Abantes

The Abantes or Abantians (Greek: Ἄβαντες, Ábantes) were an ancient Greek tribe. Their home was Euboea.

Origins

The Abantes were a Proto-Greek tribe,[1][2] which settled in the island of Euboea.[1] When the Trojan War concluded, the Abantes wandered around for a while, and finally settled in the region of Thesprotia.[1] Herodotus states that many Abantes from Euboea had established colonies in Chios and Asia Minor.[1][2]

The Iliad

In the Iliad, Homer mentions the Abantes among the Greek allies in the Trojan War.[3] Their leader was Elephenor the son of Chalkodon. The Trojan warrior Agenor killed Elephenor.[4]

Colonies

Pausanias writes that they contributed to a colony from Thronium in Thesprotis. The local area became known as Abantis. Eventually it was conquered by Apollonia with the help of Corinth.[5]

Another colony was sent to Chios, but eventually it was defeated and the survivors forced to flee.[6]

References
  1. Protopsaltis, Demetrios (2012). An Encyclopedic Chronology of Greece and Its History. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-4691-4001-8.
  2. Chios: a conference at the Homereion in Chios, 1984, page 180 by John Boardman, C. E. Vaphopoulou-Richardson - 1986 "... made war upon the Abantes and Carians dwelling in Chios in his time, ...than this. Unlike the Carians the Abantes seem to have been Greeks"
  3. Homer. Iliad, 2.536–542.
  4. Homer. Iliad, 4.463-472.
  5. Pausanias. Description of Greece, 5.22.4.
  6. Pausanias. Description of Greece, 7.4.9.
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