Graecus

In Greek mythology, Graecus (/ˈɡriːkəs/; Ancient Greek: Γραικός, romanized: Graikos) was the son of Zeus and Pandora, daughter of Deucalion, and the eponym of the Graecians.

According to the Byzantine author John the Lydian (c. AD 490 – 565), Hesiod, in his Catalogue of Women, states that Graecus is the son of Zeus and Pandora, daughter of Deucalion and Pyrrha, and says, in addition, that he has a brother, Latinus.[1] The Byzantine author Stephanus of Byzantium (fl. 6th century AD) states that Graecus was a son of Thessalus.[2]

Graecus was the eponym of the Graecians, a group of Hellenic people who lived westwards of the Hellenes mentioned by Homer. The Hellenic peoples collectively came to be known as Graeci in Latin, after the Graecians.[3]

  1. ^ Gantz, p. 167; Hesiod, Catalogue of Women fr. 2 Most, pp. 42–5 [= fr. 5 Merkelbach-West, pp. 5–6 = John the Lydian, De Mensibus 1.13].
  2. ^ Smith, s.v. Graecus; Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Graikos (I pp. 434, 435).
  3. ^ Hard, p. 405.