The divisions of Greece are partly natural and partly accidental; natural is that into Thessaly, Peloponnesus, and the country between the two. This last, however, has no common name, that of _Hellas proprie sic dicta_ is quite wrong, because it takes no notice of the islands and colonies. The question as to whether Greece in the earliest times had any common name or not, was discussed even by Strabo and others. My opinion is, that the Homeric names cannot be doubted; during the period represented by Homer, Argos is the name of the country from the coast of Peloponnesus as far as the frontiers of Macedonia, and we may therefore draw a distinction between Hellas and Argos. But that name lasted only till the development of the Hellenic character.[9] The name Ἀργεῖοι, applies to the Greeks, who had not yet separated themselves as Hellenes; and Δαναοί seems to be the name of the Pelasgian inhabitants of Peloponnesus. When we read in Thucydides that at the time of the Iliad, Greeks and barbarians were not yet separated, the expression may be variously interpreted; his opinion probably is, that in those times many parts of Greece were inhabited by nations, such as Caucones, Leleges, and others, which were not assimilated to the Greeks, but were distinct in language and manners; still, however, they are comprised under the name of Argives, i.e., Pelasgians, for Ἀργεῖοι is not a Hellenic name. The name Ἀχαιοί is not Hellenic either, and it must be remarked in general, that Hellenes and Pelasgians were not yet distinguished from each other, but were vaguely comprised under one name. In the earliest times two of those natural divisions, Peloponnesus and Thessaly, though perfectly independent of each other, appear to have been of primary importance. We shall first direct our attention to Peloponnesus, as the purest Greek country, and the only one which forms a moral and naturally united community, and shows a vigorous nation, not only because it contained the seats and dominions of the ancient kings, but because for a long time after, Peloponnesians possessed the supremacy over the rest of Greece. PELOPONNESUS.