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Category: Ancient Greek
In Classical Greek diphthongs, was the first or the second element accented?
I finally worked this out, by reading half of Ancient Greek accent – Wikipedia. (Reading the other half confirms it, but I’m still proud of myself.) The answer is: the second element if acute, the first if circumflex. Let’s take this slow. The explanation of the distinction between acute and circumflex in the Wikipedia article […]
What is the history of Greek punctuation?
I have written some pointers about the history of Greek punctuation on my Greek Unicode Issues website: Punctuation. To summarise: The basics of punctuation as we know it in both Latin in Greek were in place by around the 10th century, including commas, periods, and interrogatives. They appear to have developed independently, although they had […]
What is the ancient Greek word for “love for food”?
Philositos “fond of food, fond of eating” occurs in Plato’s Republic 475c. (It’s ambiguous with “fond of wheat”, which is how it is used in Xenophon.) The related noun philositia “fondness of food” turns up at least in Gregory of Nazianzen. Answered 2016-12-18 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/What-is-the-ancient-Greek-word-for-love-for-food/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]
What word in ancient Greek would be used to describe scientific discoveries like when the laws of physics were first worked out?
Ancient Greek for scientific discovery, eh? Well, don’t go to Google Translate, man. That’s Modern Greek. Start here instead: English-Greek Dictionary “Discovery” gives us heuresis, aneuresis; mēnysis (disclosure), heurēma and exeurēma (invention, thing discovered). Mēnysis is “messaging”, so it’s not what you’re after. The others are all derived from the verb heuriskō “I find” (as […]
How much of a text by Aristotle or Procopius would speakers of modern Greek get?
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0055 Nick, what are you doing responding to this question?! You’re a PhD in Greek linguistics, with 18 years of working at the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae! Yes, but I never did formally study Ancient Greek. And I know enough linguistics that I can filter out stuff about Ancient Greek that I’m not supposed to know. […]
What was the reason people created the Europe Idea while it is not separate from Asia?
What people created the notion of Europe? Ancient Greeks. Where did the Ancient Greeks live? On the border between Asia and Europe. The Ancient Greeks had not circumnavigated the Arctic (and they didn’t believe a word Pytheas said). The Ancient Greeks did not know anything about the Urals. The Ancient Greeks did not even know […]
Is it possible to invent a word which would describe rule by the loudest?
Not δυνατότερο. One, because that’s Modern Greek, not Ancient; Two, because Modern Greek doesn’t have a distinct word for “loud”, it just uses the word for “strong”, dynatos. (In fact the OP’s form is “stronger, louder”.) Actually looking at Woodhouse’s English-Ancient Greek Dictionary, Ancient Greek isn’t much better. The words given for “loud” are literally: […]
What is the etymology of Lacedaemon?
I refer you to What is the etymology of “Laconia”? My answer there covers both Laconia and Lacedaemon. Tl;Dr: we’re not sure. Answered 2016-12-04 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/What-is-the-etymology-of-Lacedaemon/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]
Why was hospitality so important in the Greek world?
My answer is more a gut-feel from Modern Greek practice, but I suspect it applies to antiquity as well. Dimitris Almyrantis perceptively identifies the (or at least an) underlying reason: avoidance of retribution. Cernowain Greenman identifies the surface reason: code of honour. The modern Greek code of honour (How do I translate the Greek word […]
What is the etymology of “Therasia”?
The Just-So story of antiquity is as Konstantinos Konstantinides put it: Thera the island was named for its colonist Theras, and Therasia for his daughter. Yeah, I find that too convenient too. I’m not looking up Pauly or anything reputable like that, but I will work from the corresponding common nouns. Thēr means a wild […]