Greeks

:For other uses of the name "Greek", see Greek (disambiguation)

Names used for the Greek people

Main Article: Names of the Greeks.

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Throughout the centuries, the Greeks have been known by a number of names, including:

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• Hellenes (???????) - In mythology, Hellen, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, received from the nymph Orseis three sons, Aeolus, Dorus and Xuthus, each of which founded a primary tribe of Hellas; Aeolians, Dorians, Achaeans and Ionians. Originally, only a small tribe in Thessaly were called Hellenes, but the word soon extended to the rest of the peninsula and came to represent all Greek people. In early Christian times it was sometimes used to mean "pagans". It remains in Greece today, the primary national name.
• Greeks (???????) - In mythology, Graecus was the brother of Latinus and niece to Hellen. It was the name of a Boeotian tribe that migrated to Italy in the 8th century BC and probably through contact with natives there brought the term to represent all Hellenes, which then established itself in Italy and in the West in general.
• Romans (???????) - Romans is the name by which the Greeks were known during the Middle Ages. The name originally signified the inhabitants of the city of Rome in Italy, but with the elevation of the Greeks in the Roman Empire it soon lost its connection with Latins and instead came to represent the inhabitants of the Byzantine Empire, an Empire of Greeks. It remains still in use today in Greece, being the most popular national name after Hellene.
• Yunani (?????) - Yunani, from the Persian Yauna, itself a transliteration of the Greek Ionia, is the name by which the Greeks are known in the East today. The term became established in the ancient Middle East from the Persians, who in contact with the Ionian tribes in western Asia Minor in the 6th century BC, extended the name to all Hellenes.
• Achaeans, Argives, and Danaans are names used interchangeably by Homer, to signify the Greek allied forces.