| TROAD / TROAS The Troad or Troas was the peninsula region at the far north-western corner of Anatolia, formed by the territory to the north of the island of Lesbos, eastwards to Mount Ida, and then roughly in a direct line north to the Dardanelles where it meets the Sea of Marmara, opposite the shores of Thrace. Mysia, also part of the region, lay to the immediate east. It gained its name from the principle city in the region, Troy, which could also have been the Wilusa of Hittite records. Dardania could be included within this region.
Wilusa in the thirteenth century was a member of the Assuwa (or Assua), a confederacy of local minor states which probably included the states of the Troad and which had traditionally been allied to the Hittites. The states or tribes which inhabited the region around this time were mostly remembered in Greek stories which include The Iliad, covering the events of the Trojan War. While the details may be fictional, or at least clouded by several centuries of oral tradition, they probably remember key figures in the war. Following the war the Phrygians, who had recently settled to the south-west between about 1450-1200 BC, took control of the region, but by the sixth century the entire Aegean Coast of Anatolia had been Æolised, or occupied by Æolic Greeks.
(Additional information from External Link: the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, William Smith (Ed, 1854).)
Halizones / Alazones :
Listed in the Trojan order of battle, the origin of the Halizones is unknown. Homer says they came from 'Alybe far away, where is the birthplace of silver'. Suggestions include reading Alybe as Chalybe, which would make them Chalybes, a group who settled in northern Anatolia on the shores of the Black Sea between the Halys and Trabzon. Related to the eastern Khaldi (of later Urartu) who neighboured the Hatti, they are thought to be early Georgians. Chalybe could also derive from Hittite 'Khaly-wa', or 'land of Hatys', which would serve to confirm the theory. In addition, while Palaephatus places the Halizones in Mysia, Homer elsewhere called Odius the chief of the Paphlagonians, again placing them in north-eastern Anatolia. It seems likely that the Halizones moved into the region at the same time that Paphlagonia emerged, displacing or subsuming the Kaskans (although they are placed here for convenience).
c.1180s BC :
Mecisteus : Ruler?
Odius : Son. Chief of the Paphlagonians?
c.1193 - 1183 BC :
Odius and Epistrophus, sons of Mecisteus, lead the contingent of Halizones to the Trojan War on the side of Troy.
Hyrtacidae :
The Hyrtacidae were related by royal marriage to the rulers of Percote, and probably lived somewhere relatively close to that city. This is the most obscure element in the list of Trojan allies because the state or settlement to which Hyrtacus and his people belonged was not listed in the order of battle, or it has since been lost. Probably due to the close relationship between it and Percote, the king's son was given the honour of leading the Percote contingent to Troy, which was made up of troops from Abydus, Arisbe, Practius, and Sestus. The Hyrtacidae were neither Trojan nor Dardanian, and Sestus is frequently included as a Thracian city state, so that Asius is often shown in lists of Thracian rulers, perhaps rightfully so.
Hyrtacus : Comrade of Priam of Troy. Name perhaps of Cretan origin.
Hyrtacus marries Arisbe, daughter of Merops of Percote.
fl c.1180s BC :
Asius : Son.
c.1193 - 1183 BC :
Asius, together with his sons, Adamas and Phaenops, leads the contingent from Percote to the Trojan War on the side of Troy. This ruler is frequently shown as a generalised Thracian leader, and seems to have fought alongside the Thracians during the war.
Kolonae / Colonae :
Kolonae was a city in the Troad which stood 140 stadia south of Ilium (Troy), and which was an ally during the Trojan War. The name Colonae probably stems from 'col' or 'calach' for an eminence, and the term was generally used in Anatolia to denote a fortress.
c.1230s BC :
Stheneleus
c.1230s - 1183 BC :
Cygnus / Kyknos : m Prokleia, a daughter of Laomedon of Troy.
c.1193 - 1183 BC :
Cygnus (whom some sources acquaint with the historical Kikunni of Troy) leads the Kolonaean contingent to the Trojan War on the side of Troy. While invulnerable to weapons thanks to Poseidon, Cygnus is still killed by Achilles of Phthia (and transformed into a swan by Poseidon).
Larissa :
A 'deep-soiled' Pelasgian settlement which provided spearmen to Troy in the Trojan War, Larissa was a common name for Pelasgian towns or cities. This example was probably founded by wandering tribesmen who settled in different parts of the Anatolian coast before the war. The names of its rulers were thoroughly Hellenised, seemingly already by the time of Homer around the eighth century BC, so that no Pelasgian naming elements survived.
Strabo expresses the opinion that the Larissa that some sources quote for the city is not the one mentioned by Homer in The Iliad. That was said to have been far from Troy and not inside the Troad, so although Larissa is not a Troad city, it is located here for convenience. In all likelihood, especially given the names of its rulers and their close familial links with the ruling family of Pelasgiotis, it was probably the Larissa of Thessaly.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from The Iliad, Homer (Translated by E V Rieu, Penguin Books, 1963), from the Argonautica, Apollonius Rhodius (3rd century BC Greek epic poem), and from External Links: Geography, Strabo (H C Hamilton & W Falconer, London, 1903, Perseus Online Edition), and The Greeks really do have near-mythical origins, ancient DNA reveals (Science).)
fl c.1200 BC :
Teutamides / Teutamus : Pelasgian king of Pelasgiotis.
Lethus : Son.
c.1180s BC :
Hippothous : Son. Killed at Troy.
c.1180s BC :
Pylaeus : Brother. Killed at Troy.
c.1193 - 1183 BC :
As Mycenae declares war on Troy, Priam of Troy musters his multinational swathe of allies, many of which don't even speak the same tongue. These include contingents of Pelasgians from several locations in western Anatolia including Larissa - even many Greek writers later label the Pelasgian language 'barbaric' and state that it is not Greek. Two such Pelasgian heroes are Hippothous and Pylaeus, sons of Lethus whose own brother is Nasus, last Pelasgian king of Pelasgiotis. Hippothous is killed by Ajax during the fight for the body of Patroclus, and Pylaeus seemingly alongside him.
The ruins of the third century BC theatre of Larissa are not Pelasgian as such, as there is little remaining that could be categorically attributed to them In the Iliad, the Achaeans beach their ships in the final year of the conflict and set up camp near the mouth of the River Scamander (modern Karamenderes, five kilometres further inland than today, pouring into a bay). The city of Troy itself stands on a hill, across the plain of Scamander, which is where the battles of the Trojan War take place. After fighting to a stalemate, the Mycenaeans finally enter and sack Troy.
Lyrnessos :
This was a city in the Troad which was situated to the south-east of Mount Ida. According to legend, Achilles of Phthia made a 'great foray' to the south of Mount Ida where he attacked twenty-four cities, including Lyrnessos, which he sacked, killing the king, Mynes. Homer relates that Achilles took the late king's wife, Briseis, as his concubine, only for Agamemnon of Mycenae to take her for himself when he had to hand back his own concubine to her father. This began a feud between the two which only the death of Patroclus ended.
? - c.1183 BC :
Selepos
Eunor / Eunos : Son.
Mynes : Killed by Achilles of Phthia.
? - c.1183 BC :
Epistrophos : Son or joint ruler?
c.1183 BC :
The death of Mynes and the sacking of the city knocks Lyrnessos out of the Trojan War so that it is not able to send a force to support its ally, Troy.
Percote :
This was a small city on the Anatolian coast of the Hellespont, situated to the north-east of Troy. It receives more than one mention in Greek mythology, but never plays a major role, and it was not even in existence by the time of Strabo (63 BC - around AD 24). Apparently its people and those of the closely related Hyrtacidae were neither Trojan nor Dardanian and may perhaps have been Thracian instead. The city also commanded peoples from Abydus, Arisbe, Practius, & Sestus, and the forces they supplied to the Trojan War were led by Asius of the Hyrtacidae, while the two sons of Merops led contingents from Adresteia, Apaesus, Mount Tereia, and Pityeia, perhaps without the permission of their father, as he did his best to dissuade them.
Merops : Seer and ruler.
According to Greek legend, Merops is father to Arisbe (the first wife of Priam of Troy, who latter marries Hyrtacus of the Hyrtacidae), Cleite, and two sons, Amphius and Adrastus.
fl c.1180s BC :
Adrastus / Adrastes : Son. Killed at Troy.
fl c.1180s BC :
Amphius? : Brother. Killed at Troy.
c.1193 - 1183 BC :
Amphius and Adrastus lead units from Adresteia, Apaesus, Mount Tereia, and Pityeia, to the Trojan War on the side of Troy, and fight alongside the Percote contingent which is commanded by the Hyrtacidae.
Zeleia :
Zeleia was a Trojan city in the Troad, located at the foot of Mount Ida. It was considered to be holy to Artemis, a tradition which continued into the Classical period. Its people are later linked to Lycia in the south, and may be the result of an earlier division of that people, although there is no proof of that.
Lykaon / Lycaon
? - c.1183 BC :
Pandarosmid / Pandarus : Son.
c.1193 - 1183 BC :
Pandarus, skilled with the bow, leads the contingent from Zeleia to the Trojan War on the side of Troy. After sabotaging a truce by wounding Menelaus of Sparta, he is killed by Diomedes of Argos when a spear hits him in the face, severing his tongue.
Source :
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