Strabo, Geography
H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A., Ed.

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[6]

There is a controversy about the names Hellas and Hellenes. Thucydides¹ says that Homer nowhere mentions Barbarians, because the Greeks were not distinguished by any single name, which expressed its opposite. Apollodorus also says, that the inhabitants of Thessaly alone were called Hellenes, and alleges this verse of the poet,

“ they were called Myrmidones, and Hellenes;²

”

Il. ii. 684.

but Hesiod, and Archilochus, in their time knew that they were all called Hellenes, and Panhellenes: the former calls them by this name in speaking of the Prœtides, and says that Panhellenes were their suitors; the latter, where he says “ that the calamities of the Panhellenes centred in Thasus.

”

But others oppose to this, that Homer does mention Barbarians, when he says of the Carians, that they spoke a barbarous language, and that all the Hellenes were comprised in the term Hellas;

“ of the man, whose fame spread throughout Hellas and Argos.³

”

Od. i. 344.

And again,

“ but if you wish to turn aside and pass through Greece and the midst of Argos.⁴

”

Od. xv. 80.