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Autochthon (ancient Greece)

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were driven from the islands by Dorians and Ionians and so came to the mainland. This is the Cretan story about the Carians; but the Carians themselves do not subscribe to it, but believe that they are autochthonous inhabitants of the mainland and always bore the name which they bear now.... I think
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for we did not become dwellers in this land by driving others out of it, nor by finding it uninhabited, nor by coming together here a motley horde composed of many races; but we are of a lineage so noble and so pure that throughout our history we have continued in possession of the very land which
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The ancient myth of autochthony in historiography is the belief of the historian, or of the tribe itself, that they were indigenous, the first humans to inhabit their possessed land. The term first occurs in 5th century BCE ethnographic passages.
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gave us birth, since we are sprung from its very soil and are able to address our city by the very names which we apply to our nearest kin; for we alone of all the Hellenes have the right to call our city at once nurse and fatherland and mother.
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were believed to have sprung from a field sown with dragons' teeth. The Phrygian Corybantes had been forced out of the hill-side like trees by Rhea, the great mother, and hence were called δενδροφυεῖς. It is clear from the Ancient Greek play
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and Oligarchs, and their strict power hierarchies, autochthony was as an argument for democracy and egalitarianism. All Athenians were earth-brothers and thus deserved to have equal access to political power.
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The practice in ancient Greece of describing legendary heroes and men of ancient lineage as "earthborn" greatly strengthened the doctrine of autochthony. In Thebes, the race of
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appear to have been the next settlers, although they pretend to have been the first of all and autochthones; but the facts show that they were Iberians, driven by the
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Athenian autochthony also links to nationalistic political ideology in the fifth and fourth century. It justifies Athenian greatness and conquest over other
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On the other hand, Herodotus gives the following passage on the Attic genealogy, which references migratory origins in contrast to the myth of autochthony:
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was their king they were called Cecropidae, and when Erechtheus succeeded to the rule, they changed their name and became Athenians. When, however,
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Seven tribes (ethnea) inhabit the Peloponnese. Two of these are autochthonous and are now settled in the land where they lived in the old days, the
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In mythology, autochthones are those mortals who have sprung from the soil, rocks and trees. They are rooted and belong to the land eternally.
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The “autochthony” of the Athenians was a common theme on vase paintings, in political rhetoric, and on the tragic stage. In the
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Because we are pure-blooded Greeks, unadulterated by barbarian stock. For there cohabit with us none of the type of
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Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott (1940). Sir Henry Stuart Jones and Roderick McKenzie (ed.).
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The Athenians, while the Pelasgians ruled what is now called Hellas, were
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Curious Facts in the History of Insects, Including Spiders and Scorpions
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Original inhabitant of a country free from admixture of foreign peoples
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Noctes Atticae: 34 Articles on Greco-Roman Antiquity and Its Nachleben
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and Athens, as Erechtheus was believed to have been raised by Athena.
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Autochthons are reported in the mythology of the following regions:
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
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The Athenians of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, during the age of
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was commander of the Athenian army, they were called after him
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Race and Citizen Identity in the Classical Athenian Democracy
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Rosivach, Vincent J (1987). "Autochthony and the Athenians".
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of a country, including mythological figures, as opposed to
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Loraux, Nicole. (2000). Selina Stewart, trans. and (ed.).
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Antike Mythen: Medien, Transformationen und Konstruktionen
57:"soil"; i.e. "people sprung from earth itself") means the 502:
It is unclear or unlikely that the above ideas belong to
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Aeschylus (1961). Philip Vellacott, trans. and (ed.).
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Thucydides (1910). Richard Crawley, trans and (ed.).
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Autochthonous The Soil's Offspring by Carlos Parada
757:. London: J. M. Dent. p. 6.2.1. Archived from 459:addressed to his countrymen the following passage: 1174: 654:Herodotus (1920). A. D. Godley, trans. and (ed.). 594: 943:. Philadelphia: Lippincott & Co. p. 251. 1260: 1096:. Cambridge: Cambridge. 2010. pp. 100–105. 978: 629:. In Ueli Dill and Christine Walde Page (ed.). 399: 1289:Legendary tribes in Greco-Roman historiography 1177:Ancient Women Philosophers, 600 B.C. – 500 A.D 1147:Holger, Thesleff (2002). Bettina Amden (ed.). 1026:Born of the Earth: Myth and Politics in Athens 633:. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 251–74. 1243:(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 782:Die Fragmente Der Griechischen Historiker. 294: 750: 786:. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 323a, F27. 744: 653: 592: 1229: 808: 802: 647: 586: 439:. In contrast to the previous regime of 431:Separate from the political ideology of 988:. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 158–163. 972: 896: 1261: 1168: 1154:. Köpenhamn: Tusculanum. p. 292. 1146: 1140: 1019: 1013: 983:"The Myth of Athenian Autochthony." in 779: 1179:. Dordrecht: M. Nijhoff. p. 76. 1060: 936: 930: 773: 1084: 621: 615: 13: 1269:Autochthons of classical mythology 1024:"The Benefits of Autochthony." in 364:from the river Sicanus in Iberia. 14: 1300: 1247: 1217: 1175:Waithe, Mary Ellen, ed. (1987). 597:Prometheus Bound and Other Plays 1193: 1121: 1110:from the original on 2021-04-28 1054: 1043:from the original on 2021-04-28 1002:from the original on 2021-04-28 961:from the original on 2015-09-06 947: 918: 907:from the original on 2020-08-04 876: 864: 845: 790: 664:from the original on 2021-04-28 985:A Companion to Ancient History 725: 706: 687: 675: 372:, the author states that the " 344:, in Scythia are autochthones. 1: 979:Erskine, Andrew, ed. (2007). 580: 400:Athenian autochthony concept 71: 7: 1284:Culture in Classical Athens 903:. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 553: 10: 1305: 1150:"Plato and His Public." in 884: 601:. Harmondsworth: Penguin. 48: 39: 18: 1274:Society of ancient Greece 1066:"Panegyricus, section 24" 955:"Encyclopædia Britannica" 823:10.1017/s0009838800030512 287:, commonly attributed to 1279:Historiography of Greece 1206:October 3, 2009, at the 1134:October 2, 2009, at the 858:October 3, 2009, at the 719:October 3, 2009, at the 700:October 3, 2009, at the 295:Tribes in historiography 1240:Encyclopædia Britannica 1071:Perseus Digital Library 900:A Greek-English Lexicon 811:The Classical Quarterly 780:Jacoby, Felix (1961). 570:Aborigines (mythology) 560:Spontaneous generation 551: 529:, bearing the name of 500: 466: 366: 346: 59:indigenous inhabitants 937:Cowan, Frank (1865). 799:. Book 10, Section 6. 754:The Peloponnesian War 523: 480: 461: 354: 309: 19:For other uses, see 384:are autochthones." 1127:Plato, Menexenus, 738:July 15, 2012, at 437:Athenian democracy 565:History of Athens 396:as autochthones. 368:In a fragment of 30:, the concept of 1296: 1244: 1223: 1221: 1220: 1210: 1197: 1191: 1190: 1172: 1166: 1165: 1144: 1138: 1125: 1119: 1118: 1116: 1115: 1088: 1082: 1081: 1079: 1078: 1058: 1052: 1051: 1049: 1048: 1017: 1011: 1010: 1008: 1007: 976: 970: 969: 967: 966: 951: 945: 944: 934: 928: 922: 916: 915: 913: 912: 887: 886: 880: 874: 868: 862: 849: 843: 842: 806: 800: 794: 788: 787: 777: 771: 770: 768: 766: 748: 742: 729: 723: 710: 704: 691: 685: 679: 673: 672: 670: 669: 651: 645: 644: 619: 613: 612: 600: 590: 420:and wore golden 284:Prometheus Bound 225:Others regions: 51: 50: 42: 41: 1304: 1303: 1299: 1298: 1297: 1295: 1294: 1293: 1259: 1258: 1250: 1233:, ed. (1911). 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Index

Autochthon
ancient Greece
Ancient Greek
chthon
indigenous inhabitants
settlers
Attica
Amphictyon
Cecrops I
Cranaus
Erichthonius
Periphas
Phlyus
Actaeus
Boeotia
Ogyges
Alalcomenes
Phlegyas
Spartoi
Ectenes
Crete
Cres
Lycastus
Eteocretans
Peloponnese
Palaechthon
Argus Panoptes
Argos
Pelasgus
Phigalus

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