Dardanians (Trojan)

This article is about the terms Dardan and Dardanian in classical writings. For the Shannara character, see Dardan (Shannara).
"Dardanoi" redirects here. For the Balkan tribe, see Dardani.
Amycus punished, red-figured Lucanian hydria, end of 4th century BC, Cabinet des Médailles. A prominent Trojan during the Trojan War

The Dardanoi (Greek: Δάρδανοι; its anglicized modern terms being Dardanians or Dardans) were a legendary people of the Troad, located in northwestern Anatolia. The Dardanoi were the descendants of Dardanus, the mythical founder of Dardanus, an ancient city in the Troad.[1] A contingent of Dardanians figures among Troy's allies in the Trojan War.[1] Homer makes a clear distinction between the Trojans and the Dardanoi,[2] however, "Dardanoi"/"Dardanian" later became essentially metonymous–– or at least is commonly perceived to be so–– with "Trojan", especially in the works of Vergil such as the Aeneid.

  1. ^ a b Bryce, Trevor (2009). The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia: The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the fall of the Persian Empire. Routledge. p. 186. ISBN 978-1-134-15907-9.
  2. ^ "Review: Some Recent Works on Ancient Syria and the Sea People", Michael C. Astour, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 92, No. 3, (Jul. - Sep., 1972), pp. 447–459 writing about Richard David Barnett who identified the Dardanoi with the Trojans: "Which is,incidentally, not so: the Iliad carefully distinguishes the Dardanoi from the Trojans, not only in the list of Trojan allies (11:816–823) but also in the frequently repeated formula keklyte meu, Trôes kai Dardanoi ed' epikuroi (e.g., III:456)".