The Dassaretae or Dexaroi, (Greek: Δεξάροι) were an ancient Greek tribe of Epirus

Epirus

The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...

 on the border with Illyria

Illyria

In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....

 near Lake Ohrid. They were the northern-most subtribe of the Chaonians

Chaonians

The Chaonians were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Epirus located in the north-west of modern Greece and southern Albania. On their southern frontier lay another Epirote kingdom, that of the Molossians, to their southwest stood the kingdom of the Thesprotians, and to their...

. Theopompus

Theopompus

Theopompus was a Greek historian and rhetorician- Biography :Theopompus was born on Chios. In early youth he seems to have spent some time at Athens, along with his father, who had been exiled on account of his Laconian sympathies...

 writes of fourteen Epirotian tribes, speakers of a strong west-Greek dialect, of which the Dexaroi were a part. The geographer Hecataeus of Miletus of the 6th century BC described the Dexaroi, the most northern Chaonian tribe, as a Greek-speaking people. Their cities were Pellion, Antipatrea, Chrysondyon, Gertous (or Gerous) and Creonion

Creonion

Creonion was an ancient Greek city in the region of Epirus in Chaonia. It belonged to the Dexaroi....

.

An Illyrian tribe of the same or similar name laid further north between the Dardani

Dardani

Dardania was the region of the Dardani .Located at the Thraco-Illyrian contact zone, their identification as either an Illyrian or Thracian tribe is uncertain. Their territory itself was not considered part of Illyria by Strabo. The term used for their territory was , while for other tribes had...

 and the Ardiaei, which is often confused with that of the Dassaretae of the (Greek) Chaonian group. This is confirmed by the fact, which Appian of Alexandria described in his "Illyrian wars" and namely, according to the Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Illyrius

Illyrius

Illyrius is a name known in different stories found in ancient Greek mythology.-Cadmus and Harmonia:According to the Library and Epitome of Apollodorus, Illyrius was the youngest son of Cadmus and Harmonia who eventually ruled Illyria and became the eponymous ancestor of the whole Illyrian people...

, the ancestor of the Illyrians

Illyrians

The Illyrians were a group of tribes who inhabited part of the western Balkans in antiquity and the south-eastern coasts of the Italian peninsula...

, had a daughter, Dassaro, from whom sprang the Illyrian tribe of Dassaretae (or Dasaretii).

Other sources

• Smith, William. "A New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, Mythology and Geography", p. 423.