EPONYMOUS  , that which gives a name to anything (Gr. irmvvuos, from ovo sa, a name), a

term especially applied to the mythical or semi-mythical personages, heroes, deities, &c. from whom a country or city took its name . Thus Pelops is the giver of the name to the Peloponnese . At Athens the chief archon of the year was known as the apXwv eirwvvyos, as the year was known by his name . There was a similar official in ancient Assyria . In ancient times, as in historical and modern cases, a country or a city has been named after a real personage, but in many cases the person has been invented to account for the name .