A legendary hero in Greek mythology, Akademos (originally Hekademos) or, less correctly, Academus was linked to the archaic name for the site of Plato's Academy, the Hekademeia, outside the walls of Athens. By classical times the name of the place had evolved into the Akademeia and was explained by linking it to an eponymous Athenian hero, a legendary "Akademos," at least as early as the beginning of the 6th century BC. The site was sacred to Athena and other immortals; it had sheltered religious cult since the Bronze Age, which was perhaps associated with the hero-gods, the Dioskouroi (Castor and Polydeukes), for the hero Akademos associated with the site was credited with revealing to the Divine Twins where Theseus had hidden Helen of Troy. Greek mythology comprises the collected legends of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... Statue of a philosopher, presumely Plato, in Delphi. ... An academy is an institution for the study of higher learning. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα; see also alternative names) is the capital of Greece, and of the Attica region of Greece. ... (7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC - other centuries) (600s BC - 590s BC - 580s BC - 570s BC - 560s BC - 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - other decades) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events Cyrus the Great conquered many... Castor (or Kastor) and Polydeuces (sometimes called Pollux), were in Greek mythology the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. ...

Akademeia was the source of the word "academy".