πελασγῶν τινες τῶν οἰκούντων ἐν τῇ καλουμένῃ νῦν Θετταλίᾳ τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀναγκασθέντες ἐκλιπεῖν σύνοικοι γίνονται τοῖς Ἀβοριγῖσι καὶ κοινῇ μετʼ ἐκείνων ἐπολέμουν πρὸς τοὺς Σικελούς.
Then some of the Pelasgians who lived in what is now called Thessaly, having been forced to leave their own land, came to live with the Aborigines and made war in common with them against the Sicels.
ἐδέξαντο δὲ αὐτοὺς οἱ Ἀβοριγῖνες, ἴσως μὲν καὶ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ ὠφεληθήσεσθαι ἐλπίδα, ὡς δʼ ἐγὼ §1.17.2πείθομαι κατὰ τὸ συγγενὲς μάλιστα.
The Aborigines received them, perhaps partly in the hope of being assisted, but, as I am persuaded, chiefly because of their kinship.
ἦν γὰρ δὴ καὶ τὸ τῶν Πελασγῶν γένος Ἑλληνικὸν ἐκ Πελοποννήσου τὸ ἀρχαῖον, ἐχρήσατο δὲ τύχαις δυσπότμοις εἰς πολλὰ μὲν καὶ ἄλλα, μάλιστα δʼ εἰς τὴν πολύπλανόν τε καὶ οὐδενὸς τόπου βέβαιον οἴκησιν, πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ περὶ τὸ καλούμενον νῦν Ἀχαϊκὸν Ἄργος ᾤκησαν αὐτόχθονες ὄντες, ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ περὶ αὐτῶν λέγουσι.
For the race of the Pelasgians was indeed Greek, originally from the Peloponnesus, and met with misfortunes in many other ways, but especially in their wandering life and their lack of any settled home. For first, they lived around what is now called Achaean Argos, being autochthonous, as most people say of them.
τὴν δὲ ἐπωνυμίαν ἔλαβον ἐξ ἀρχῆς ταύτην ἐπὶ τοῦ §1.17.3Πελασγοῦ βασιλέως.
And they received this name originally from King Pelasgus.
ἦν δὲ ὁ Πελασγὸς ἐκ Διὸς, ὡς λέγεται, καὶ Νιόβης τῆς Φορωνέως, ᾗ πρώτῃ γυναικὶ θνητῇ μίσγεται ὁ Ζεὺς ὡς ὁ μῦθος ἔχει.
Pelasgus was the son of Zeus, as it is said, and of Niobe, the daughter of Phoroneus, who was the first mortal woman, as the myth has it, with whom Zeus united.
ἕκτῃ δʼ ὕστερον γενεᾷ Πελοπόννησον ἐκλιπόντες εἰς τὴν τότε μὲν Αἱμονίαν, νῦν δὲ Θετταλίαν ὀνομαζομένην μετανέστησαν·
Six generations later, leaving the Peloponnesus, they migrated to the country which was then called Haemonia, but is now called Thessaly.
ἡγοῦντο δὲ τῆς ἀποικίας Ἀχαιὸς καὶ Φθῖος καὶ Πελασγὸς οἱ Λαρίσης καὶ Ποσειδῶνος υἱοί.
The colony was led by Achaius, Phthius, and Pelasgus, the sons of Larisa and Poseidon.
ἀφικόμενοι δʼ εἰς τὴν Αἱμονίαν τούς τε κατοικοῦντας ἐν αὐτῇ βαρβάρους ἐξελαύνουσι καὶ νέμονται τὴν χώραν τριχῇ, τοῖς ἡγεμόσι ποιήσαντες ὁμωνύμους τὰς μοίρας, Φθιῶτιν καὶ Ἀχαΐαν καὶ Πελασγιῶτιν.
Arriving in Haemonia, they expelled the barbarians who inhabited it and divided the land into three parts, naming the portions after their leaders: Phthiotis, Achaea, and Pelasgiotis.
πέντε δὲ μείναντες αὐτόθι γενεάς, ἐν αἷς ἐπὶ μήκιστον εὐτυχίας ἤλασαν τὰ κράτιστα τῶν ἐν τῇ Θετταλίᾳ πεδίων καρπούμενοι, περὶ τὴν ἕκτην γενεὰν ἐξελαύνονται Θετταλίας ὑπό τε Κουρήτων καὶ Λελέγων, οἳ νῦν Αἰτωλοὶ καὶ Λοκροὶ καλοῦνται, καὶ συχνῶν ἄλλων τῶν περὶ τὸν Παρνασὸν οἰκούντων, ἡγουμένου τῶν πολεμίων Δευκαλίωνος τοῦ Προμηθέως, μητρὸς δὲ Κλυμένης τῆς Ὠκεανοῦ.
After remaining there for five generations, during which they reached the height of prosperity, enjoying the best plains of Thessaly, about the sixth generation they were driven out of Thessaly by the Curetes and Leleges, who are now called Aetolians and Locrians, and by many others who lived around Parnassus, under the leadership of Deucalion, the son of Prometheus and Clymene, the daughter of Oceanus.

Notes

  1. 1.17.1κατὰ τὴν τοῦ ὠφεληθήσεσθαι ἐλπίδα — The genitive of the articular future passive infinitive `τοῦ ὠφεληθήσεσθαι` modifies the noun `ἐλπίδα`, functioning appositively to explain the content of the hope (i.e., the expectation of being assisted).
  2. 1.17.3ἡγουμένου τῶν πολεμίων Δευκαλίωνος — A genitive absolute construction where `Δευκαλίωνος` is the logical subject and the present participle `ἡγουμένου` is the predicate, meaning "with Deucalion leading the enemies." This subject is further modified by the parenthetical genitives showing his parentage: `τοῦ Προμηθέως` (his father) and `μητρὸς δὲ Κλυμένης...` (his mother).

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §1.17.1-1.17.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.17.1-1.17.3

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