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Hellen

Note: Hellen was not the same person as Helen of Troy or Helenus, son of King Priam of Troy.

Hellen is the mythological patriarch of the Hellenes, the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha (or sometimes Zeus), brother of Amphictyon and father of Aeolus, Xuthus and Dorus. His name is also another name for Greek, meaning a person of Greek descent or pertaining to Greek culture, and the source of the adjective "Hellenic". Each of his sons founded a primary nation of Greece - Aeolus the Aeolians, Dorus the Dorians; and Xuthus the Achaeans and Ionians. They conquered the Greek area of Phthia and subsequently spread their rule to other Greek cities. The people of those areas came to be called Hellenes, after the name of their "protectors".

Hellene

See also