This article is about the terms Dardan and Dardanian in classical writings. For the Shannara character, see
Dardan (Shannara).
"Dardanoi" redirects here. For the Balkan tribe, see
Dardani.
The Dardanoi (
Greek: Δάρδανοι; its anglicized modern terms being Dardanians or Dardans) were a legendary people of the
Troad, located in northwestern
Anatolia. The Dardanoi were the descendants of
Dardanus, the mythical founder of
Dardanus, an ancient city in the Troad.[1] A contingent of Dardanians figures among Troy's allies in the
Trojan War.[1] Homer makes a clear distinction between the Trojans and the Dardanoi,[2] however, "Dardanoi"/"Dardanian" later became essentially
metonymous–– or at least is commonly perceived to be so–– with "Trojan", especially in the works of
Vergil such as the Aeneid.
The Royal House of Troy was also divided into two branches, that of the Dardanoi and that of the Trojans (their city being called Troy, or sometimes Ilion/Ilium). The House of the Dardanoi (its members being the Dardanids,
Greek: Δαρδανίδαι;
Latin: Dardanidae[3]) was older than the House of Troy, but Troy later became more powerful.[citation needed]Aeneas is referred to in
Virgil's Aeneid interchangeably as a Dardanian or as a Trojan, but strictly speaking, Aeneas was of the branch of the Dardanoi.[citation needed] Many rulers of
Rome, for example
Julius Caesar and
Augustus, claimed descent from Aeneas and the Houses of Troy and Dardania.[citation needed] Homer adds the
epithetDardanides (Δαρδανίδης) to
Priam and to other prominent characters denoting that they are members of the house of the Dardanoi.[citation needed]
The Dardanians were led by brave Aeneas, whom the fair Aphrodite, a goddess bedded with a mortal man, bore to Anchises in the mountains of Ida. He was not alone, for with him were the two sons of Antenor, Archilochus and Acamas, both skilled in all the arts of war.
The strait of the
Dardanelles was named after the Dardanoi, who lived in the region.[5]
Origins
The ethnic affinities of the Dardanoi, and of the Trojans, and the nature of their language remain a mystery. The remains of their material culture reveal close ties with
Luwian,[6] other
Anatolian[7] groups, and
Thracians.[8] The Dardanoi were linked by ancient Greek and Roman writers with the
Illyrian people of the same name who lived in the
Balkans (i.e. the
Dardani), a notion supported by a number of parallel ethnic names found both in the Balkans and Anatolia that are considered too great to be a mere coincidence (e.g. Eneti and Enetoi, Bryges and Phryges, Moesians and Mysians).[9][10]Strabo described the Dardanoi as Illyrians and this view is also supported by modern scholars.[11][12][13][14][15] Archaeological finds from the Troad dating back to the
Chalcolithic period show striking affinity to archaeological finds known from the same era in
Muntenia and
Moldavia, and there are other traces which suggest close ties between the Troad and the Carpatho-Balkan region of
Europe. Archaeologists in fact have stated that the styles of certain ceramic objects and bone figurines show that these objects were brought into the Troad by Carpatho-Danubian colonists; for example, certain ceramic objects have been shown to have
Cucuteni origins.[16] Egyptian records from the
Battle of Qadesh refer to
Hittite allies known as Drdny, likely referring to the Dardanoi.[17]
Variations of the name
Homer in the Iliad carefully distinguishes the Dardanoi from the Trojans, not only in the list of Trojan allies (11:816–823) but also in the frequently repeated formula keklyte meu, Trôes kai Dardanoi ed' epikuroi (e.g., 3.456)".[2]
Dardanides, Δαρδανίδης, a name given to Aenias, as a descendant of Dardanus; in Latin, the plural form (
Latin: Dardanidae;
Greek: Δαρδανίδαι) is sometimes also used for Trojan women in the
Aeneid.[19]
Dardanoi, Δάρδανοι, descendants of Dardanus, but sometimes distinguished as descendants of
Assarakos whose branch of the family, including Aineias, continued to count
Dardanie (a non-urban settlement up in the foothills of
Mt. Ida) as home rather than
Ilios, the citadel by the sea (see 20.215ff. and 2.819-20n).[18]
^
abBryce, Trevor (2009). The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia: The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the fall of the Persian Empire. Routledge. p. 186.
ISBN978-1-134-15907-9.
^
ab"Review: Some Recent Works on Ancient Syria and the Sea People", Michael C. Astour, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 92, No. 3, (Jul. - Sep., 1972), pp. 447–459 writing about
Richard David Barnett who identified the Dardanoi with the Trojans: "Which is,incidentally, not so: the Iliad carefully distinguishes the Dardanoi from the Trojans, not only in the list of Trojan allies (11:816–823) but also in the frequently repeated formula keklyte meu, Trôes kai Dardanoi ed' epikuroi (e.g., III:456)".
^Papazoglu, F. (1978). The Central Balkan Tribes in Pre-Roman Times: Triballi, Autariatae, Dardanians, Scordisci and Moesians. Niederlande: Hakkert. p. 132.
^Trojans and Their Neighbours: An Introduction (Ancient Peoples) by T. Bryce, 2005, p. 117: "... question, we might have a clearer indication of the Trojans' ethnic origins. We have referred to the widespread distribution of Luwian- ..."
^The National Encyclopædia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge: By Writers of Eminence in Literature, Science, and Art. Volume 14 : Tri - Z by unknown author, 2001, p. 22: "... his allies. The inhabitants of the Troad were probably of Thracian origin. At the time of the Trojan War they had reached a higher state of prosperity and ..."
^J. B. Bury; S. A. Cook; F. E. Adcock, eds. (1931). The Cambridge Ancient History: The Egyptian and the Hittite Empires. Vol. 2, Part 2 (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 17.