Monaco's name comes from the nearby 6th-century BCE Phocaean Greek colony. Referred to by the Ligurians as ''Monoikos'', from the Greek "μόνοικος", "single house", from "μόνος" (''monos'') "alone, single" + "οἶκος" (''oikos'') "house". According to an ancient myth, Hercules passed through the Monaco area and turned away the previous gods. As a result, a temple was constructed there. Because this "House" of Hercules was the only temple in the area, the city was called Monoikos. It ended up in the hands of the Holy Roman Empire, which gave it to the Genoese.