Caucones
Encyclopedia
The Caucones were an autochthonous
tribe of Anatolia
(modern-day Turkey
). According to Herodotus
and other classical writers, they were displaced or absorbed by the immigrant Bithynia
ns, who were a group of clans from Thrace
that spoke an Indo-European language. Thracian Bithynians also expelled or subdued the Mysians
, and some minor tribes, the Mariandyni alone maintaining themselves in cultural independence, in the northeast of what became Bithynia.
The Kaukones make the briefest appearance in the Iliad
Book X, when the Trojan
Dolon
reveals the array of Trojan allies, ranged among their neighbors like a lesson in geography:
There are brief uninformative references in the Odyssey
too. In Book III, Athena, having taken the guise of Mentor, tells Nestor at Pylus: "I'll lie down on the black hollow ship tonight and in the morning go to the Caucones, where there's an old debt they still owe me, not a small amount." By the time of Strabo
the name had not persisted: "now they are nowhere to be found, although in earlier times they were settled in several places." What kind of language the illiterate Caucones spoke is a ludibrium
of opposing camps of modern-day linguist
s, who tend to align themselves according to their modern ethnicities. The Caucones are not to be confused with the Cicones
(also mentioned in the Iliad and the Odyssey) who were a Thracian
tribe on the south coast of Thrace
.
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
tribe of Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
(modern-day Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
). According to Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
and other classical writers, they were displaced or absorbed by the immigrant Bithynia
Bithynia
Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine .-Description:...
ns, who were a group of clans from Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
that spoke an Indo-European language. Thracian Bithynians also expelled or subdued the Mysians
Mysians
Mysians were the inhabitants of Mysia, a region in northwestern Asia Minor.-Origins according to ancient authors:Their first mention is by Homer, in his list of Trojans allies in the Iliad, and according to whom the Mysians fought in the Trojan War on the side of Troy, under the command of Chromis...
, and some minor tribes, the Mariandyni alone maintaining themselves in cultural independence, in the northeast of what became Bithynia.
The Kaukones make the briefest appearance in the Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
Book X, when the Trojan
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
Dolon
Dolon
In Greek mythology, Dolon fought for Troy during the Trojan War.-Dolon's Night Mission in Homer's Iliad:Dolon is the father of Eumedes, and has 5 daughters...
reveals the array of Trojan allies, ranged among their neighbors like a lesson in geography:
- "Towards the sea lie the CariaCariaCaria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there...
ns, and Paionians of the bent bow, and the LelegesLelegesThe Leleges were one of the aboriginal peoples of southwest Anatolia , who were already there when the Indo-European Hellenes emerged. The distinction between the Leleges and the Carians is unclear. According to Homer the Leleges were a distinct Anatolian tribe Homer...
and Kaukones, and noble PelasgiansPelasgiansThe name Pelasgians was used by some ancient Greek writers to refer to populations that were either the ancestors of the Greeks or who preceded the Greeks in Greece, "a hold-all term for any ancient, primitive and presumably indigenous people in the Greek world." In general, "Pelasgian" has come...
."
There are brief uninformative references in the Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
too. In Book III, Athena, having taken the guise of Mentor, tells Nestor at Pylus: "I'll lie down on the black hollow ship tonight and in the morning go to the Caucones, where there's an old debt they still owe me, not a small amount." By the time of Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
the name had not persisted: "now they are nowhere to be found, although in earlier times they were settled in several places." What kind of language the illiterate Caucones spoke is a ludibrium
Ludibrium
Ludibrium is a word derived from Latin ludus , meaning a plaything or a trivial game. In Latin ludibrium denotes an object of fun, and at the same time, of scorn and derision, and it also denotes a capricious game itself: e.g., ludibria ventis , "the playthings of the winds", ludibrium pelagis ,...
of opposing camps of modern-day linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
s, who tend to align themselves according to their modern ethnicities. The Caucones are not to be confused with the Cicones
Cicones
The Cicones, Ciconians or Kikonians, were a Homeric Thracian tribe, whose stronghold in the time of Odysseus was the town of Ismara , located at the foot of mount Ismara, on the south coast of Thrace . They are mentioned in book two of the Iliad as having joined the war on the side of the Trojans,...
(also mentioned in the Iliad and the Odyssey) who were a Thracian
Thracians
The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...
tribe on the south coast of Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
.