Omphales
ancient Greek tribe
The Omphales (Ancient Greek: Ομφάλες) were an ancient Greek tribe which inhabited the region of Epirus in antiquity. They were considered a subgroup of the Molossians or the Chaonians, while their precise location in Epirus is debated among scholars.
History
The Omphales were counted among the eleven tribes that lived in classical Epirus as listed by Strabo. They belonged to the northwestern Greek group of tribes. It is not certain whether they were part of the larger Epirote groups of the Chaonians or the Molossians.
By 370 BC, they were part of the Molossian state during the reign of Neoptolemus I of Epirus. As part of the Molossian koinon they participated in the executive council of the Molossian League; the synarchontes (Greek: συνάργοντες) with one member. Participation in the council of the Molossian synarchontes is again recorded at an inscription of 344 BC.
Location
The territory of the Omphales according to historians Nicholas G. L. Hammond and P. Cabanes was found between the Drino and Aoos rivers. Hammond states that they were a Molossian ethnos (tribe), while P. Cabanes suggests that they were a Chaonian one and were assosiacated with the unidentified Chaonian settlement of Ompalion. Both historians agree that they were located between the Chaonians and the Parauaei.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Omphales” is ancient Greek tribe. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Omphales, ancient and Greek, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “ancient Greek tribe” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q105626280. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Omphales”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Omphales primary sources, Omphales archive and Omphales research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Omphales”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Omphales” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.