| I. | Traditional and Fabulous History, from the earliest times to the Dorian Migrations, | about | B. C. 1100. |
| II. | Authentic History, from the Dorian Migrations to the beginning of the Persian wars; | B. C. 1100-500. | |
| III. | From the beginning of the Persian wars to the victory of Philip of Macedon at Chæronea, | B. C. 500-336. |
8. First Period. The name of Greece was unknown to the Greeks, who called their country Hellas and themselves Helle´nes. But the Romans, having probably made their first acquaintance with the people of that peninsula through the Grai´koi, a tribe who inhabited the coast nearest Italy, applied their name to the whole Hellenic race. A more ancient name, Pelas´gia, was derived from the earliest known inhabitants of the country—a widely extended people, who may be traced by the remains of their massive architecture in various parts of Italy as well as Greece. The Pelasgi were among the first of the Indo-Germanic family to migrate from Asia to Europe.
9. By conquest or influence, the Hellenes very early acquired the control of their neighbors, and spread their name, language, and customs over the whole peninsula. They were then regarded as consisting of four tribes, the Dorians, Achæ´ans, Æo´lians, and Ionians; but the last two, if not all four, were probably members of the earlier race.
10. Though of the same family with the Medes, Persians, Bactrians, and the Brahmins of India, the Greeks had no tradition of a migration from Asia, but believed that their ancestors had sprung from the ground. They, however, acknowledged themselves indebted, for some important elements of their civilization, to immigrants from foreign lands. Ce´crops, a native of Sais in Egypt, was said to have founded Athens, and to have established its religious rites. The citadel bore, from him, the name Cecro´pia in later times. Better authorities make Cecrops a Pelasgian hero. Da´naus, another reputed Egyptian, was believed to have founded Argos, having fled to Greece with his fifty daughters. To him the tribe of the Da´nai traced their name, which Homer sometimes applied to all the Greeks; but the story is evidently a fable.
Pe´lops was said to have come from Phrygia, and by means of his great wealth to have gained the kingdom of Mycenæ. The whole peninsula south of the Corinthian Gulf bore his name, being called Peloponnesus. A fourth tradition which describes the settlement of the Phœnician Cad´mus at Thebes, in Bœotia, rests upon better evidence. He is said to have introduced the use of letters, the art of mining, and the culture of the vine. It is certain that the Greek alphabet was derived from the Phœnician; and Cadmus may be regarded, in this elementary sense, as the founder of European literature. The fortress of Thebes was called, from him, Cadme´a.
11. The earliest period of Grecian history is called the Heroic Age. In later times, poets and sculptors loved to celebrate its leaders as a nobler race than themselves, ranking between gods and men; differing from the former by being subject to death, but surpassing the latter both in strength of body and greatness of mind. The innumerable exploits of the Heroes must be read rather in Mythology than History. The three who had the strongest hold in the belief, and influence upon the character of the people, were Hercules, the great national hero; The´seus, the hero of Attica; and Minos, king of Crete.
The “Twelve Labors of Hercules” represent the struggle of Man with Nature, both in the destruction of physical evil and the acquisition of wealth and power. To understand his reputed history, we must bear in mind that, in that early age, lions as well as other savage beasts were still numerous in southern Europe; that large tracts were covered by undrained marshes and impenetrable forests; and that a wild, aboriginal race of men, more dangerous than the beasts, haunted land and sea as robbers and pirates.
12. Theseus was the civilizer of Attica. He established a constitutional government, and instituted the two great festivals, the Panathenæa[32] and Synoikia, in honor of the patron goddess of Athens. The Isthmian Games, in honor of Neptune, were also traced to him.