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]

See also

• Graea
• Names of the Greeks