The Aeolians were one of the ancient Greek tribes. The name comes from the fact that they were considered to be the legendary decedents of Aeolus son of Hellen, the mythological patriarch of the Hellenes.

Originating in Thessaly, they moved their location when the Dorians were attacking the Achaeans and then abandoned most of the Mycenaean territories. The Aeolians took over some of the abandoned territory and built the cities of Delphi and a few cities on islands near Asia Minor as well as helping the Ionians build Athens. They began building these cities well after the Mycenaeans were defeated, and gave rise to the Aeolian dialect of the Greek language.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org "
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License