Kinship, between cities and peoples

Abstract

Since the poetic traditions of the archaic age, the relationships between cities and peoples were described through mythical genealogies that followed the same pattern of kinship as those between individuals. These fictitious reconstructions were used extensively in diplomacy to foster alliances and mutual help between communities sharing the same descent. Especially in the Hellenistic age, the Greek cities exploited the notion of of syngeneia and oikeiotes between peoples to create wide networks of mutual solidarity. A further use of ethnic kinship for diplomatic purposes concerns the relationships between Greeks and non-Greek populations which were considered as descending from Greek heroes or gods.