248 Rajendralala Mitra —The Yavanas of Sanskrit Writers. [No. 8, 
• _ 
the early period of Egyptian history when the term was used, the Greeks 
themselves bore the name of Uinim, or else the explanation would be 
against such a deduction. This, however, cannot be done. Down to the 
time of Homer, the common name for the true Greeks was Achseans, or 
Argives, or Hellenes, not lonians, and nowhere in the Greek language is the 
term Uinim to be met with ; and such being the case, it would be unreasonable 
to argue that their specific and particular name then was Uinim. Probably 
they were indicated by that name by the Egyptians in the later records of 
the Ptolemies and of Sesonchis, the Shishak of the Old Testament, but only 
in common with others and not specifically. 
The term Ionia is derived by the Greeks from Io, the priestess of Hera 
with whom Zeus fell in love, and whose transformation into a cow and sub¬ 
sequent ramblings over various parts of the earth, particularly along the 
shores of the Ionian Sea, to which she gave her name, form so interesting 
a story in Greek mythology. The true interpretation of the myth remains 
yet untold; but it suggests the idea of the descendants of Io being a mixed 
race of the Greeks with some of their neighbouring nations ; and in support 
of this theory, I may cite two versions of a story related by Herodotus, in. 
which the principal personages, such as Zeus and Hera and Argos and 
Hermes, of the Io myth, are changed into mortals, and the myth resolved 
into a successful attempt on the part of certain Phoenician traders to 
abduct Greek damsels. 
The first version of the story was narrated to Herodotus as a Persian 
tradition. According to it, certain Phoenician traders “ freighting their 
vessel with the wares of Egypt and Assyria, landed at Argos, which was 
then pre-eminent above all the states included under the common name of 
Hellas. Here they exposed their merchandise, and traded with the natives 
for five or six days ; at the end of that time, when almost everything was 
sold, there came down to the beach a number of women, and among them 
the daughter of the king, who was, they say, agreeing in this with the 
Greeks, Io, the child of Inaclius. The women were standing by the stern 
of the ship, intent upon their purchases, when the Phoenicians, with a 
general shout, rushed upon them. The greater part made their escape, but 
some were seized and carried off. Io herself was among the captives. The 
Phoenicians put the women on board their vessel and set sail for Egypt.”* 
The second version is attributed to the Phoenicians, who “ deny that 
they used any violence to remove Io to Egypt ; she herself, they say, hav¬ 
ing formed an intimacy with the captain, while his vessel lay at Argos, and, 
perceiving herself to be with child, of her own free will accompanied the 
Phoenicians on their leaving the shore, to escape the shame of detection and 
the reproaches of her parents.”! 
# Ivawlinson’s Herodotus, I., p. 122. 
f Ibid, I., p 125. 
