The PELASGIANS are universally represented as the most ancient
inhabitants of Greece. They were spread over the Italian as well
as the Grecian peninsula; and the Pelasgic language thus formed
the basis of the Latin as well as of the Greek. They were
divided into several tribes, of which the Hellenes were probably
one: at any rate, this people, who originally dwelt in the south
of Thessaly, gradually spread over the rest of Greece. The
Pelasgians disappeared before them, or were incorporated with
them, and their dialect became the language of Greece. The
Hellenes considered themselves the descendants of one common
ancestor, Hellen, the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha. To Hellen
were ascribed three sons, Dorus, Xuthus, and AEolus. Of these
Dorus and AEolus gave their names to the DORIANS and AEOLIANS;
and Xuthus; through his two sons Ion and Achaeus, became the
forefather of the IONIANS and ACHAEANS. Thus the Greeks
accounted for the origin of the four great divisions of their
race. The descent of the Hellenes from a common ancestor,
Hellen, was a fundamental article in the popular faith. It was a
general practice in antiquity to invent fictitious persons for
the purpose of explaining names of which the origin was buried in
obscurity. It was in this way that Hellen and his sons came into
being; but though they never had any real existence, the tales
about them may be regarded as the traditional history of the
races to whom they gave their names.

The civilization of the Greeks and the development of their
language bear all the marks of home growth, and probably were
little affected by foreign influence. The traditions, however,
of the Greeks would point to a contrary conclusion. It was a