Dardanus, son of Illyrius

Dardanus (Ancient Greek: Δάρδανος) was a character in Greek mythology. He was one of the sons of Illyrius, and the eponymous founder of the Dardani.^[1]

Family

Dardanus was the son of Illyrius, who was the son of either Cadmus and Harmonia or Polyphemus and Galatea. He had five brothers: Enchelus, founder of the Enchelei; Autarieus, founder of the Autariatae; Maedus; Taulas, founder of the Taulantii; and Perrhaebus, founder of the Perrhaebi. He also had three sisters: Partho, founder of the Parthini; Daortho, founder of the Daorsi; and Dassaro, founder of the Dassaretii.^[1]

In mythology

According to Appianus of Alexandria, Dardanus was the founder of the Dardani, an ancient Illyrian tribe which inhabited much of modern-day Kosovo, together with land in what is now Serbia, Northern Albania, and North Macedonia.^[1]

According to Albanian folklorist and writer Tonin Çobani, Dardanus could have also been the founder of the city of Troy, since the inhabitants of the city were also known as "Dardanians". Çobani proposes a theory that after the destruction of the cities in the Trojan war, its inhabitants migrated to Dardania, where they were assimilated into Illyrians. This would make him the same deity as Dardanus of Troy, who was the son of Zeus.^[2] According to Çobani, Dardanus also had god-like powers that were passed down to him through Illyrius. When Illyrius was still an infant, a dragon laid on him and wrapped around his body, giving him and his descendants supernatural powers.^[3]

Footnotes

1. Appianus (of Alexandria.) (1899). The Roman history of Appian of Alexandria. G. Bell. p. 258.
2. Çobani (2017), pp. 60–61.
3. Çobani (2017), p. 58.

References

• Çobani, Tonin (2017). Mitologji Shqiptare [Albanian mythology]. Tirana: Albas. ISBN 978-9928-02-982-9.