The offspring of Deukaliôn and Pyrrha were two sons, Hellên and
Amphiktyôn, and a daughter, Prôtogeneia, whose son by Zeus was
Aëthlius: it was however maintained by many, that Hellên was the
son of Zeus and not of Deukaliôn. Hellên had by a nymph three sons,
Dôrus, Xuthus, and Æolus. He gave to those who had been before called
Greeks,[222] the name of Hellênes, and partitioned his territory
among his three children. Æolus reigned in Thessaly; Xuthus received
Peloponnêsus, and had by Creüsa as his sons, Achæus and Iôn; while
Dôrus occupied the country lying opposite to the Peloponnêsus, on
the northern side of the Corinthian Gulf. These three gave to the
inhabitants of their respective countries the names of Æolians, Achæans
and Iônians, and Dôrians.[223]
[222] Such is the statement of Apollodôrus (i. 7, 3); but I
cannot bring myself to believe that the name (Γραϊκοὶ) Greeks is
at all old in the legend, or that the passage of Hesiod, in which
Græcus and Latinus purport to be mentioned, is genuine.
See Hesiod, Theogon. 1013, and Catalog. Fragm. xxix. ed.
Göttling, with the note of Göttling; also Wachsmuth, Hellen.
Alterth. i. 1. p. 311, and Bernhardy, Griech. Literat. vol. i. p.
167.
[223] Apollod. i. 7, 4.
Such is the genealogy as we find it in Apollodôrus. In so far as
the names and filiation are concerned, many points in it are given
differently, or implicitly contradicted, by Euripidês and other
writers. Though as literal and personal history it deserves no notice,
its import is both intelligible and comprehensive. It expounds and
symbolizes the first fraternal aggregation of Hellênic men, together
with their territorial distribution and the institutions which they
collectively venerated.
There were two great holding-points in common for every section of
Greeks. One was the Amphiktyonic assembly, which met half-yearly,
alternately at Delphi and at Thermopylæ; originally and chiefly for
common religious purposes, but indirectly and occasionally embracing
political and social objects along with them. The other was, the public
festivals or games, of which the Olympic came first in importance;
next, the Pythian, Nemean and Isthmian,—institutions which combined
religious solemnities with recreative effusion and hearty sympathies,
in a manner so imposing and so unparalleled. Amphiktyôn represents
the first of these institutions, and Aëthlius the second. As the
Amphiktyonic assembly was always especially connected with Thermopylæ
and Thessaly, Amphiktyôn is made the son of the Thessalian Deukaliôn;
but as the Olympic festival was nowise locally connected with
Deukaliôn, Aëthlius is represented as having Zeus for his father, and
as touching Deukaliôn only through the maternal line. It will be seen
presently, that the only matter predicted respecting Aëthlius is, that
he settled in the territory of Elis, and begat Endymiôn: this brings
him into local contact with the Olympic games, and his function is then
ended.
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