Greek Inscriptions from Dodona , Epeirus

[Andrew]

In this thread I would like to post some inscriptions found in Dodona , Epeirus that prove one thing only : The inhabitants of Epeirus spoke Greek , wrote in Greek and had Greek names a long before Thukydides labeled them as "barbarians" around 400 BC.

1) 6th Century BC :


[url=http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=67&i=dodona550bcxn1.png][IMG]

Note the North Western Greek form "ες" instead of "εις" for "at".


[url=http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=92&i=dodonaf520bcxw2.png][IMG]http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/8475/dodonaf520bcxw2.a581f979e0

Note the perfectly Greek name ΚλεοFάναξ in it's genitive form ΚλεοFάνακτος.
The letter "F" is called "DIGAMA" , was an old letter of the Greek alphabet that by time it has disappeared. It's original sound was like the german /w/ in "wasser".


[url=http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=92&i=dodona515bcmc7

Note the word «ποτθέμενος» from the doric / NW Greek verb «ποτθέμειν» instead of the attic «προσθέτειν» meaning "add". The verb is well famous by the Dorian presocratic philosopher Epikharmus from Syracuses who in one verse said «ποτθέμειν ψάφον» instead of «προσθέτειν ψήφον» , that is "adding a digit".

[B]2) 5th Century BC :[/b]


[url=http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=92&i=dodona475bcla8.png][IMG]

Again North Western Greek form «ΤΑΣ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΟΣ» , instead of Attic «ΤΗΣ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΟΣ» , "of the woman".




Note that omega (ω) is substituted by omikron (ο).

ΟΡΙΚΟΙ , ΧΟΡΑΝ , ΟΣΠΕΡ instead of "proper" Greek ΩΡΙΚΩΙ , ΧΩΡΑΝ , ΩΣΠΕΡ.
Now , remember that "ω" is a later later of the greek alphabet and it substituted combinations of "ο" with other vocals. Examples ΦΑΟΣ >> ΦΩΣ , ΘΕΑ+ΟΡΩ >> ΘΕΩΡΩ , ΙΑΟΝΕΣ >> ΙΩΝΕΣ etc.




Again genitive in North Western Greek «ΤΑΣ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΟΣ» , instead of attic «ΤΗΣ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΟΣ».


[url=http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=92&i=dodona415bcsh4.png][IMG]http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/7540/dodona415bcsh4




Perfect Greek phrase "act by praying to god with your mind".

So all this shows that when Thukydides labeled the Epeirotans as "Barbarians" back in 400 BC , the Epeirotans spoke & wrote in Greek and used Greek names as the inscriptions show from 550 BC. Now since one language isn't learned in one night and the Hellenistic era was yet to be come (200 years later) , there is realy no rational need to consider the Epeirotans as non-greeks. As NGL Hammond summarizes it in the following quote from "The Macedonian State" , Epeirotans and Macedonians were greek tribes that spoke "uncough" dialects of Greek and lived in a manner that seemed "barbaric" to the urbanized and educated Greeks of the city states.

The deities worshipped by the Macedones and the names which they gave to the months were predominantly Greek, and there is no doubt that these were not borrowings. To Greek literary writers before the Hellenistic period the Macedonians were 'barbarians.' The term referred to their way of life and their institutions, which were those of the 'ethne' and not of the city-state, and it did not refer to their speech. We can see this in the case of Epirus. There Thucydides called the tribes 'barbarians.' But inscriptions found in Epirus have shown conclusively that the Epirote tribes in Thucydides' lifetime were speaking Greek and used names which were Greek.