The taste of myth
A land of conquest like indeed the entire South, the province of Foggia experienced over the centuries a series of different dominations, in primis that of the Greeks, who settled this area in the first millennium B.C., as testified by the many archaeological finds that can be ascribed to pre-Roman times.
The history of the Greek people is also entwined in the Daunia with mythology: gods, semigods, men and animals are at the centre of fantastic adventures that give an aura of mystery to human events.
The name with which the territory of the province of Foggia is known - Daunia - derives from the hero Daunus, son of the king of Arcadia Licaon, who apparently arrived in Puglia so starting the line that takes its name from him, the Dauni, precisely, and forever naming the territory conquered by him. This is however just one of the hypotheses, seeing as how many say the coming of Daunus to this area dates to the time of the war of Troy.
Linked to myth also is the story of Diomedes, the warrior hero of the war of Troy and inseparable companion of Ulysses who from his native Argos arrived in Daunia, where he founded the city of Arpi, originally Argos Hippion, and went to help king Daunus, who in exchange promised him lands and his daughter in marriage. Since Daunus did not keep his promise, Diomedes launched a terrible curse according to which the land of the Daunians would remain sterile unless it was cultivated by peasant folk from Etolia. Diomedes took over the region and marked the boundaries with stones from the walls of Troy; Daunus, however, after having Diomedes killed, threw these stones into the sea but miraculously they always resurfaced.
