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Day: June 5, 2016
What was the status of black people in the Roman Empire?
I would like to take the opportunity afforded by this question, to translate the epigraph to Ptolemy’s Geography, which is included in the new edition. It might be Byzantine rather than Roman, but for these purposes, Byzantine can serve for Roman. And it illustrates that Romans looked down on all foreigners, not just ones with […]
What is the translation of the word “fox” to Greek?
Ancient Greek ἀλώπηξ /alɔ́ːpɛːks/; this ends up as Modern /aleˈpu/ via the Hellenistic variant ἀλωπά, somehow: Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής. In English, the Ancient word for fox has given us alopecia: Hair loss The origin of this usage is because this animal sheds its coat twice a year, or because in ancient Greece foxes often […]
What are some Greek terms of endearment?
To add to others: We use the neuter to address or refer to someone cute; desexing them is infantilising them, and infantilising them is a sign of affection, even if you are otherwise sexual with them. It’s the same thinking as using baby or babe in English. So χρυσέ μου “my golden one” (masculine) or […]
Provided you speak greek, how would you respond if someone used the word “ταχυδρόμος” for someone crossing a distance fast, not for the postman?
To explain the question: Tachy-dromos, “quick-runner”, was originally a word for a courier. Couriers deliver mail, and tachy-dromos is now the word for mailman. If someone uses tachy-dromos in its original original meaning of “fast runner”, rather than its community accepted meaning of “mailman”, how do I react? I react by telling them to stop […]