Hellen
- a son of Deucalion, and king of Thessaly, from whom the Greeks were called Hellenes, Plin. 4, 7, 14, § 28.
(Ἕλλην).
1. A son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, or, according to others, a son of Zeus and Dorippe (Apollod. 1.7.2; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. 1.118; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1644), or of Prometheus and Clymene, and a brother of Deucalion. (Schol. ad Pind. Ol. 9.68.) By the nymph Orseis, that is, the mountain nymph, he became the father of Aeolus, Dorus, and Xuthus, to whom some add Amphictyon. Hellen, according to tradition, was king of Phthia in Thessaly, i. e. the country between the rivers Peneius and Asopus, and this kingdom he left to Aeolus. Hellen is the mythical ancestor of all the Hellenes or Greeks, in contradistinction from the more ancient Pelasgians. The name of Hellenes was at first confined to a tribe inhabiting a part of Thessaly, but subsequently it was extended to the whole Greek nation. (Hom. Il. 2.684; Hdt. 1.56; Thuc. 1.3; Paus. 3.20.6; Strab. viii. p.383.)
2. A son of Phthios and Chrysippe, and the mythical founder of the Thessalian town of Hellas. (Steph. Byz. s. v. Ἑλλάς; Strab. ix. p.431, &c.) [L.S]
a distinguished engraver of gems in the time of Hadrian. (Bracci, vol. ii. tab. 77; de Jonge, p. 161; Köhler, Einleitung, p. 23; R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, p. 44.) [P.S]
(Ἕλλην). The mythical ancestor of the Hellenes. He was the son of Zeus and Dorippé, husband of Orseïs, and father of Aeolus, Dorus, and Xunthus. From his two sons, Aeolus and Dorus, the Aeolians and Dorians claimed descent; and from the two sons of Xanthus (Achaeus and Ion) tradition derives the Achaeans and Ionians. Hellen is described as reigning over Phthia in Thessaly. See Hellas.
- father of Dorus: Hdt. 1.56
- son of Deucalion or Zeus and Pyrrha: Apollod. 1.7.2, Apollod. 1.7.3
- the Hellenes (Greeks) named after him: Apollod. 1.7.3
- divides the country among his sons: Apollod. 1.7.3
- Paus. 7.1.2