Dardaner (Iliad)

The Dardanians (Greek. Δάρδανοι) are a mythical tribe that after the Iliad in the Asia Minor landscape Troas lived and in closest relationship with the Troiern stood. According to Homer, Troier and Dardaner have the same progenitor Dardanos . The story of the Iliad leaves it unclear whether the Troy and Dardan are two closely related tribes or one and the same people who are only known by two names.

The capital of the Dardaner was on Mount Ida and was called Dardania. This could also be a synonym for Troy. In Egyptian sources a country is called "Dardanja" , which provided auxiliary troops for the Hittites who died in 1274 BC. Fought in the battle of Kadesch . This "Dardanja" is likely to be identical with the land of the Homeric Dardans.

Whether between the Dardanians of Homer in Asia Minor and the Illyrian people of the Dardans in the Balkans , who had lived since the 5th century BC. Chr. Is attested in historical sources, a relationship exists cannot be proven.

The Dardans in the Iliad

In Homer's epic, the Dardans are mentioned in more than a dozen places. The second song says:

There the Trojans parted in ranks, and the comrades.

Only the Trojans did the helmet-fluttering Hector of the Dardans command

Priam's son; he was followed by the greatest number of people and the best,

Well-ordered for battle, with courage moving the spears.

Aeneias, des Anchises, went along before the Dardans

Strong son whom Aphrodite bore him on Idas

Waldigen Höhn, ... (Iliad II, 815–821)

At this point there is talk of two tribes, each with their own commanders, Hector for the Troians and Aeneias for the Dardans.

Troier, Dardan and other allies are often addressed in the heroes' speeches:

Now the voice of the prince of the people, Agamemnon, raised:

Hear my word, you Trojans, you Dardans , and you comrades!

Apparently the victor is the militant hero Menelaus.

Now give Helena the Argeier ... (III, 455–458)

The Trojans also came to the meeting at Ilios Castle,

Terrified and confused, in front of Priam's high palace;

And before them the discreet hero Antenor began:

Hear my word, you Trojans, you Dardans , and you comrades ... (VII, 345-348)

So he talked and sat down. Again rose

Priam, Dardalio's grandson, like the immortals in advice;

He started well-meaning and spoke in front of the meeting:

Hear my word, you Trojans, you Dardans , and you comrades ... (VII, 365-368)

Your Troier, your Dardaner and your comrades are the most frequently used forms of address, but this does not allow a final conclusion as to whether a tribe or two are addressed. Sometimes the Lycians are mentioned as further allies . Then the formulation seems to indicate a clear distinction between Dardan and Troy:

Hector now admonished the Trojans with loud shouts:

Trojans, and Lycians you, and Dardans , fighters close by,

Be men now, O friends, and remember the stormy courage! (VIII, 172-174)

In other places the Troy and Dardanions are mentioned, emphasizing the common descent of the military leaders, but it remains unclear whether the two tribes still form a unit:

Those who were still on the council, the Trojans and Dardanions , ... (VII, 414)

The Gerenian traveler Nestor replied to him:

Woe to me, son of the fiery Tydeus, for what speech!

Because if Hector calls you cowardly and powerless,

The Trojans and Dardanions never believe him ... (VIII, 154)

After all, Troy is called the Dardan city several times. This can either be interpreted as

• that the descendants of Dardanos founded Ilion and later the two tribes separated,
• that Troy was another city besides Dardania in the Dardan Empire, or else
• that Ilion and Dardania are one and the same city and therefore Dardaner and Troier are the same people:

So Hector did not hide from the brave racer Achilles.

Even if he often started, for the high Dardanic gate ... (XXII, 193–194)

swell

The passages from the Iliad come from the German translation by Johann Heinrich Voss . See here: Iliad (German) (PDF; 765 kB)