THE EARLY AGE OF GREECE VOL.I by W.Ridgeway 1901

in
WHO WERE THE MAKERS? 113
Phthiotae, who with Pelops made an irruption into Peloponnesus,
settled in Laconia, and were so much distinguished
for their valour that Peloponnesus, which for a long period
up to this time had the name of Argos, was called Achean
Argos and not Peloponnesus only, but Laconia also, was
;
thus peculiarly designated. From Laconia the Acheans were
driven out by the Dorians, and went and settled in what was
known as Achaea properly so called, expelling the lonians
therefrom ^"
Here tben we have the Greek traditions respecting the
coming of the Acheans into Peloponnesus. These stand out
distinct in themselves fi'om any of the statements about the
Pelasgians, and therefore embody a different line of evidence.
Does this harmonize with or does it contradict the statements
of Hesiod, Aeschylus, and Ephoi-us about the Pelasgian occupation
of Peloponnesus { It plainly suppoi'ts them. For
Herodotus makes Archander the Achean mai-ry a daughter of
Danaus, a statement in which he is su])port(!d by Pausanias,
although there is a slight vai-iant in the pedigree, Herodotus
making Ai'chandcr son of Fhthius and gi'andsou of Achaeus,
\vh(n-eas Pausanias makes Achaeus and fhthius brothers. Vi't
in cither case the stoiy assumes thai thei'e was an ancitMit race
of gi'eat importance of which Danaus was king, in full possession
of Aigolis and Sparta. The stoiy (old by Strabo of the
coming of the Acheans undci' the Icadci'sliip of Pelops. makes
a simiiai' assumption, for if there is anv story in ( h'cek h'gcnd
which kee))s to one ])ositive \ersion, it is that Pclo))s the
Phrygian was a late coiner into Peloponnesus, whei'c he found
ancient dynasties in t'nll swa\, and that he gained his kingdom
l)y marrying Hippodaniia, the daughter of ( )enoinaus. We
have sei'ii abo\c jiow his son Alri'Us got the thione of Mycenae
and su[)])lante(l the ancient Pei-seid hue. and how his grandson
Meiii'laus, by niarrving Helen, the heii-ess ot' 'I'yndarens, gaineil
possession of Spai'ta.
If the sce|iiic point with derision to the
wide ditfei-eiice between tile ^|oi-y
ot' lieredotus and Pausanias
and I
hat told bv St rabo, our an->wer is t hat sncli ditfereiit stories
ot the first coniiiiL!' of the Acheans are b\ no mean-- inconi-
114 WHO WERE THE MAKERS?
patible with historical truth. Who can tell when the Saxons
first entered England ? One story of their coming represents
Hengist and Horsa as coining in to aid the British king Vortigern
against the Picts and Scots, and settling in the south of
;
England but on the other hand it is not at all improbable
that the earliest Saxon settlements were in Northumbria.
Who can tell whether the Danes who settled in Ireland first
got their footing
at Dublin or Waterford ? The fact is that
when the tide of colonizing and conquest begins to flow,
different bodies of invaders make their a})pearance, almost
simultaneously in some cases, at different points; sometimes
small bodies of men seeking new homes pave the wa}^ (such
as Archander and Architeles of the Achean legend), to be
followed later on by far larger bodies of population.
The incoming of valiant strangers who marry the daughters
of the old kingly houses is no mere figment of the Greek
legend-mongers. Histor}' is full of such. Strongbow the Norman
aids Dormot MacMorogh and marries his daughter Eva ;
and in more modern days Captain John Smith married the
Indian princess Pocahontas, from whom the best families in
Virginia are proud to trace their descent.
Again the story of the Phrygian Pelops leading the
Acheans may raise a sneer of incredulity. But it must not be
forgotten that at all times and especially in barbaric days
it is
the chieftain's ])ers()nality
which is the weightiest fact(jr. If a
man of great personal prowess arises, men of othei' races ai'e
(juite ready to follow him. How many of the countless hordes
who followed (ienghis Khan were of the same race as their
'.
captain our own time we have seen with what readiness
the Zulus wci'e willing to follow as their chief the Ent*lisliman,
John 1 )unn.
As the Achean legends assume th(,' existence of an
older I'ace in Pclopoiuicsus
.sce])ti(; to assail our position by denying
Pelasgians in Pelojxuniesus on the ground
it will not be sufficient for the
the existence of the
that the Hesiodic
genealogy is a j)ure fabrication ' ;
he must also l)e i)repared to
f;ast awav as utterly worthless the Achean legend, which not
' Kdiiaul Meyer, op. cit., p. ll.'l.