The first inhabitants

Lelegas, the ancestor of Lakonians, is also considered to be the forefather of the first dwellers of Mesinnia, an area which was inhabited during the last years of the Stone Age (around 3000 B.C.). When Mylis became king of Lakonia (see "Lakonian History": the first inhabitants), his brother Polykaon moved to the area named Messinia with his wife Messini and some colonials under his leadership. The locals welcomed them peacefully. Polykaon chose city Andania to be the capital and his wife Messini established sacraments with the collaboration of hero Kafkonas, the forefather of Kafkonians. As far as we know nowadays, Kafkonians were a pre-hellenic race of Indo-European roots and the first to populate Messinia.

The presence of Achaeans in the area dates back from 1.600 B.C. Originated from Thessalia, they are registered as descendants of Aeolus the Thessalian and of the same race as those who settled in Argolida and Lakonia. Details such as how and why remain in the dark. The thread of myth is regained at the time when the family of Atrides posessed Lakonia. "Back then" the biggest part of Messinia belonged to Lakonia, while the state of Pylos extended along the west coast so far as river Alphios to the north.

Under the reign of Oivalos in Lakonia, Aeolus's son, Periiris, ruled in Messinia. He was the first to marry Perseas's daughter, Gorgofoni (Oivalos would also marry her later) with whom he had two sons, Lefkippos and Aphareas. Lefkippos ruled in East Messinia and Aphareas in West Messinia .

Asclepius the Messinian

Lefkippos made Lefktro the capital of his kingdom. The city was later annexed to Lakonia but during the historic years Messinians continued to assert it was theirs. He was married to Philodiki who gave him three daughters: Arsinoe, Ialeira and Phebe.

According to the Messinian version, god Apollo fell in love with Arsinoe and had a son with her, Asclepius. The same version claims Arsinoe handed over Asclepius to nurse Koronida and later Apollo took him to Pilio so that Centaur Chironas would raise him. It is believed that Asclepius's son, Machaon, who was the doctor of Achaeans during the Troyan campaign, was born in Messinia. Asclepius and his sons Machaon and Podalirios, were worshipped in Lefktro until the roman years.

Asclepius's descendants, the Asclepiades, had in their territory the Thessalic cities Ithomi, Trikki and Oichalia (see "History of Trikala": Asclepius the healer). In Messinia it was common belief that these cities belonged to Messinia; Ithomi was thought to be the walled hill with the same name above Messinia and Oichaliana Polikaon's ancient Andania. As far as Trikki is concerned, during the historic years its ruins were demonstrated at the south of the prefecture.

Joyous and Glowing

Lefkippos' two other daughters, Ialeira and Phebe, had the same destiny. Both became priestesses, the first one of Diana and the second one of Athena. According to one version, they had both been promised by their father respectively to Idas and Lygeas, sons of his brother Aphareas. However, Castor and Polidefkis, who had the name of Tindareo, but were in reality sons of Zeus, also claimed them. Finally, the Dioskouroi Castor and Polidefkis kidnapped them, either with Lefkippos's connivance, bought off with generous gifts, or not. Aphareas and his sons run after them but they were killed in combat.
According to another version, their death was the outcome of a dispute with the Dioskouroi about a stolen herd, not because of Lefkippos's daughters, who were merely kidnapped by the Dioskouroi and married to them, as the customs of the time dictated.

According to research, the names Ialeira (Joyous) and Phebe (Glowing) were attributes of the Moon. And the name Lefkippos (he on the white horse) was an attibute of the Sun, whose worship was later replaced by Apollos's (Asclepius's father from Arsinoe). Therefore, the girls introduced as Lefkippos's daughters were initially godesses worshipped in Sparta , at the same holy place as Dionisus. In fact, Dionisus's priestesses were called Lefkippides (daughters of Lefkippos). All these events connected closely the fates of East Messinia and Lakonia, ever since the pre-Achaean age.

Nileas in Pylos

Aphareas, son of Periiris and brother of Lefkippos, was married to Arini and founded a city by her name, making it the capital of the territory extended so far as West Messinia. Nileas came to Arini as a refugee, chased away by his brother Pelias (see "History of Thessaly": Pelias and Jason). Aphareas gave Nileas the area where Pylos was built.

Nileas was married to Chlorida and had twelve sons and one daughter, Piro, destined to marry Melampoda (see "history of Helia": Melampodas and the oxen). Among his sons were Nestor and Periklymenos, a brave young man with the gift to change forms whenever he wanted to.
One day, Hercules arrived to Pylos, asking for someone to
purify him from a murder he had commited at a moment of madness.

However, Nileas was a friend of the dead man's father and refused to perform the purification ceremonies. His eleven sons agreed with him and only Nestor insisted on indulging the demigod but he was not heard. This was a good reason for Hercules to start a war with people of Pylos. He turned to king of Amiklon in Lakonia willing to purify him, raised an army and set off to conquer Pylos. Periklimenos came forward, in head of the army of Pylos. He caused such damage to the invadors that Hercules had started to doubt whether he could really conquer the city. Periklimenos turned himself into a bee and sat on Hercules's wagon waiting for the right moment to kill him. But his protector Athena revealed to him who was behind the form of bee and Hercules killed him with one of his arrows.
Without Periklimenos, people of Pylos submitted. During the short battle, other ten of Nileas's sons were killed. Only Nestor was saved because he was coincidently away during the battles. According to one version, Hercules made him a king to his father's throne, because he was the only one who had taken his side when Hercules had arrived there asking to be purified. Another version says that at the time Nestor was still a child and could not take over such duties.

Whatever the case was, people of Pylos suffered long after they were defeated by Hercules. Not by the demigod but by the neighbouring people, who, encouraged from the warriors' death, entered the area without any obstacles and stole the animals. Invadors came mostly from Helia. In fact, their king Avgeias had the audacity to keep Nileas's horses after they had won the race at the Olympic Games. This was too much for Nileas to tolerate. He gathered all those who had remained in Pylos and invaded Helia. The lightning attack was very successful and Pylians went back home with many herbs of animals that belonged to their enemies. Nileas kept his share and distributed the rest according to the damages that each man had suffered during the Helians' raids.

Nevertheless, Helians made their threatening appearence at the borders. Pylians prepared to defend themselves, while Nileas was hiding Nestor's, his only remaining son's, wagon, so that he would not put himself in danger by going to the battle. Yet, Nestor went on foot. During the battle, he killed Avgeias's son in law, took his wagon and darted against Helians who run away in front of his vehemence. Tradition says that Nestor killed one hundred Helians with his bare hands. And the pursuit came to an end only when godess Athena appeared to Pyleans and ordered them to retreat.

Nestor the Wise

Eventually, Nileas died in Ephira (Corinthus). Nestor succeded him, inheriting also Aphareas's kingdom, when he and his sons were killed by the Dioskouroi. At the age of 75, while ruling a powerful kingdom, he followed the other heroes to the Trojan war with army from the nine cities of his territory and ninety ship, only ten less than the ship of the leader Agamemnon and thirty more than Menelaos, the immediately concerned. He did not fight at all there. At the battles his army was led by his brave sons, Antilohos and Thrasimidis.
In Iliada it is mentioned that Antilohos killed nine Trojans and it was him who assumed the task of announcing to Achilles the death of his friend Patroclus.

He was killed at a duel with Memnon. Nestor himself was based on his wisdom and the respect of Acheans in order to advice the leaders about which action they should take. After the destruction of Troy he returned safe to "sandy Pylos", without serious damages. There he hosted Telemachos, Ulysse's son, who was wandering in the area looking for his father's traces.

According to this part of Odyssey and the discovery of a mycenean palace at the spot Upper Eglianos , Homeric Pylos was situated in Messinia, 17 kms to the north from modern Pylos of the contemporary greek history.

Pyleans' migration

Pylos, a natural gate to the West, flourished as a central port for transit commerce between the stations of South Italy and Sicily . The palace in the area must have been built after that in Iolkos, if we look into mythology.
It is said that Pileas became king of Iolkos and banished his brother Nileas, who migrated to Messinia, built Pylos, married king Orhomenos' daughter and had twelve children, eleven of which were killed by Hercules. Only Nestor was spared, because he was away when the tragedy took place.

The loss of West Mediterranean ports must have caused a great inconvenience for the Achaeans. As it was expected, Pyleans turned to the east. In an advanced age, Nestor accepted to follow the others at the campaign against Troy .
Troy was defeated but the broader area of Assouva was never conquered by Achaeans. Nestor was lucky enough to return home without personal losses. The territory continued to prosper for some time after that, since the collapse of the state of Hettaioi favoured them for a short time before the destruction.

Iron, which Hettaoi kings did not allow to be exported, started to spread on a large scale. In Peloponnese , immediately after the Trojan war, people used iron to make tools and equipment, without waiting for the Dorians to teach them.

The loss of mediterranean markets (see "History of Peloponnese": the financial collapse) affected Pylos as well. The land could not provide enough for the whole population to survive. Tradition mentions that one of Nileas's sons, Melanthos, took at least half of the Nileides and went to Attica . Pausanias has written that Melanthos was a distant descendant of Periklimenos, brother of Nestor and son of Nileas. Pausanias seems to be right, given that tradition considers the migration to be a result of the expulsion of the Nileides by the Heraklides. This, however, took place later, when the Heraklides' phalanx, led by Kresfontis, descended from Arkadia and reached Messinia. According to tradition, Achaeans retreated peacefully and the new-comers occupied the center of the valley through which Pamissos flows.
No matter what the truth is, Melanthos took his entire family and moved to Attica , where he found many people willing to host him. Always according to mythology, Melanthos killed Ksantho, the opponents' king, during a battle between Athenians and Boeotians and saved Attica . Its inhabitants dethroned Thimini, last descencant of Theseus and gave the throne to their saver. He was succeded by his son Kodros, last king of Athens , who was sacrificed to save the state from Dorians.
Among Kodros's sons, one of them remained in Athens and became the progenitor of half the athenean aristocracy; even the wise Solon boasted that he descended from Kodros. His other son moved to Ionia with Pyleans and some Thebeans.

In the ancient years city Kolophona was situated in Lydia , near today's Deyir Medere. In 632 B.C. the great poet Mimnermos, creator of the athenean elegy, was born there. On one of the few saved extracts of his poems, it is written:

«...a?pe?a? te ????? ??????? ?st? ??p??te? ?µe?t?? ?s??? ???s?? af???µe?a
e? d´ e?at?? ????f??a ß??? ?p???p??? ????te? e??µe?´ a??a???? ?ß???? ??eµ??e? ...».

In a few words, the verses refer to the retreat from Pylos to Asia Minor . This is the oldest written testimony about migration; even though Marinatos wonders if it is the same place of the 12th century or another place that existed later.

The First Messinian War

Soon, the new inhabitants of Messinia were in Spartans' castle. At the end of the 8th to 9th century B.C., king of Sparta Teleklos conspired against the Messinian leaders but was caught a victim himself. The conquest of Messinia was postponed. The Spartans returned after having taken in their possession entire Lakonia (see "History of Lakonia": The Heraklides in Sparta ). Approximately at the end of the 8th century, Sparta demanded some concessions. At the time, there were two kings in Messinia: Antiohos, who opposed to the concessions and Androklis who favoured them. The dispute led to a civil war and Androklis's death. Later, after Antiohos had died as well, Spartans secretly raised an army and made a sudden attack to Messinia. This happened in 735 B.C., initiating the A' Messinian War that would last for twenty years.

Invadors took over the frontier settlement Amphia and used it as a base for their raids to the Messinian valley. During the first years, Spartans used to invade for looting and depart. The first real battle between the two armies took place in 732 B.C., without however judging the war. A new battle in arrey happened in 731 B.C. The Spartans had on their side their allies and mercenaries but again there was no winner. On the other side, Messinians had to face the escapes of the slaves who passed to Spartans' camp as well as protect their fields, exposed to the invasions. They decided to organise their defense in ancient Ithomi.

During the following years until 726 B.C., situation remained the same, with Spartans invading and Messinians defending themselves. That year, Messinian king was killed and succeeded by Aristodimos. From that moment on, the Messinian tactic stopped being merely defensive. With the cooperation of Arcads, Messinians responded to Spartans' invasions with counterattacks and pillage of Lakonia.

A great battle took place in 722 B.C. Durind that battle, Messinians and their allies Arcadians, Argeans and Sikionians faced Spartans and their allies Corinthians, winning but with heavy losses. However, Spartans were closing up towards Ithomi. Messinians had reached their limits. Aristodimos, realising that his fellow citizens had no chance to avoid submission, commited suicide. Messinians, instead of a new king, elected a general who died after a while. Ithomi was abbandonned and its defendors scattered. After twenty years, Spartans finally took over some land of Messinian Steniklaros and shared it to his men. This happened in 715 B.C., with the A' Messinian War finally coming to an end.

B´ and C´ Messinian Wars

In 699 B.C., Messinians found the opportunity to rebel against Sparta . During the long-lasting war with Argeans, Spartans had fought at the battle of Yssia trying to conquer Thireatida (see "History of Argos": the battle for Thireatida). The battle ended without a winner but both oppponents had suffered great losses. Messinians ceased the opportunity and rebelled. This was the beggining of the B' Messinian War.

The revolution sent Spartans away from Steniklaros and put those who owned land there in an akward position. The war lasted for years, initially with raids of both armies to each other's territories and later with battles in arrey. During one of these battles (around 667/6 B.C.), Spartans won and forced Messininas to retire on mountain Ithomi. Having this as their base, they continued to invade against Spartans. This was the time when Spartan poet Tyrtaios wrote patriotic poems, trying to raise his compatriots' spirits, inviting young people to "die for their country".

Either thanks to Tyrtaios's poems or to the fact that they were more fit for compact, Spartans started to win. In 659 B.C., they had already regained many lost territories. In that year, they took over a west Arkadian city and isolated Ithomi, which was conquered in 657 B.C. The B' Messinian War ended after twelve years. Land was again shared but this time Spartans found centers of resistance in the surrounding area and fought hard in order to suppress them. At the end of the century, Messinians rose again. At the end, Spartans predominated in 600 B.C. and extended until Pylos and Methoni. Methoni was yielded to refugees from Nafplio who had escaped from Argeans (see "History of Nafplio": Argos and the donkey).