Quote Originally Posted by Vorian View Post
Hunter and gatherer nomads appearing so long ago wouldn't leave impressions in Greek myths.

We have thse mythical figures:

a)Cadmos the Phoenician. He founded Thebes and brought the alphabet in Greece.
b)Pelops a Phrygian or Lydian that came to Greece and won a crown. The Peloponnese took its name from him
c)Danaos, brother of Aegyptus and son of Belus a mythical Egyptian king. He fled Egypt and went to Argos winning his crown.

And others I forget. These show some memories of rulers from the east.
They also show that archaic/helladic peoples in the region weren't repelled by the idea of recognising/claiming descent from eastern folks. Perhaps there was less of an "us vs them" or superiority complex in the Helladic mindset?

I suspect that the real xenophobia comes after periods of Greek dominance and confidence: eg the Athenian resentment of Macedon after their brief empire fell, or increasing Macedonian/Hellenic contempt for Persia after Plataea/Xenephon/Alexander.

The Carthaginians bloodied the Greeks noses for them many a time, severely restricting them from the western Med (with Etruscan help c500 BCE IIRC) and denying them complete control of Sicily. Did the Karthis seek to colonise Sicvily, or were they trying to clear the field of commercial rivals and leave a light colonial rule?

I suspect the Hellenes respected them as hard opponents and commercial rivals. However there was a "Hellenic club" and its members were more likely to cooperate together against outsiders.

I imagine the Greeks never had contempt for the Karthis like they came to have for Persia, perhaps because they never conquered them.