How did the capital of Greece get its name?

Answer 1

The capital of Athens was named after the Greek goddess Athena.

The mythological story is that Poseidon and Athena were competing to be patrons for the city. The gods made gifts for the people and the contest was such that whoever made the best gift would become the city's patron. Poseidon made salt water spring and Athena made the olive tree. The men of the city liked the salt water spring, seeing how it would be a necessary stronghold in a war. But the women admired the olive tree and recognized its many uses around the home. As the city had one more woman than the number of men, the vote came down and the city was named Athens, and Athena and Poseidon have hated each other ever since.

Answer 2

The Greek name for Greece is "Hellas" (Ἑλλάς) or "Ellada" (Ελλάδα), so the name does not come from Greece itself.

Rather it comes from the Roman encounters with the people of Epirus (the area of Greece that borders Albania) who were called "Graikos" (Γραικός) roughly two millennia ago. As a result, the Romans labelled all of the people in Epirus and those who had a similar culture as "Graecia" in Latin, from which we have "Greece" in English.

Answer 3

From the ancient Greek Goddess, Athena