The Graecians (; also Graei and Graeci; , and , ), were an ancient Hellenic tribe. Their name is the origin of the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

(and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

) name of the Greeks as a whole.

Etymology

It is possible that their name is derived from the toponym of ''

Graea Graea or Graia ( grc, Γραῖα, Graîa) was a city on the coast of Boeotia in ancient Greece. Its site is located near modern Dramesi in Paralia Avlidas. History Graea is listed under Boeotia in Homer's Catalogue of Ships in the ''Iliad''. ...

'' (), a city in

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its lar ...

identical with

Tanagra Tanagra ( el, Τανάγρα) is a town and a municipality north of Athens in Boeotia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Schimatari. It is not far from Thebes, and it was noted in antiquity for the figurines named after it. The ...

according to

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

. The word means "old" based on the adjective "old (feminine)".

History

According to the historian

Georg Busolt Georg Busolt (13 November 1850 – 2 September 1920) was a German historian of Classical history. Busolt, born at Gut Kepurren near Insterburg, was the son of the East Prussian landowner Adolf Julius Busolt (1818–1900). He attended the Gymnasium ...

, the Graecians were among the first to colonize Italy (i.e.,

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...

) in the 9th century BC when they established the city of

Cumae Cumae ( grc, Κύμη, (Kumē) or or ; it, Cuma) was the first ancient Greek colony on the mainland of Italy, founded by settlers from Euboea in the 8th century BC and soon becoming one of the strongest colonies. It later became a rich Ro ...

; they were the first Greeks with whom the

Latins The Latins were originally an Italic tribe in ancient central Italy from Latium. As Roman power and colonization spread Latin culture during the Roman Republic. Latins culturally "Romanized" or "Latinized" the rest of Italy, and the word Latin ...

came into contact, which then made them adopt the name of ''Graeci'' by

synecdoche Synecdoche ( ) is a type of metonymy: it is a figure of speech in which a term for a part of something is used to refer to the whole (''pars pro toto''), or vice versa (''totum pro parte''). The term comes from Greek . Examples in common Engl ...

as the name of the

Hellenes The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, other ...

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

(4th-century BC) records that during the deluge of

Deucalion In Greek mythology, Deucalion (; grc-gre, Δευκαλίων) was the son of Prometheus; ancient sources name his mother as Clymene, Hesione, or Pronoia.A scholium to ''Odyssey'' 10.2 (='' Catalogue'' fr. 4) reports that Hesiod called Deucalion ...

, the Graecians were the inhabitants of Hellas (i.e., "the country about

Dodona Dodona (; Doric Greek: Δωδώνα, ''Dōdṓnā'', Ionic and Attic Greek: Δωδώνη, ''Dōdṓnē'') in Epirus in northwestern Greece was the oldest Hellenic oracle, possibly dating to the second millennium BCE according to Herodotus. Th ...

and the Achelous

iver Iver is a large civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park. Geography, transport and economy Part of the 43-square- ...

) who were also known as ''Hellenes''.Aristotle. ''Meteorology''
I.14
In the

Parian Chronicle The Parian Chronicle or Parian Marble ( la, Marmor Parium, Mar. Par.) is a Greek chronology, covering the years from 1582 BC to 299 BC, inscribed on a stele. Found on the island of Paros in two sections, and sold in Smyrna in the early 17 ...

, the ''Hellenes'' were originally called ''Graecians'' and established the

Panathenean Games The Panathenaic Games ( grc, Παναθήναια) were held every four years in Athens in Ancient Greece from 566 BC to the 3rd century AD. These Games incorporated religious festival, ceremony (including prize-giving), athletic competitions, a ...

in 1522–1521 BC..

Eponymous ancestor

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

stated that the

eponymous ancestor An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have sto ...

of the Graecians was

Graecus __NOTOC__ In Greek mythology, Graecus (; grc, Γραικός, Graikos) was the son of Pandora of Thessaly and Zeus. His mother was the daughter of Deucalion and Pyrrha, and sister of Hellen who together with his three sons Dorus, Xuthus (with his ...

(), the son of

Pandora II In Greek mythology, Pandora ( grc, Πανδώρα, derived from ' "all" and "gift", thus "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was Phthian princess as the daughter of King Deucalion of Thessaly. She was named after her maternal grandmother, the more ...

and brother of

Latinus Latinus ( la, Latinus; Ancient Greek: Λατῖνος, ''Latînos'', or Λατεῖνος, ''Lateînos'') was a figure in both Greek and Roman mythology. He is often associated with the heroes of the Trojan War, namely Odysseus and Aeneas. Alth ...

.Hesiod. ''

Catalogue of Women The ''Catalogue of Women'' ( grc, Γυναικῶν Κατάλογος, Gunaikôn Katálogos)—also known as the ''Ehoiai '' ( grc, Ἠοῖαι, Ēoîai, )The Latin transliterations ''Eoeae'' and ''Ehoeae'' are also used (e.g. , ); see Title ...

'', Fragment 5. Their mother Pandora, named after her grandmother

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...

, was the daughter of

and

Pyrrha In Greek mythology, Pyrrha (; Ancient Greek: Πύρρα) was the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora and wife of Deucalion of whom she had three sons, Hellen, Amphictyon, Orestheus; and three daughters Protogeneia, Pandora II and Thyia. Accordin ...

and the sister of

Hellen In Greek mythology, Hellen (; grc, 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 peop ...

. Other sources have Graecus as the son of

Thessalus In Greek mythology, the name Thessalus is attributed to the following individuals, all of whom were considered possible eponyms of Thessaly. *Thessalus, son of Haemon,Strabo, 9.5.23 son of Chlorus, son of Pelasgus. *Thessalus, son of Poseidon ...

References

Citations

Sources