DORIANS (Gk. Acupteis, D4rieis, Lat. Dores, front Acopis, D6ris). line of the principal peoples of ancient :reeve. Aceording to the legend. they took their name from Dorns, the son of Ilellen, who settled in Doris (q.v.). which was always regarded by the as their mother count ry. The anep-t or: of t he Dorians seem to have come from the north or northwest. under thepres. sure of the great southward movement of the Illyrian tribes. which brought to a close the :Mycelia-an age in Greece. At first they probably occupied much of the later Hoick and Loeris, and were only later forced back into the little moun tain district of Doris. From the north coast of the Corinthian Gulf they seem to have crossed to the Peloponnesus. and made extensive %...Nages from Nanpactus. Dorians invaded and occupied Crete, and though the northern coast of the Peloponne sus was not conquered. other adventurers seem to lia‘e attacked by sea Laconia, .Argolis, and Corinth. Only in Laconia do the invaders seem to have kept themselves separate from the con quered tribes. and the :Tartans were always re
garded as the representatives of the unmixed Dorian blood. In Greek legend this vonquest of Peloponnesus was connected with the mythical return of the Ileraelida., or descendants of llenoles. and placed about BA-. 1104. It is prob able that the migrations did occur during the twelfth and eleventh centuries !Lc. From Pelo ponnesus the 1)orians colonized the southwest corner of Asia Minor and the neighboring islands, and planted settlements in Sieily and southern Italy. In historical times the I)orians scent. in general. characterized by a conservative anti some what stolid character, though by no means insen sible to art and poetry. Consult : (1. Miller, Die Dorier (2(1 ed., Breslau. 1844) ; Bilsolt, Die LOkeda 11110 ft icr vrtd ill re 1: wlespe ass,. zig, 1878) ; Wilainowitz. Euripides Ilerokles (2(1 ed.. Berlin, 1895) : and the histories of Greece by Grote. lieloch, Iltisolt.1101m. and Ed. 'Meyer. For the Doric dialect, see GREEK LANGUAGE.