ecorded in written
documents; and it was not till the epoch known by the name of the First
Olympiad, corresponding to the year 776 B.C., that the Greeks began to
employ writing as a means for perpetuating the memory of any historical
facts. Before that period everything is vague and uncertain; and the
exploits of the heroes related by the poets must not be regarded as
historical facts.

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 general belief among them that the
Pelasgians were reclaimed from barbarism by Oriental strangers, who
settled in the country and introduced among the rude inhabitants the
first elements of civilization. Attica is said to have been indebted
for the arts of civilized life to Cecrops, a native of Sais in Egypt.
To him is ascribed the foundation