140 On the Ancient HELLENES. 



that from them were defcended the ThefTalian Hellenes, whofe 

 name was, in procefs of time, adopted by all the nations of 

 Greece. — Let us now try if we cannot produce fomething dill 

 more plaufible in confirmation of this hypothecs. 



The original term Hel fignifies light, bright nefs, fplendour. 

 Perhaps it is the fame with the word El, without the afpiration, 

 which is one of the epithets of the true God among the He- 

 brews ; for " God is light, and in him is no darknefs at all." 

 When the luminaries of heaven became the objects of religious 

 worlhip among the ancient Pagans, moft of the names, titles 

 and epithets which had originally belonged to the true God, 

 were transferred to the folar light ; confequently El or Hel 

 became a title of the fun. Among the heathens, it was a pre- 

 vailing practice to denominate the feveral claffes of priefts from 

 the title of that deity to whom they reflectively miniftered. 

 This point needs no confirmation. If then the Helli in que- 

 flion were originally priefts of Jupiter, 'that is, the Sun, they 

 were of courfe denominated from that deity. Another oriental 

 word now prefents itfelf, which, if admitted into the compofi- 

 tibn, will naturally produce the word we are endeavouring to 

 inveftigate. In Hebrew, En, or perhaps Ein, fignifies both an 

 eye and a fountain. From a combination of the words Hel and 

 En, (doubling the / in order to ftrengthen the found), we have 

 Hellen, which may fignify, either the fountain of light, or the 

 eye of light, both terms naturally applicable to the fun. The 

 original import of the word Hellen was then, according to this 

 etymology, a worjhipper or votary of the fountain of light, 

 i. e. the Sun. As a collateral proof of the juftnefs of this ety- 

 mology, it may be obferved, that among the ancient Greeks, 

 the word Helena was actually a name of the moon *, and, by a 



parity 



* The Greek word SeAwi feems to be the very fame with 'Etev». only changing 

 the fpiritus afper into £, according to the iEotic dialect. Zttov©- was aiio a name 

 of the fun. 



