We are located above Ancient Kirinthos, in Northern Evia, a place so historically charged. It was an important city and port of the Avants, a war-loving tribe of Ancient Greeks who were distinguished for their endurance in battle and took the lead in the Trojan War.
According to the descriptions, they had hair only on the back of the head, having shaved the front so that enemies could not grab them by the hair during battles.
According to Homer, they used spears for fighting "from the cluster" and because this resulted in them coming hand to hand with the enemy they were "back haired", that is, they had hair only on the back of the head, shaving the front. One could say that they reminded the Mohawk Indians.
From the beach that you see on the cover of the video, the ships of the brave Avants set sail for their participation in the Greek campaign against Troy.
In more detail, the Avantes of Aeolian origin lived in Evia in the period 1600-1400 BC , after they displaced the gentle Pelasgian people. However, according to E. Vranopoulos, the first Greeks who settled in Evia were Ionians before 2,000 BC. However, according to the claim of Plutarch (Life of Theseus), who characterizes Chalcodon as the king of all the Euboeans, the Avantes were the oldest people of Euboea.
The king of Athens, Theseus, imitating the Avantes, also shaved, dedicating his beard to the oracle of Delphi, while the same tactic was used by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC and for his own army (Plutarch, Life of Theseus, 1.1 - 1.4). As we mentioned above, Homer also says about the subject in his reference (Homer's Iliad Rhapsody II verse 542) that the Avantes left hair only at the back, in this way they were distinguished from the Achaeans who, as can be seen in the latest representations on vases they had long beards. The Avantes are described by all authors as the most fierce and combative warriors who were the most difficult to subjugate of all especially during the Trojan War.
The origin of the Avants
The eponymous progenitor of the Avants, Avas, according to mythology, was the son of Lygeus, the son of Egypt and Argyphia, and the only survivor among his brothers, thanks to the love of his wife Hypermnestra, who was an exception to her husband-killing sisters, daughters of Danaus.
Avas was the father of the twin brothers Proitus and Acrisius, and the great-grandfather of Perseus.
The latest scientific research, combining ancient traditions with the latest findings of Archaeology, Linguistics, etc. came to the conclusion that the Avantes were an ancient Greek-speaking race, one of the first to appear (along with the Danes) in the Greek area and for this reason these two races are characterized as Proto-Greeks.
The most convincing interpretation of the origin and appearance of the Avants, based on modern scientific data, comes from Professor and Academic Mich. Sakellariou (History of the Greek Nation - vol. I pp. 362-364) and mentions the following:
"The name of the Avants is Indo-European both in form (with the suffix - ν -) and in subject. By the name Avas two rivers are known to us, one south of the Caucasus, the other in Italy. So in this name contains the Indo-European theme ab - "water, river". On the other hand, the place-names Arethusa and Kanathos, in Evia and other parts of Greece inhabited by Avantes, present i in place of the Indo-European dh, according to Greek phonetic law, while Thracian and other Indo-European languages have d in the same position. So "Ilias" gives us a real and true testimony about the national position of the Avants and therefore Aristotle (and Arrian, note DEE), were wrong to considered Thracians, seduced, it seems, by the fact that the city of Ava, like other places in Phocis, was actually inhabited by Thracians who invaded Greece at the end of the Mycenaean Age (note DEE:around 1200 BC)".
Outside Evia, Avantes are found in many areas of mainland Greece:
"In Argos, Sikyona, Phocis, Epirus. Also in southwestern Illyria Avantes and Amantes are mentioned (the alternation of m and b is a common phenomenon, both in Greek and in other languages). So one can assume that the Avantes coincide with Danaans in Argos and Phocis. For this reason and because the name Avas occurs in the Caucasus as a hydronym, i.e. in a function which is in accordance with the meaning of the root ab-, it may be hypothesized that the Avantes they arrived in Greece with the same waves that brought the Danes. The sections of the Avants that we find in southwestern Illyria and Epirus followed another path along with the main body of the Greeks..."
The Avantes in the Iliad
From the Iliad:"The terrible Avantes who possess Evia with its cities, Chalkida, Eretria and Istiaia rich in vines, Kerinthos on the sea and the fortified city of Zeus. With them also came the men from Karystos and Styra. Elephinorus of the race of Ares was their leader. He was the son of Chalcodon, who reigned over all the Avantes. With him came sailors and infantry with long hair, brave warriors who would gladly impale any enemies with their long and shining spears. From them came 50 ships".
On their way back they wandered with 8 ships, and were shipwrecked in the Keraunian Mountains.
Colonies of the Avants
Pausanias mentions that the Avantes participated in the colonization of Thronium from Thesprotia. This particular location was therefore known as "Avandis". Finally, however, it was occupied by Apollonia, with the help of Corinth.
Another colony was sent to Chios, but it too was defeated and its colonists were forced to abandon it.