This page is part of the "tools" section of a site, Plato and his dialogues, dedicated to developing a new interpretation of Plato's dialogues. The "tools" section provides historical and geographical context (chronology, maps, entries on characters and locations) for Socrates, Plato and their time. By clicking on the minimap at the beginning of the entry, you can go to a full size map in which the city or location appears. For more information on the structure of entries and links available from them, read the notice at the beginning of the index of persons and locations.

Region of the western coast of Asia Minor north of Ionia (area 9).
Æolis (or Æolia) owes its name to the mythological hero Æolus, a son of Hellen and grandson of Deucalion. Æolus was the brother of Dorus (the eponym of the Dorians) and Xouthus, the father of Ion (the eponym of the Ionians) and Achæus (the eponym of the Achæans). Æolus' kingdom was Magnesia, the coastal part of Thessalia east of Larissa. The Æolians, offspring of Æolus, later moved to Elis under the leadership of king Endymion. Still later, they moved to Asia Minor and gave its name to the country they settled there.
In his Histories, I, 149-151, Herodotus lists the cities of the Æolians along the coast of Asia Minor and in the nearby islands, including Lesbos, the largest one. Æolis is a region with more rain and richer plains than Ionia, further south, whose climate is drier and warmer.