old name of greece was hellenes

The word Greek, according to Aristotle, comes from the word Graikoi which was the pre-historic name of the Hellenes. The people who we call the Greeks, and live in a country we call Greece, actually call themselves Hellenes and live in a country called Hellas.

Indo-European peoples, including the Mycenaeans, began entering Greece about 2000 B.C. and set up sophisticated civilizations. About 1200 B.C., the Dorians, another Indo-European people, invaded Greece, and a dark age followed, known mostly through the Homeric epics. At the end of this time, classical Greece began to emerge (c. 750 B.C.) as a loose composite of city-states with a heavy involvement in maritime trade and a devotion to art, literature, politics, and philosophy. Greece reached the peak of its glory in the 5th century B.C.,