ΙΩΝΕΣ ΕΛΛΑΣ

The Ionians were one of the four major Greek tribes into which the Classical Greeks considered the population of Hellenes to have been divided . The Ionian dialect was one of the three major linguistic divisions of the Hellenic world, together with the Dorian and Aeolian "Ionian" with reference to populations had several senses in Classical Greece. In the narrowest sense, it was used of the region of Ionia in Asia Minor. In a more broad sense, it could be used to describe all speakers of the Ionic dialect, which also included the populations of Euboea, the Cyclades and many colonies founded by Ionian colonists. Finally, in the broadest sense, it could be used to describe all those who spoke languages of the East Greek group, which included Attic.The foundation myth which was current in the Classical period suggested that the Ionians were named after Ion, son of Xuthus, and lived in the north Peloponnesian region of Aegilaus.