Dorians

Dorians, one of the three principal peoples of ancient Greece, the others being the Aeolians and the Ionians. According to legend, the Dorians took their name from Dorus, the son of Hellen, who settled in Doris, which the Dorians regarded as their mother country. Dorians migrated to Crete (Kríti), the Dodecanese and other Aegean islands, and Laconia, Argolis, and Corinth in the Pelopónnisos (Peloponnesus). The Dorians apparently kept themselves separate from the conquered tribes only in Laconia, and consequently the inhabitants of that region were always considered of unmixed Dorian blood. Greek legend held that the Dorians conquered the Pelopónnisos in about 1104 bc, aided by the mythical return of the Heraclids, the descendants of Heracles or Hercules. But scholars believe the widespread destruction in the region during that period was caused by numerous conflicts among Mycenaean rulers, and probably major earthquakes, not by an invasion from a unified Dorian force. Migrations by small groups of Dorians took place during the 12th and 11th centuries bc or even earlier. From the Pelopónnisos the Dorians colonized the southwestern corner of Asia Minor and the neighboring islands and planted settlements in Sicily and southern Italy. They spoke a dialect of ancient Greek called Doric.