DORIS, a small district in central Greece, between Mts. Oeta and Parnassus, containing the head-waters of the Cephissus. This little valley, which nowhere exceeds 4 m. in breadth and has but four small townships, owed its importance partly to its command over the road from Heracleia to Amphissa, but chiefly to its prestige as the alleged mother-country of the Dorian conquerors of Peloponnesus (see DORIANS). Its history is mainly made up of petty wars with Oetaeans and Phocians. In 457, the Spartans, admitting their claim to be the Dorian metropolis, sent an army to their aid, and again during the second Sacred War Except for mention of its cantonal league in 196, Doris passed early out of history.