Eras
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Archaic |
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Classical |
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Hellenistic |
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Roman |
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Historical
An island
off the coast of western Anatolia opposite Aiolis was known
as Lesbos. Herodotus counts twelve Aiolian
cities to correspond to the cities of Ionia, the most famous
of which were: Lesbos, Pitane, Elaea, Gryneion, Myrina, Aigai,
Kyme, Neonteichos, Temnos, Larisa and Smyrna. Although Smyrna
was founded as an Aiolian settlement, it was later inhabited
by the people of Kolophon and absorbed into the Ionian League.
Aiolia
has been inhabited since Paleolithic times and flourished
in the Bronze age under Phrygian rule. Lesbos seems to have
been its most important centre. During the 7th century BC
there was an immigration from Mytilene and especially from
Methymna to the opposite shores of the Aegean. As the areas
primary concern was agriculture it did not play a large role
in historical developments, however it was extremely important
in the fields of music and poetry. Sappho, Alkaios and Terpander,
the inventoir of the 7-tone scale were all from Lesbos.
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