Regions of ancient Greece
Some, particularly in the Peloponnese, can be seen primarily as distinct geo-physical units, defined by physical boundaries such as mountain ranges and rivers.
Both types of regions retained their identity throughout the Greek Dark Ages and its tumultuous changes in the local population and culture, giving them a less political and more symbolic presence.
Other geographical divisions not identified with the aforementioned areas did, however, change over time, suggesting a closer connection with tribal identity.
In English the area is usually called Central Greece, but the equivalent Greek term (Κεντρική Ελλάδα, Kentrikí Elláda) is more rarely used.
The lowland border in the Spercheios valley with Malis ran approximately north-south along from Oeta to the western spur of Othrys.
The mountains contained many wild beasts, and acquired fame in Greek mythology as the scene of the hunt for the Calydonian Boar.
[3] The name of Attica (Greek: Ἀττική) was said to be derived from Atthis, daughter of Cranaus, who was said to have been the second king of Athens.
Attica is bounded on the east by the Aegean sea, on the west by Megaris and the Saronic gulf and on the north by Boeotia.
The region of Boeotia (Greek: Βοιωτία), along with many of the cities that existed there in the Classical period, is described in the "catalogue of ships", in the Iliad.
Oetaea (Greek: Οἰταία) was a small upland district located south of Thessaly (of which it was sometimes considered part).
The Peloponnese or Peloponnesos, is a large peninsula at the southern tip of the Balkans, and part of the traditional heartland of Greece.
Most of these regions are directly named in the "catalogue of ships" in the Iliad,[10] suggesting that this geographic division of the Peloponnese is very ancient, and stretches back to Mycenaean Greece.
Geographically, Achaea was (and is) the northernmost region of the Peloponnese, occupying the coastal strip north of Arcadia.
Most of the region of Arcardia was mountainous, apart from the plains around Tegea and Megalopolis, and the valleys of the Alpheios and Ladon rivers.
[11] Whilst Herodotus seems to have found the idea that the Pelasgians were not 'Greek' far-fetched, it is clear that the Arcadians were considered as the original inhabitants of the region.
Argolis is discussed in the "catalogue of ships" of the Iliad, without being given that explicit name, but the major cities of the region are listed together under the leadership of Diomedes.
On the Peloponnesian side of the Isthmus, Corinthia was bounded by Achaea to the west, and to the south by the territory of Argolis.
As discussed above, the boundary between Argolis and Corinthia was rather fluid, and in both ancient and modern times, the regions have been considered together.
Corinthia is discussed in the "catalogue of ships" of the Iliad, without being given that explicit name, but the major cities of the region are listed together under the leadership of Agamemnon.
Laconia (also called Lacedaemon; Greek: Λακεδαίμων, Lakedaimōn), occupied the south-eastern part of the Peloponnese.
The northern border with Arcadia ran amongst the foothills of Taygetos and Parnon, such that up Laconia included all the headwaters of the Eurotas river.
There were other settlements in the region, and most inhabitants were not full Spartan citizens (Spartiates), but Lacedaemonians or Perioeci ("about-dwellers").
The northern border with Arcadia then ran amongst the foothills of Taygetos, but all the headwater of the Alpheios river lay outside Messenia.
During the Mycenaean period, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, a name that continued to be used for one of the major tribes of Greece, the Aeolians, and their dialect of Greek, Aeolic.
However, as kingdom of Macedon was expanding and was pushing east the Thracian tribes, river Nestos was regarded as the eastern border of the region and Sintice, Odomantis and Edonis were included in it.
