Introduction
Hellen is a son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, the two survivors of the great flood, and, in Greek genealogical tradition, the legendary ancestor from whom the Hellenes, the Greeks' own name for their people, is derived.
Family
Ancestor of the Greek tribes
Hellen is generally given three (or, in some accounts, four) sons: Dorus, Xuthus and Aeolus, from whom the major dialect and tribal groups of the Greek-speaking world, the Dorians, Aeolians and, through Xuthus's own sons Ion and Achaeus, the Ionians and Achaeans, are said to descend, a genealogical scheme that reflects how the historical Greeks understood and organised their own sense of shared and distinct regional identity.
Note
Hellen's name is not to be confused with the unrelated Helen of Troy (Helene), daughter of Zeus and Leda, a coincidence of similar-sounding names in English that does not exist in the same way in the original Greek.