Olvios this is a summary i have posted on the All Empires forum about the Encheleans , it is basically a summary of the texts mentioned on this particulair thread..
All the best!
Hi everybody!
I like to share with all of you , something that i have been working on for quite a while........it's about the very mysterious and not well known Enchelians, or in Greek Encheleis...other wise the Eel eaters.
Lets first see what they're all about and whether they are Greeks or Illyrians at certain episodes.
They established a kingdom somewhere way before the Troy era , they're kingdom is known best by the legendary myth from Cadmus and Harmonia:
After having many children, Cadmus and Harmonia 1 left Thebes in order to defend the Encheleans, a people leaving in southern Illyria, which is the region north of Epirus, and there defeated the Illyrian intruders. During their absence, their son Polydorus 2 became king, but it is also said that Pentheus 1, son of the Sparti Echion 2 and Agave 2, daughter of Cadmus, succeeded him on the throne.
Agave 2 herself married King Lycotherses of Illyria, whom she murdered, handing the kingdom over to her father.(any info on this Illyrian king???)
This text clearly mentions them as being at war with the Illyrians and mentions them as two separate tribes.also the Encheleans used Athenian/Greek mercenaries which implies they have a Greek native tongue and had atleast enough money for it..
The text above is from
Greek Mythology Link - www.maicar.com and the text illustrates that a kingdom was established by Cadmus & Harmonia themselves or by their offspring.
Apollodorus, Library and Epitome (ed. Sir James George Frazer)
[4] But Cadmus and Harmonia quitted Thebes and went to the Encheleans. As the Encheleans were being attacked by the Illyrians, the god declared by an oracle that they would get the better of the Illyrians if they had Cadmus and Harmonia as their leaders. They believed him, and made them their leaders against the Illyrians, and got the better of them. And Cadmus reigned over the Illyrians, and a son Illyrius was born to him. But afterwards he was, along with Harmonia, turned into a serpent and sent away by Zeus to the Elysian Fields.1
Now later Pseudo Skylax informs us that they were Illyrians according to this:
ΠΕΡΙΠΛΟΥΣ ΤΟΥ ΣΚΥΛΑΚΑ
Skyllax travels(periegisis)
This is the part with the encheleans
ΕΓΧΕΛΕΙΣ.Οι Εγχελείς είναι ιλλυρικός λαός,μετά τον Ριζούντα.Από την Βουθόη έως την ελληνική πόλη Επίδαμνο, το θαλασσινό ταξίδι διαρκεί μιά μέρα και μιά νύχτα, ενώ από στεριά κρατάει τρείς ημέρες.
Encheleans.the encheleans are an illyrian people after Rizunda(area).From Bouthoe up to the hellenic city Epidamnos, the sea journey lasts a day and a night while from land it lasts 3 days.
So the Enchelians were at first Greeks and later assimilated by the Illyrians.Also Strabo mentions in book VII chapter 7 :the Encheleans are not ruled by men of native stock i say, the story of Cadmus and Harmonia are still being pointed out there.
Skylax places them around Boethoe which is present Budva in Montenegro.
The mythical text places them as Enchelians who supposedly inhabited the area of the Lychnidos lake in todays Ohrid,Fyrom.
That area had two small cities called Enchelana and Enchalon respectedly Pogradec/Struga..as the lake Ohrid houses the Eel as same as lake Copais in Thebes where C&H came from and settled in after arriving from Elektra's island Samothrace.(where the two have met)
So the Enchelians supposedly inhabited a area as vast as the area from Lychnidos to Budva. There might had been some form of migration from one area to the other which is not clear as of yet.
And how long the kingdom of the Enchelians had lasted is also mysterious. the last description of Enchelians seem to be from 2/3 century b.c. after that they seem to have dissapeared...
Herodotus mentions them several times:
a quote from Herodotus book 9 installment 46, also mentioning the Enchelian kingdom in the Mardonius campaign.
Quote:
Now, I for my part know regarding that oracle that Mardonius said related to the Persians that concerning the Illyrians and the army of the Enchelians it was composed and not rather concerning the Persians. But this composition on its part by Bacis was composed concerning that battle
Now this so called oracle of the Enchelians and Illyrians i will address to later.
This source mentions the Encheleans as well :
Mythological Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus (3.39.2):
Cadmus accompanied by Harmonia left Thebes and went to the Enchelei. They were at war with the Illyrians who had attacked them, but they had been advised by a god that they would defeat the Illyrians if they were led by Cadmus and Harmonia. They trusted in the prophecy and appointed them as leaders against the Illyrians, who were then defeated. Cadmus ruled over Illyria and had a son Illyrius. Afterwards, together with Harmonia, he was turned into a serpent and Zeus conveyed him to the Elysian Fields?.
Commentary to Virgil’s Aeneid, Scholia Vaticana (to verse 1.243; II p. 311 Lion):
When Cadmus the son of Agenor, accompanied by his wife Harmonia, left Thebes, and bearing his unjust fate passed through the territory of Macedonia, he left a young son borne to him by Harmonia by the Illyrian River. A serpent twined around this son and, until he had grown, nursed him in the embrace of its body and filled him with the power to subdue this entire country. It named him Illyrius after itself.
Appian, Illyr. 2.3?4:
It is said that the country received its name from Polyphemus’ son Illyrius; the Cyclops Polyphemus and Galatea had the sons Celtus, Illyrius and Galas; they left Sicily and ruled over the peoples who were named after them: the Celts, the Illyrians, and the Galatians. This mythological story pleases me the most, although many others are also told by many writers. (4) Illyrius had the sons Encheleus, Autarieus, Dardanus, Maedus, Taulas, Perrhaebus and the daughters Partho, Daortho, Dassaro and others, from whom arose the peoples of the Taulantii, Perrhaebi, Enchelei, Autariatae, Dardanians [and Maedi], Partheni, Dassaretii and Darsi. Autarieus himself had a son Pannonius or Paeon, who in turn had Scordiscus and Triballus, from whom nations also were descended who were named after them. But I shall leave this subject to the antiquarians
The Enchelians are mentioned here as the descendants from Illyrius son of C&H. (Encheleus) as the progenitors of the Enchelei.
Argonautica book V:
But when the Colchians learnt the death of their prince, verily they were eager to pursue Argo and the Minyans through all the Cronian sea. But Hera restrained them by terrible lightnings from the sky. And at last they loathed their own homes in the Cytaean land, quailing before Aeetes' fierce wrath; so they landed and made abiding homes there, scattered far and wide. Some set foot on those very islands where the heroes had stayed, and they still dwell there, bearing a name derived from Apsyrtus; and others built a fenced city by the dark deep Illyrian river, where is the tomb of Harmonia and Cadmus, dwelling among the Encheleans; and others live amid the mountains which are called the Thunderers, from the day when the thunders of Zeus, son of Cronos, prevented them from crossing over to the island opposite
So C&H had a shrine along the Illyrian river(which supposedly is the todays Drilon river).This next text affirms the existence of a C&H shrine.:
As to the departure of Cadmus and Harmonia to Illyria and their transformation into snakes in that country, where their tomb was shown in later ages, see Ap. Rhod., Argon. iv.516ff.; Dionysius, Perieg. 390ff., with the commentary of Eustathius, Comm. on Dionysius Perieg. v.391; Strab. 1.2.39, Strab. 7.7.8; Paus. 9.5.3; Athenaeus xi.5, p. 462 B
Now the really strange thing is that other texts do not confirm C&H at all as the progenitors of the Enchelians ,but their offspring in the times of the Epigoni(the sons of the seven against Thebes).:
The Epigoni
Ten years later, the young Laodamas had come to power in Thebes. Thersander bribed Eruphyle, this time with the wedding gown of Harmonia, to convince Alcmaeon to lead another expedition on Thebes. The group was known as the Epigoni, which in Greek, means “the successors”. These included sons of the seven men who had attacked the city. Amphillochus, the brother of Alcmaeon, joined the quest. Thersander, son of Polynices, joined in the hopes of regaining the throne of Thebes. Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, also joined. Aegialeus, son of Adrastus, joined also. Other members were Euryalus, son of Mecisteus, Promachus, son of Parthenopaeus, and Sthenelus, son of Capeneus.
When these men drew near the city, Tiresias advised that the Thebans leave, because they were sure to lose the conflict. They set off for Gilsas, in the land of the Encheleis. Along the way, Tiresias, who had lived for seven generations, died while drinking from the spring of Tilphusa.
When the Epigoni reached Thebes, they placed Thersander on the throne of a considerably weakened city. The only of them to die was Aegialeus, son of Adrastus. After his son’s death, Adrastus died of sorrow, and Diomedes served as regent for his other son, Cyanippus, and led the Argive fighting force to Troy. Diomedes has his own legends concerning his participation at Troy, his voyage home, and subsequent colonization in Italy.
This is the end of the major mythological significance of Thebes. The city was listed only briefly in Hoomer’s catalog of ships, where Thersander was reported as bringing a small group to fight at Troy.
Now there is also the mentioning of a certain Laodamas great grandson of C&H.:
Now these Phenicians who came with Cadmos, of
whom were the Gephyraians, brought in among the Hellenes many arts
when they settled in this land of B?otia, and especially letters,
which did not exist, as it appears to me, among the Hellenes before
this time; and at first they brought in those which are used by the
Phenician race generally, but afterwards, as time went on, they
changed with their speech the form of the letters also. During this
time the Ionians were the race of Hellenes who dwelt near them in most
of the places where they were; and these, having received letters by
instruction of the Phenicians, changed their form slightly and so made
use of them, and in doing so they declared them to be called
"phenicians," as was just, seeing that the Phenicians had introduced
them into Hellas. Also the Ionians from ancient time call paper
"skins," because formerly, paper being scarce, they used skins of goat
and sheep; nay, even in my own time many of the Barbarians write on
such skins. 59. I myself too once saw Cadmeian characters in the
temple of Ismenian Apollo at Thebes of the B?otians, engraved on
certain[49a] tripods, and in most respects resembling the Ionic
letters: one of these tripods has the inscription,
"Me Amphitryon offered from land Teleboian returning:"[50]
this inscription would be of an age contemporary with Laﯳ the son of
Labdacos, the son of Polydoros, the son of Cadmos. 60. Another tripod
says thus in hexameter rhythm:
"Me did Scaios offer to thee, far-darting Apollo,
Victor in contest of boxing, a gift most fair in thine honour:"
now Scaios would be the son of Hippoco?at least if it were really
he who offered it, and not another with the same name as the son of
Hippoco? being of an age contemporary with ?dipus the son of Laﯳ:
61, and the third tripod, also in hexameter rhythm, says:
"Me Laodamas offered to thee, fair-aiming Apollo,
He, of his wealth,[51] being king, as a gift most fair in thine honor:"
now it was in the reign of this very Laodamas the son of Eteocles that
the Cadmeians were driven out by the Argives and turned to go to the
Enchelians; and the Gephyraians being then left behind were afterwards
forced by the B?otians to retire to Athens. Moreover they have temples
established in Athens, in which the other Athenians have no part, and
besides others which are different from the rest, there is especially
a temple of Demeter Achaia and a celebration of her mysteries.
Herodotus book V.
So here the son of Eteocles Laodamas comes in the story as royal blood fleeing to the Enchelians/ Illyrians right after the Epigoni campaign.
Now coming back to the afore mentioned oracle mentioning the sacking of Delphi by the Enchelians and Illyrians, in supposedly the 40th Olympiad.(617 B.C.)
When he so expressed his judgment, none opposed him, and thus his opinion prevailed; for he and not Artabazos had the command of the army given him by the king. He summoned therefore the commanders of the divisions and the generals of those Hellenes who were with him, and asked whether they knew of any oracle regarding the Persians, which said that they should be destroyed in Hellas; and when those summoned to council were silent, some not knowing the oracles and others knowing them but not esteeming it safe to speak, Mardonios himself said: "Since then ye either know nothing or do not venture to speak, I will tell you, since I know very well. There is an oracle saying that the Persians are destined when they come to Hellas to plunder the temple at Delphi, and having plundered it to perish every one of them. We therefore, just because we know this, will not go to that temple nor will we attempt to plunder it; and for this cause we shall not perish. So many of you therefore as chance to wish well to the Persians, have joy so far as regards this matter, and be assured that we shall overcome the Hellenes." Having spoken to them thus, he next commanded to prepare everything and to set all in order, since at dawn of the next day a battle would be fought.
43. Now this oracle, which Mardonios said referred to the Persians, I know for my part was composed with reference with the Illyrians and the army of the Enchelians, and not with reference to the Persians at all. However, the oracle which was composed by Bakis with referance to this battle.
Now this is what i found out about the oracle's joined Enchelean /Illyrian attack on Delphi..
The reasons that brought Cadmus and Harmonia to the eastern Adriatic coast and their fate there are found in a number of legends, the best known preserved in Euripides' tragedy Bacchae (c. 408 B.C.), in Ovid's narrative poem Metamorphoses (8 A.D.) and in Bibliotheca, a book on mythology from the 1st century A.D., erroneously attributed to Apollodorus. As the story goes, Cadmus ruled Thebes for a long time, but in his old age he was obliged to relinquish the Theban throne to his grandson Pentheus and together with Harmonia settle among the Enchelei, "people of the eels". He travelled there in an ox cart and in his new homeland he founded the city of Butou, present-day Budva. There had been a prophecy that the Enchelei would defeat their neighbours, the Illyrians, if they chose a foreigner as their leader. They did so, and Cadmus triumphed over the Illyrians and took control of their lands. In the new kingdom Harmonia gave birth to a son Illyricus. Shortly thereafter Cadmus led the united Enchelei and Illyrians in an expedition against Greece, and the mighty barbarian army won one victory after another - until they tried to plunder Apollo's shrine at Delphi. Then the Enchelei and Illyrian army suffered defeat, though Cadmus and Harmonia were by divine will spared. When they returned to the Adriatic coast, Cadmus realized that his misfortune was punishment for killing Ares dragon as a young man, and he therefore begged the gods to turn him into a serpent. Harmonia wanted to remain with her unfortunate husband and share his fate; embraced, in the form of blue-spotted black snakes they vanished in a sweet-smelling grove nearby, and since then as favourites of the gods they have enjoyed eternal bliss among the roses and golden pomegranates, constantly refreshed by scented sea breezes. Groves like this, which later became shrines honouring Cadmus and Harmonia, are found all around Budva.The contacts that Cadmus established between Thebes and the Adriatic were not interrupted after his death. In the seventh generation after Cadmus when Thebes was destroyed by the army of Argos, Cadmus' defeated descendents, the Cadmei, set out through the southern Balkan mountains towards the Adriatic to seek help from the Enchelei, their path known as Cadmus' road (via Cadmeia), linking the Aegean Sea with the east coast of the Adriatic.To what extent the myth about Cadmus among the Enchelei reflects real ; events can be judged partly on the basis of early geographical and historical writings, and partly on the basis of archaeological research. It is quite certain that : the Enchelei are not merely a mythical nation; that they were early inhabitants of I Budva and its surroundings can be concluded on the basis of the most reliable j geographical writings of antiquity, primarily pseudo-Peryplus (c. 340 B.C.).It is also true that living in their vicinity were the Illyrians, with whom they later f- mixed and created a united Illyrian kingdom. Therefore in some old geographical and historical writings the Enchelei are identified with the Illyrians, and Budva is cited as an Illyrian city. In that respect, and in connection with the founding of Budva and the origin of its name, an interesting reference is found in the work of Stephanus Byzantinus, a 6th-century Greek grammarian, and in Etymologicum magnum by an anonymous author and of unknown date. Stephanus Byzantinus writes: "Butoa, a city in Illyria... thus called because Cadmus rode in a cart drawn by oxen and swiftly covered the distance to Illyria. Others say that Cadmus called the city after Egyptian Buti, corrupted to Butoa."Further information, also drawing on the mention of Budva in Sophocles tragedy Onomaklo, is found in Etymologicum magnum: "Butoa: a city in Illyria. It is said that Cadmus in an ox cart travelled swiftly fromThebes to the Illyrians and founded a city which he called, after the oxen andbecause he left swiftly, Butoa. Or that after the herb oregano (butes) it was called Butoa and Buthoa... or that Cadmus was a supporter of theIllyrians when he settled among them..."
So there was a certain attack or attempt to sack Delphi undertaken by a joined attack by the Encheleans and Illyrians...we have seen there are several sources pointing out to the Oracle and the army of the Enchelians and Illyrians ..now this attack is nowhere mentioned in any sources is it pure myth or reality ???
Who can help me out on this particulair episode in the Northwestern Greek area around approximately 617 B.C.?
All the best...
11-19-2007, 10:08 AM
Linear Mode
