Greek word for "hillbilly"

**Lord Thesaurian** · October 10, 2009, 03:34 PM

Does anyone recall what ancient "civilized" Greeks called rural-dwelling peoples who were considered backward or uncivilized? The word basically translates as the ancient equivilent of a "hick" or "hillbilly." Please give in Romanized or modern lettering

**CtrlAltDe1337** · October 10, 2009, 03:39 PM

Barbarians? I don't know beyond that. Although Christian Romans in later antiquity referred to village dwellers as paganus (country dweller), which is where we get the term Pagan from, since most people living in rural communities still followed the Roman gods over Christianity.

**Timoleon of Korinthos** · October 10, 2009, 04:09 PM

Yes, the word barbarian (βάρβαρος barbaros) was used most frequently. But some other characterisations were also in use like αγροίκος (agroikos) and maybe βάναυσος (banausos) The closest to what you seek would be agroikos, I think, because the term barbarian also got connotations about non hellenic ethnicity, justified or not, whereas the term agroikos is neutral from this perspective

Note that if you want the terms in their plural form, you must change the "s" in the end to an "i" and all I have said refers only to the nominative case.
Also, my latinisation of the words is based on the general greek perceptions of 'equivalence' between the letters of the greek and the latin alphabet and it does not reflect perfectly the modern pronounciation of each word. But I am not sure the ancients pronounced them the same to begin with.

**conon394** · October 10, 2009, 04:18 PM

βάναυσος (banausos)

That is however rather more of an Aristocratic/snide attack on what would be called the working class not so much hicks. A well educated Athenian smith, who was up on the lasted plays and news and philosophy would not be a hick but would still fall under the banausoi rubric.

Problematically here the bias is not the same modern and ancient Greek. The uncultured (except in certain traditional ways) self supporting farmer, who never set foot in Athens proper might well be a hick, but he was celebrated and idealized by at least most of the Aristocratic sources that survive.

**Odovacar** · October 11, 2009, 06:26 AM

Originally Posted by conon394

Problematically here the bias is not the same modern and ancient Greek. The uncultured (except in certain traditional ways) self supporting farmer, who never set foot in Athens proper might well be a hick, but he was celebrated and idealized by at least most of the Aristocratic sources that survive.

Interesting cultural phenomenon which lasted long in aristocratic ideologies. Maybe because these people couldn't challenge their rule.

**Timoleon of Korinthos** · October 10, 2009, 04:43 PM

That is however rather more of an Aristocratic/snide attack on what would be called the working class not so much hicks. A well educated Athenians smith, who was up on the lasted plays and news and philosophy would not be a hick but would still fall under the banausoi rubric.

Not wanting to take away anything from your point, but I am under the impression that physical labour and anything along those lines were as a norm looked down by the aristocrats. You are right, though, it doesn't really match what the OP asked for, it's just that I scratched my head, but couldn't come up with any terms more fitting.

Problematically here the bias is not the same modern and ancient Greek. The uncultured (except in certain traditional ways) self supporting farmer, who never set foot in Athens proper might well be a hick, but he was celebrated and idealized by at least most of the Aristocratic sources that survive.

This is however more of an application of double standards or self-perception through rose tinted glasses on behalf of the Athenians, isn't it?
The Athenian farmer would wave been idealised, but his Theban counterpart would have been called a 'Boetian pig', an Aetolian even worse. But I would rather believe that the Athenian attending the festival of Dionysus once every year barely made any difference in his level of culture.

**Lord Thesaurian** · October 12, 2009, 11:56 AM

OK this all makes sense but Im not talking about barbarians so much as Greek-speakers (the Greeks liked to identify themselves by linguistic divisions) who lived in rural areas and were considered "less than" and backward by their urban, more civilized counterparts. Like a stereotypical "redneck" in America today.