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Category: Ancient Greek
Why was a Greek city with the name Mαρωνεια written Marogna in Latin and not Maronia?
As far as I can tell, you are referring to Maroneia in Thrace, and the rendering Marogna appears in Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) Maroneia is reckoned among the towns of Macedon. The modern name is Marogna, and it has been the seat of an archbishopric. Cramer (1828) also gives the name […]
Does word gerokronoliros (γεροκρονόληρος) contain non-Greek (borrowed) elements? What is its meaning and etymology?
I checked LSJ: no γεροκρ- anything. And there wouldn’t be: γερο- for “old” is Modern Greek, the Ancient Greek would be γεροντο-. I googled γεροκρονοληρος, as Dimitris Sotiropoulos suggested in his exchange with Konstantinos Konstantinides. The good thing about Google, is that it assumes you misspell things. So it tries taking words apart. I didn’t […]
What does αέναη σοφία mean in Greek?
Yes, I’m going to have fun with this. First: HAH! You’ve outed yourself as a Modern Greek speaker, Anon OP! In ancient Greek, that would be ἀέναος σοφία. Compound adjectives used the masculine ending for the feminine; and αέναη is what you get when noone you know has been aware of Greek vowel quantity for […]
Eros and Agape are much more specific words than the English word love. Why was the word love decided to be the word for love? What are the etymological roots of love? Why did the English word for love not evolve to be as precise as the greek words?
Critical insight with the four-way classification of love in Koine Greek (Greek words for love): do not assume that the Greek classification was that clear cut. These are theologically useful idealisations. Like I already pointed out in Nick Nicholas’ answer to Why isn’t there a non religious equivalent of agape love?, the Diccionario Griego–Español’s definitions […]
How did the Greek tragedy originate?
No references were harmed or even looked at in the authoring of this answer. It’s hard for us now to understand the awe and fear of ancient Greek religion. So when reading this answer, try not to think of Pericles and Demosthenes. Think instead of J. Random Tribesperson from, I dunno, Vanuatu or some place. […]
How do you pronounce η (eta)?
How do I pronounce eta? In Modern Greek: /i/. When reading Ancient Greek to myself, still /i/. I’m Greek, which makes me Reuchlinian, as Haggen Kennedy described: I pronounce Ancient Greek as Modern Greek to myself. When reading Ancient Greek out loud, or describing Ancient Greek historically, I do not use whatever weird-ass Pronunciation of […]
What is known about the symbols on the Arkalochori Axe (possibly a script)? Are there any attempts to decipher them?
This question has been sitting, lonely and neglected, in my inbox for quite a while. I’ll answer it so it can be out of my inbox. I don’t have any special knowledge about it, but: Cretan hieroglyphs is a superset of Arkalochori and Phaistos; it also includes a bunch of seals. The latest published corpus […]
Did the Doric Invasions really happen? Which regions became mostly Dorian and what were they before the conquest?
There are four major groups of ancient Greek dialects: Ionic, of which Attic is a subbranch North-Western, of which Doric and Achaean are subbranches Aeolic Arcado-Cypriot I’ve ranked them in impressionistic order of archaicness. The easiest explanation for the spread of the North-Western group is as a wave of settlement, that you might as well […]
What are the precise meanings of the Greek words hyperēphanos and hyperphroneō?
Well, I’ve gone to LSJ. The definitions I find there are: ὑπερφρονέω Group I to be over-proud, have high thoughts (Aeschylus) to be proud in or of something (Herodotus) overlook, look down upon, despise (Aeschylus) (passive) to be despised (Thucydides) think slightly of (Eurypides) Group II surpass in knowledge (Aeschines); excel in wisdom (Hippocrates) ὑπερήφανος […]
How many towns have or had the name Tripolis?
Let’s collate these responses against Tripoli (disambiguation) from Wikipedia: Tripoli, Libya Tripoli, Lebanon, the second largest city in Lebanon Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient city Tripolis ad Maeandrum, an ancient city on the borders of Lydia, Caria and Phrygia Tripolis (Pontus), an ancient city Tripoli, Iowa, a city in […]