ONEOrigins
of the Question
Where did the Greeks come from? The question is natural
enough and has been asked and answered as long as the Greek
language has been spoken. In Classical times, it was believed
by many that the Hellenes had originated with Hellen. That
meant that the Greeks had been around longer than anyone
else, for Hellen was the firstborn son of Deucalion and Pyrrha,
the parents of all mankind. Sole survivors of the Great Flood,
the primeval pair made their home in Thessaly, and it was
there that Pyrrha gave birth to Hellen. Hellen, in turn, fa-
thered Aeolus, Dorus, and Xuthus, the progenitors of the
Aeolic, Doric, and Ionic Greeks.
However flattering and picturesque, the myth was not ac-
cepted by critical minds, even in antiquity. At best, to ancient
scholars the story symbolized the larger truth that the Greeks
had lived in Greece since earliest times. Even that truth was
recognized as somewhat more complicated than it first ap-
peared: alongside the Greeks, other peoples had been at home
in the lands of the Aegean during the days of the heroes. Of
these, the most storied were the Pelasgians, but in addition
there had been Dryopes, Minyans, Eteo-Cretans, and others.
Rationalized versions of the ancient myths sufficed in the
Renaissance and through the early nineteenth century. Connop
Thirlwall's eight-volume History of Greece (1835—1838) began
with a valiant attempt to sort through the complexities and
contradictions of the legendary traditions. A few years later,
George Grote argued with considerable subtlety that history
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