The name of 'Greece'.

[Josh111]

In Greece, they call it 'Ellada' and I've been told there is a small movement in Greece who want it's international name to be changed from 'Greece' to 'Hellas' because 'Greece' was a name given by the Romans meaning something similar to 'land of the slaves'. Any truth to this?

[craft1948]

As far as I am aware Hellas was the original name for Greece.

[jno]

they seem to call it Ellas though that may just be a grammatical variation on Ellada

http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/images/AthenaPer gamon.jpg

But I don't think they have any right to tell other countries with other languages what to call it. We go along with some changes but not with others. I don't think Britain took much notice when Cambodia became Kampuchea, and eventually it went back to Cambodia. Some people have changed from saying Burma to Myanmar, but others haven't. And we've long stuck with Spain and Italy, not Espana and Italia, simply because those are the English names of the countries - same as for Greece.

[kempie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graecus

[Lil O'lady]

Like Cymru and Alba ie Wales and Scotland.
I can't work out what I feel about this - maybe it depends on your passion for the identity involved, and I'm only just British by the grace of god meself, about 90% of me is unidentifiable. Probably poodle. So I don't have a passionate sense of identity although I am quite fond of Britain.

[Octavius]

Originally, Magna Graecia was the name used by the Romans to describe the greater area around the ancient Greek colony of Graia, and the whole area of Greek colonisation became known by this name.

The modern-day terms of "Greece" and "Greeks" in English and many other languages stem from the Roman "Magna Graecia"; the Greeks rather call themselves Hellenes and their country Hellas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanagra