Mysians ( la, Mysi; grc, Μυσοί, ''Mysoí'') were the inhabitants of

Mysia Mysia (UK , US or ; el, Μυσία; lat, Mysia; tr, Misya) was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor (Anatolia, Asian part of modern Turkey). It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on th ...

, a region in northwestern

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

Origins according to ancient authors

Their first mention is by

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

, in his list of

Trojan Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...

s allies in the

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

, and according to whom the Mysians fought in the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...

on the side of

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

, under the command of Chromis and

Ennomus In Greek mythology, Ennomus (; grc, Ἔννομος ''Ennomos'') was the name of two defenders of Troy during the Trojan War: * Ennomus, son of Arsinous. He was a Mysian ally of the Trojans, and was killed by Achilles. He was also said to have be ...

the Augur, and were ''lion-hearted spearmen who fought with their bare hands''.

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

in his ''Histories'' wrote that the Mysians were brethren of the

Carians The Carians (; grc, Κᾶρες, ''Kares'', plural of , ''Kar'') were the ancient inhabitants of Caria in southwest Anatolia. Historical accounts Karkisa It is not clear when the Carians enter into history. The definition is dependent on c ...

and the

Lydians The Lydians (known as ''Sparda'' to the Achaemenids, Old Persian cuneiform 𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭) were Anatolian people living in Lydia, a region in western Anatolia, who spoke the distinctive Lydian language, an Indo-European language of the ...

, originally Lydian colonists in their country, and as such, they had the right to worship alongside their relative nations in the sanctuary dedicated to the Carian Zeus in

Mylasa Milas ( grc, Μύλασα, Mylasa) is an ancient city and the seat of the district of the same name in Muğla Province in southwestern Turkey. The city commands a region with an active economy and very rich in history and ancient remains, the ter ...

. He also mentions a movement of Mysians and associated peoples from

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

into

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

still earlier than the Trojan War, wherein the Mysians and Teucrians had crossed the Bosphorus into Europe and, after conquering all of

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

, pressed forward till they came to the Ionian Sea, while southward they reached as far as the river Peneus. Herodotus adds an account and description of later Mysians who fought in Darius' army. Strabo in his Geographica informs that, according to his sources, the Mysians in accordance with their religion abstained from eating any living thing, including from their flocks, and that they used as food honey and milk and cheese. Citing the historian

Xanthus Xanthus (; grc, Ξάνθος, ''Xanthos'', "yellow, blond") or Xanthos may refer to: In Greek mythology * Xanthos (King of Thebes), the son of Ptolemy, killed by Andropompus or Melanthus *Xanthus (mythology), several figures, including gods, men, ...

, he also reports that the name of the people was derived from the Lydian name for the oxya tree.

Mysian language

Little is known about the

Mysian language The Mysian language was spoken by Mysians inhabiting Mysia in north-west Anatolia. Little is known about the Mysian language. Strabo noted that it was, "in a way, a mixture of the Lydian and Phrygian languages". As such, the Mysian language ...

. Strabo noted that their language was, in a way, a mixture of the Lydian and

Phrygian language The Phrygian language () was the Indo-European language of the Phrygians, spoken in Anatolia (modern Turkey), during classical antiquity (c. 8th century BC to 5th century AD). Phrygian ethno-linguistic homogeneity is debatable. Ancient Greek aut ...

s. As such, the Mysian language could be a language of the Anatolian group. However, a passage in

Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...

suggests that the Mysian language was akin to the barely attested

Paeonian language Paeonian, sometimes spelled Paionian, is a poorly attested, extinct language spoken by the ancient Paeonians until late antiquity. Paeonia once stretched north of Macedon, into Dardania, and in earlier times into southwestern Thrace. Classi ...

of Paeonia, north of

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an Classical antiquity, ancient monarchy, kingdom on the periphery of Archaic Greece, Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. Th ...

. A short inscription which could be in Mysian and which dates from between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC was found in ''Üyücek'', near Kütahya, and seems to include

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

words, but it has not been deciphered.

References

{{Anatolian peoples Mysia Ancient peoples of Anatolia Ancient peoples of the Near East Members of the Delian League

Origins according to ancient authors

Mysian language

See also

References