eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

sources referring to him in the Arkadian context come from Arkadia, at least not in the sixth
and fifth centuries. Moreover, later Arkadian sources although acknowledging Pelasgos, tend
to refer more readily to Lykaon and Arkas, who are more likely to be Arkadian in origin
because of their links with place names (Kopp 1992, cited by Nielsen 1999, p.34). In
addition, other areas of the ancient Greek world also claimed Pelasgos as king and people
known as Pelasgians are stated to be located in places as far apart as Crete and Thrace (e.g.
Homer Il 2.840-843, Od 17.175-177; Herodotus 1.57; Thucydides 4.106; Aeschylus Suppl.
5.22, 10.79). Also, the word Pelasgic is used in a variety of ways in the ancient sources from
Homer onwards, some of which have little or no exclusive connection to Arkadia (e.g. Homer
Il 2.840-843, Herodotus 1.57). It seems Pelasgian may have been a generic term referring to
all inhabitants of an earlier Greece, rather than specifically to early Arkadians (i.e. before
Arkas).
Nielsen (1999, p.35) explains these difficulties as arising because the creation of the mythical
complex explaining Arkadian origins did not actually occur until the sixth and fifth centuries
BCE. This was at a time when pan-Arkadian identity was being forged largely in response to
outside aggression (Morgan 1999b, p.425). In a similar manner, Scott (2004) argues that
Arkadian claims to autochthony and a specifically Arkadian connection with Pelasgos became
particularly politically salient in the 4th century BCE, when a new identity for the Arkadian
Confederacy was being constructed. This identity was expressed monumentally in the
Arkadian victory monument at Delphi and it was here that Triphylos appears for the first time,
represented as one of the sons of Arkas. Thus, it seems Arkadian mythical genealogy could
be manipulated when necessary on political grounds, in this case to give credence to the
Triphylian’s presence in the Arkadian Confederacy (Scott 2004, p.14). In addition, as stated
by Roy (1968) and reiterated by Nielsen (1999, p.47), Arkadia was in the first instance a
human concept not a geographical one. For this reason, although Arkadia can be connected to
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