The ancient Greek tribes () were groups of Greek-speaking populations living in ancient Greece and the various Greek colonies of antiquity. They were primarily divided by geographic, dialectal, political, and cultural criteria, as well as distinct traditions in mythology and religion.
Some groups were of mixed origin, forming a syncretic culture through absorption and assimilation of previous and neighboring populations into the Greek language and customs. Greek word for tribe was Phylē (sing.) and Phylai (pl.), the tribe was further subdivided in Demes (sing. Demos, pl. Demoi) roughly matching to a clan.
The name Pelasgians was used exclusively by the ancient Greek writers, who referred to the populations they considered the ancestors of the Greeks or "pre-Hellenic". Some, mainly later ones, use it to describe purely Greek populations.
With the dominion of land passing on from one tribe to the other, cultural exchange through art and trade, and frequent alliances toward common goals, the ethnic character of the different tribes had become primarily political by the dawn of the Hellenistic period. The Roman conquest of Greece, the subsequent division of the Roman Empire into Greek East and Latin West, as well as the advent of Christianity, molded the common ethnic and political Greek identity once and for all to the subjects of the Greek world by the 3rd century AD.
Ancestors
Proto-Indo-Europeans (Proto-Indo-European speakers (?) Proto-Graeco-Phrygians (proposed subgroup of Proto-Graeco-Phrygian speakers) (?) Proto-Graeco-Armenians (proposed subgroup of Proto-Graeco-Armenian speakers) (?) Proto-Graeco-Aryans (proposed subgroup of Proto-Graeco-Aryan speakers) Proto-Greeks (Proto-Greek speakers)
Greek tribes
Late Bronze Age: Homeric Age of the Iliad (circa 1200 BC) Hellenes
Achaeans/Argives/Danaans (Danaoi)/Hellenes/Panhellenes (used as synonym of Greeks by Homer in the Iliad) (Mycenaean Greece before Late Bronze Age collapse and Dorian Invasion) Central and Eastern Greek tribes (Aeolians, Achaeans and Ionians) Achaeans (Broader sense) Central Greek tribes (Aeolians and Achaeans) Aeolians Acarnanians, Pre-Dorian Acarnanians Dulichiumians/Doulicheis (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Taphians and Teleboans - in the Echinades Islands Taphians (Táphioi) - in Taphos Island and other Echinades Islands Teleboans (Tēlebóai) - Originally in the Mainland (in Acarnania), after in Taphos Island and other Echinades Islands Cephallenians - Original dwellers of Cephalonia/Kefalonia, Ithaca (homeland of Odysseus), Leucas/Lefkada and Zakynthos (Southern Ionian Islands) (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Aenianes/Enienes - Pre-Dorian Aenianes of Aenis Boeotians Aones (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Curetes or Aetolians (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Dryopes - Pre-Dorian dwellers of Doris Locrians - Pre-Dorian Locrians (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Phoceans - Pre-Dorian Phoceans (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Thessalians Lapiths (Lapíthai) (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) (Phlegyas was their mythical king) Myrmidons (Myrmidónes) (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) (people of Achilles in the Iliad) Perrhaebi (Perraiboí) (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Achaeans (Narrower sense) - Pre-Doric people of Peloponnese Peninsula (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Arcadians (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Argives - Pre-Doric people of Argos (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Epeans (el) of Elis (Epeioí) - Pre-Doric people of Elis (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Lacedaemonians - Pre-Doric people of Lacedaemonia, later doric Sparta (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Mycenaeans - Pre-Doric Myceneans, Mycenae was their main settlement (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Symians (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Eastern Greek tribes (Ionians) Ionians Oldest tribes (Phylai) Agikoreis Argadeis Geleontes Hopletes Attics Athenians (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Euboeans Abantes Salamineans (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships) Western Greek tribes (Dorians and Magnetes) Dorians Oldest tribes (Phylai) Dymanes (descendants from the legendary eponymous hero Dymas) Hylleis (descendants from the legendary eponymous hero Hyllus) Pamphylians (descendants from the legendary eponym hero Pamphylos) Northwestern Doric Greek tribes Epirotes (Epirotic Dorians?) Phaeacians - They lived in the island Scheria (may have been an old name for the island of Kerkyra/Corfu before Corinthian colonization) (mentioned in the Odyssey as a people that welcomed Odysseus before his return to Ithaca). Magnetes (mentioned in Iliad's Catalogue of Ships)
Iron Age: Archaic and Classical Greece (from circa 800 BC) Archaic and Classical Greece after Late Bronze Age collapse and Dorian Invasion
Hellenes Central and Eastern Greek tribes (Aeolians, Achaeans and Ionians) Achaeans (Broader sense) - They lived in Eastern, East Central and Southern Greece (Mycenean Greece) before Dorian migrations or Dorian invasions (after that most Achaeans were displaced or assimilated by Dorians in Southern Greece regions, except for Arcadia). They spoke Mycenean Greek that was the ancestor of Aeolic, Arcado-Cypriot and Ionic Greek dialects of Classical Greece. Central Greek tribes (Aeolians and Achaeans) Aeolians - They spoke Aeolic Greek dialects (archaic dialects that preserved some Mycenean Greek features). Boeotians - They lived in Boeotia (Aonia) Dryopes - They lived in Dryopis, later known as Doris (after driven out by the Malians, a Dorian tribe, many scattered to other Greek regions, mostly towards far southern of Euboea Island). Thessalians - They lived in Thessaly (Thessalia/Aeolia). Mount Olympus is on the border between Thessaly and Macedon. Achaeans, Phtiothis - They lived in Achaea Phthiotis. Dolopes? - They lived in Dolopia (mostly considered a Thessalian tribe) Histiaeoteans - They lived in Histiaeotis, Thessaly's Northwest district. Thessalians Proper - They lived in Thessaliotis. Aeolian Diaspora Asia Minor Aeolians - They lived in Aeolis, Northwestern Anatolian coast. Lesbians - They lived in Lesbos Island. Achaeans (Narrower sense) (Arcado-Cyprian tribes) - They spoke Arcado-Cypriot Greek dialects (archaic dialects that preserved some Mycenean Greek features). Arcadians - They lived in Arcadia (Central Peloponnese Peninsula) and were a pre-Dorian invasion or Dorian migration Greek tribal confederation. Azanes Triphylians - They were a group of three tribes (Tri - Three, Phylai -Tribes) that lived in Western Peloponnese, in southern part of Elis (south of Alpheiós river) but saw themselves as Arcadians and not Eleans. Amphidolians Letrinians Marganians Achaean Diaspora Cypriots - They lived in Cyprus Island Pamphylians - They lived in Pamphylia (South-West Anatolia). Eastern Greek tribes (Ionians) Ionians - They spoke Ionic Greek dialects (basis of the Greek Koiné and its descendant Modern Greek). Oldest tribes (Phylai) Agikoreis Argadeis Geleontes Hopletes Attics - They lived in Attica (included ancient Athenians) (Marathon is in Attica) Aiantis (named after Ajax) (Aeschylus was a member of this tribe) Aigeis (named after Aegeus) Akamantis/Acamantis (named after Acamas) (Pericles was a member of this tribe) Antiochis (named after Antiochus, son of Heracles) (Socrates was a member of this tribe) Erechtheis (named after Erechtheus) (Critias may also have been a member of this tribe) Hippothontis (named after Hippothoon) Kekropis (named after Cécrops) Leontis (named after Leos, son of Orpheus) (Themistocles was a member of this tribe) Oineis (named after Oeneus) Pandionis (named after Pandion) Euboeans (West Ionians) - They lived in Euboea Island. Abantes Euboean Diaspora Chalcidicians, Euboean - They lived in the Peninsula of Chalcidicia (many were descendants from Euboean colonies from the cities of Chalcis and Eretria). Catanians - They lived in Catania, Magna Graecia (many were descendants from a Euboean colony from the city of Chalcis). Cumaeans - They lived in Cumae, that was founded by settlers from Euboea island (from Chalcis and Eretria cities) in Magna Graecia. It was one of the Greek colonies that most influenced ancient Etruscan and Roman cultures, namely by the introduction of the Alphabet. Cumae by itself was the Metropolis of other poleis in southern Italy coast, including Nea Polis (New City), today's Naples (it was to the West and close of Naples). Neapolitans - They lived in Naples (many were descendants from Rhodean and Ionic colonies, the last ones were more numerous). Ionians, Cycladian (Central Ionians) - They lived in Cyclades Islands. Delos Island that had the important Delos sanctuary was in this group of islands. Cycladian Diaspora Chalcidicians, Cycladian - They lived in the Peninsula of Chalcidicia (many were descendants of a colony from Andros island). Salamineans - in Salamis/Salamina Island Ionian Diaspora Asia Minor Ionians (East Ionians) - They lived in Ionia, Western Anatolian coast. Sirisians - They lived in Siris in Lucania/Basilicata eastern coast (many were descendants of a colony from the city of Colophon, in the Western Anatolian coast). Western Greek tribes (Dorians and Macedonians) Dorians - They spoke Doric Greek dialects (that were not descendants of Mycenean Greek but from a common Proto-Greek language). Northwestern Doric Greek tribes - They spoke North-West Doric Greek dialect Acarnanians, Northwestern Greek - They lived in Acarnania (this region had two groups of Greeks: the native Northwestern Greek Acarnanians and the Dorians Proper Acarnanians, many of whom were descendants from Corinthian colonies). Achaean Dorians - Many were Achaeans assimilated by Dorians. They spoke a Northwest Greek dialect but with a stronger Achaean Greek substrate. They spoke Achaean Doric Greek (not to be confused with Achaean Greek). Achaean Dorians of Peloponnese - They lived in Achaea (whose older name was Aegialus/Aegialea and was dwelt by Ionians) (North Peloponnese Peninsula). Achaean Dorians Diaspora Crotoneans - They lived in Crotone (Eastern Calabria coast), Magna Graecia (many were descendants from an Achaean colony from the city of Rhypes). Achaean Dorians of the Islands Doulicheis - Older dwellers of Leucas/Lefkada Island (before Corinthian colonization). Ithacians - They lived in Ithaca Island (the land of the legendary Odysseus, the main character of the Odyssey and also one of the main ones in the Iliad whose author is traditionally thought to be Homer). Kefalloneis - They lived in Kephalonia Island. Zakynthians - They lived in Zakynthos Island. Aenianians - They lived in Aeniania/Ainis. Aetolians (Aetoloi)/Curetes - They lived in Aetolia. Aetolian Mountain tribes (Southern Pindus Mountains) Agraeis Aperantoi Apodotoi Eurytanians (Eurytanes) - They lived in Eurytania/Evrytania. Ophioneis Dolopes? - They lived in Dolopia. (sometimes considered an Aetolian tribe) Amphilochians - They lived in Amphilochia. Eleans - They lived in Elis (West Peloponnese Peninsula). Olympia, where the Ancient Olympic Games were held, was in Elis. Epirotes (Epirotic Dorians) - They lived in Epirus. AmantesThe Illyrian Atintani, the Epirotic Atintanes and the Roman Protectorate N. G. L. Hammond, The Journal of Roman Studies Vol. 79 (1989), pp. 11-25 "There were Illyrian Amantini in Pannonia and Greek Amantes in North Epirus" (?) (there is ongoing debate on if the tribe was Epirote Greek or Illyrian.) AtintanesWilkes, John. The Illyrians (The Peoples of Europe). Wiley-Blackwell, 1995, p. 97. (?) (there is ongoing debate on if the tribe was Epirote Greek or Illyrian.) Chaonians - They lived in Chaonia. Subtribes or Clans: Dexaroi Molossians - A tribal confederation. They lived in Molossis/Molossia. Apheidantes - They were named after king Apheidas.