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A fourth term – "Panhellenes" – (Πανέλληνες "All of the Greeks") and "Hellenes'" (/ ˈ h ɛ l iː n z /; Ἕλληνες) – both appear only once; [20] implying it was not a central concept in Homer's work. [21] In some English translations of the Iliad, the Achaeans are simply called "the Greeks" throughout.
According to the historian Georg Busolt, the Graecians were among the first to colonize Italy (i.e., Magna Graecia) in the 9th century BC when they established the city of Cumae; they were the first Greeks with whom the Latins came into contact, which then made them adopt the name of Graeci by synecdoche as the name of the Hellenes. [2]
The English names Greece and Greek are derived, via the Latin Graecia and Graecus, from the name of the Graeci (Γραικοί, Graikoí; singular Γραικός, Graikós), who were among the first ancient Greek tribes to settle southern Italy (the so-called "Magna Graecia").
The name of Greece differs in Greek compared with the names used for the country in other languages and cultures, just like the names of the Greeks.The ancient and modern name of the country is Hellas or Hellada (Greek: Ελλάς, Ελλάδα; in polytonic: Ἑλλάς, Ἑλλάδα), and its official name is the Hellenic Republic, Helliniki Dimokratia (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία ...
In the east, Greek was the dominant language, a legacy of the Hellenistic period. [9] Greek was also the language of the Christian Church and trade. [10] Most of the emperors were bilingual but had a preference for Latin in the public sphere for political reasons, a practice that first started during the Punic Wars. [11]
A map of Hellenistic Greece in 200 BC, with the Kingdom of Macedonia (orange) under Philip V (r. 221–179 BC), Macedonian dependent states (dark yellow), the Seleucid Empire (bright yellow), Roman protectorates (dark green), the Kingdom of Pergamon (light green), independent states (light purple), and possessions of the Ptolemaic Empire (violet purple)
Map showing the Hittite Empire, Ahhiyawa (Achaeans) and Wilusa (Troy) in c. 1300 BC. Some Hittite texts mention a nation to the west called Ahhiyawa (Hittite: 𒄴𒄭𒅀𒉿 Aḫḫiyawa). [14] In the earliest reference to this land, a letter outlining the treaty violations of the Hittite vassal Madduwatta, [15] it is called Ahhiya.
In Greek mythology, Hellen (/ ˈ h ɛ l ɪ n /; Ancient Greek: Ἕλλην) is the eponymous progenitor of the Hellenes. He is the child of Deucalion (or Zeus) and Pyrrha, and the father of three sons, Dorus, Xuthus, and Aeolus, by whom he is the ancestor of the Greek peoples.