The
Achaeans (; ,
Achaioi) were one of the four major tribes into which the people of
Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the
Aeolians,
Ionians and
Dorians). According to the foundation myth formalized by
Hesiod, their name comes from
Achaeus, the mythical founder of the Achaean tribe, who was supposedly one of the sons of
Xuthus, and brother of
Ion, the founder of the
Ionian tribe. Xuthus was in turn the son of
Hellen, the mythical
patriarch of the Greek (
Hellenic) nation.