Avsnitt
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Hello and Happy Autumn, everyone or Happy Fall if you're on the other side of the pond. Our new season will start in October but until then, I have some wonderful news! Our podcast has been nominated for an Independent Podcasts Award! The awards ceremony will be held at The King's Place in London and I'll put a link in the description (see below) , in case you want to book a ticket for the night and join the fun.
Now, you cannot vote for us since this year's judges are the ones deciding the winners BUT what you can do is, go to the platform of your choice and leave us a review. That, will help more people discover us and experience what you already enjoy, not to mention I love reading your reviews! Thank you for listening and getting us so far. Oh, and don't forget to follow us on Instagram @yourgreeksunday for short videos and updates.
See you soon!
Link to the awards
https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/independent-podcast-awards-2024/Twitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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Have you noticed how this year, the first word of every month has been a myth or myth related? Whether you have or not, thank you for listening and staying with me for another season. As this is the last episode before our summer break, I would be amiss not to mention amazing musician Laertes Malkotsis who composed our theme tune and Laurence Parsons who designed our logo. During the break, there might be a bolus episode or two so, keep your ears sharp and don't forget: you can find me on Instagram & Twitter @yourgreeksunday and you can email me with comments, questions or anything you like to discuss that you've heard on this podcast at [email protected]
Here we go!
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This word first appears in writing in Homer's Epic, The Iliad and it meant 'a saying' , 'an opinion', 'an utterance'. Shortly after, Hesiod came along and used the word to detail the origins of human kind, its gods and heroes. And finally, Aristotle applied it to the plot of theatre plays and storytelling. The word came to English via Latin and around the 1800s was linked to fables and stories with heroic acts and supernatural elements ΜΥΘΟΣ/MYTHTwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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Sometimes, Greeks seem to have many words for the same thing but to their defence, they had many years of thinking, inventing and applying words to very specific things. So although we've already found the word for 'pebble' in a previous episode, today, we're using another one Κρόκη (Kroke); And combined with the word for 'Lizard' Δίλος (Delos) It gives us the word, the ancient Greeks used for the animal found in the river Nile. As language evolved, the spelling in modern Greek has changed and in English, it's directly from the Latin one ΚΡΟΚΟΔΕΙΛΟΣ/CROCODILETwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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Most English words have arrived here either via Latin or Germanic ones. And because it was easier geographically, the ones that originated in Greece are the Latin based ones. But there are some exceptions and today we have one of them. A small pebble in ancient Greece was called Κάλυξ (Calix) and in Latin it was called 'Calx' . However, the word did not go to the French and then English as usual but it rerouted to Germany where they used it for 'limestone'. So, when the word came here and was called 'caelc' in old English, it meant 'the soft, white limestone' found on the South of England and cut in small pieces it was used to mark debt or game scores. The modern spelling of the work is from the 14th century mimicking the Latin one. ΚΑΛΥΞ/CHALKTwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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This word came to English in 1845 from the French that gave it the specific meaning we use today but: Ακρη (akri) in both ancient and modern Greek, means 'the edge' of a place, regardless if it's a mountain or a sidewalk and Βαίνειν (venin) is the ancient Greek infinitive for 'walking/Going' so, the one who walks on the edge of any place not just a high one and not only a rope, is an ΑΚΡΟΒΑΤΗΣ/ACROBATTwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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Before we begin, I have a little announcement ,the podcast has finally made it to Instagram. It has now its own separate account than my acting one and it has everything , including videos with additional information and fun facts. So, go ahead, give us a follow @yourgreeksunday and I'll see you there!
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Today's word is also linked to Dionysus as it's supposed to be one of the states his followers found themselves in, but it has a history of its own. Εκ (ek) in ancient and modern Greek is a preposition and means 'from', Ιστημι (istimi) is an ancient greek verb and it means 'I stand/I am in place'. The combined word means 'being out of place' and for the ancient Greeks that also meant being out of touch with yourself and your sanity. In the 14th century , writers of mystical theories, used the word to describe a state where your body was still but your mind and soul contemplated divine issues and that's where it probably got the positive link to euphoria. The word came to English in the 14th century from France through religious texts. ΕΚΣΤΑΣΗ/ECSTASYTwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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Until I started this podcast, I didn't realise how many English speaking people named things by combining Greek words; either because they thought it would make them look smarter or because the words they chose, were the perfect description for their invention (and sounded smart).In 1787 the painter and inventor Robert Barker, created a 360 degree visual medium, patented under the title 'Apparatus for exhibiting Pictures'. The viewer would stand on a platform in the middle of it and would be surrounded by pictures. In 1789 he also invented its name by putting two Greek words together to describe it. Παν (pan) means 'everything' or 'the whole' and Οραμα (orama) means 'vision' or 'the thing to see' ΠΑΝΟΡΑΜΑ/PANORAMATwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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This is an English word based on an ancient Greek one that quickly changed meanings, started going on circles creating more words and making it-I'll be kind- fun to research. Κλήρος (Kleros) in ancient Greek meant 'Lot', 'piece of land' and subsequently 'inheritance', so far so good. A few hundred years go by and in the 5th book of the bible, people working as temple assistants were called Κληρικοί (Kleriki) because, and I quote '...therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the Lord is their inheritance'. But that name 'kliriki' expanded outside the church and was given to anyone who would read and write and was working in public offices or keeping accounts for businesses . With every language it went through the word came closer to today's meaning. 'Clericus'/ A priest in Latin, 'clerc'/a scribe in old French and in 1200 in old English and today, although the Greeks have kept the Christian meaning of the word, ΚΛΗΡΙΚΟΣ/CLERKTwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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The internet reads for this creature; a duck billed, beaver tailed, otter footed, egg laying, aquatic creature native to Australia. Then, what is it doing bearing a Greek name? Before the Natural History Museum in London became the great institution it is today, it was part of the British Museum and its keeper, George Shaw, was the first to describe and accept this creature as a real animal, in 1799. He named it based on the look of its feet but that name was already taken by a beetle, so, in 1803 Johann Friedrich, Blumenbach, publish another description and named it 'Ornithorinchus Paradoxus' ,which is also Greek and means 'Paradoxical bird-snout. I think we'd all agree that, that's too long to remember let alone ,say. And that's why we call it what George Shaw named it. Πλατύς (platys) in ancient and modern Greek means 'wide' and πούς (pous), in ancient Greek, means 'foot. ΠΛΑΤΥΠΟΥΣ/PLATYPUSTwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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From Greek Mythology to Euripides's Greek Drama 'The Bacchae' to Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Neil Gaiman's 'The Sandman' , those Nymphs were responsible for drinking, dancing, eating raw meat, being strong enough to pull trees from the ground with, just, their hands and killing anyone who'd refuse their mating call. They followed and worshiped Dionysus from Greece to India and back and they were in the hundreds! Their name Μαινάδες (Maenads) means 'obsessively passionate to the point of rage' and comes from the infinitive Μένεσθαι (menesthe). Their frantic state is a word that from Greek to Latin to French to English late in the 14th century, has stayed the same. ΜΑΝΙΑ/MANIATwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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Εν (en) in Greek is a preposition meaning 'with' 'within' . Εργο (ergo) means 'action'. The translation into Latin show some bumps along the way caused by many back and forths because of a misunderstanding on one of Aristotle's works. He used the combined word, meaning 'at work' as 'powering up' so although in modern Greek the adjective 'ενεργός' (energos) means 'active', 'at work', the noun has two meanings 'action' and ΕΝΕΡΓΕΙΑ/ENERGYTwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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Greek Mathematicians were the first to use this word until Plato came along and used it to describe different realities and bigger ideas. Ανά (ana) is a preposition meaning -among other things- 'upon'. Λόγος (logos) means 'speech', 'thought', 'reason' and 'ratio' . The combined word means 'according to ratio' and is used for literal or metaphorical proportions. ΑΝΑΛΟΓΙΑ/ANALOGYTwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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Plato wrote 'Our salvation depends on the correct choice between pleasure and sadness, that is the choice between more, or less.' The ancient Greek verb Αιρώ (aero) has been completely claimed by Christianity and turned on its head with regards to the original meaning and perception of the word. In 380 AD, the Roman emperor Theodosius the 1st , legally tied the word to anyone not Christian (at the time the division between the Catholic and the Orthodox church didn't exist. In fact, Theodosius was the last emperor before the split.) So he drafted 'The Edict Of Thessalonica' which he fought tooth and nail throughout his life trying to enforce in the empire . And he succeeded. The original word means 'the right to choose/the right to a different belief' and it was commonly used up until that point. 'We order the followers of this law to embrace the name of Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since, in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics...' The word was written down and passed on in all religious texts and that's how it arrived in England . The word also became a crime in 1401 and was decriminalised in 1677 putting a stop to the punishment which was death by burning at the stake and giving people back the freedom to choose (well, sort of) ΑΙΡΕΣΗ/HERESYTwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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In ancient Greek mythology there are three women (sometimes more) , daughters of Zeus (sometimes of the Sun or of Dionysus) that are responsible for organising all the feasts in Mount Olympus and making sure that everything is beautiful, joyous, healthy and sexy. No, they're not the Muses although, they were all good friends. They are Aphrodite's followers and they are The Graces! Χάριτες (Charites) in Greek. Their names Αγλαϊα (Aglaea-Radiance), Ευφροσύνη(Evfrosini-Joy) and Θάλεια (Thalia-Boom). They were worshiped all around Greece but they had their own temple in the mainland where three rocks fell from the sky (yes ,rocks) and were worshiped until people carved and made statues of them. There was a big art festival dedicated to them and archaeologists have discovered plaques with names of musicians and poets and artists that have won the competition. Although their English name is The Graces, their touch to a human's life has the same name as an offering from the gods in Greek. It's a ΧΑΡΙΣΜΑ/CHARISMATwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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I have a three combo word for you today, yup, that's as Greek as it gets! And it seems to have been distorted a little in English in order to single out personality traits but: Ιδιος (idios) in ancient Greek meant 'one's own', we could say 'one's self' but... mmm... ok let's go with that! Συν (sin) means 'with' and κράση (krasi) means 'a mixture' . So the combination of all the things that make someone themselves. From your personality, to your mannerisms, to the way you carry yourself. That singular combination and not one personality trait, that makes you, you is your ΙΔΙΟΣΥΓΚΡΑΣΙΑ/IDIOSYNCRASYTwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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Τύπτω (tipto) in ancient Greek means 'I strike', 'hit' or 'dent' something. In Latin it was 'typus' and meant 'symbol' or 'an emblem'. Around 1713 it moved to meaning 'printed on metal or wood'. Στερεό (stereo) means 'solid' and the combined word in 1804 meant a printing plate, an additional meaning in 1819 was 'to fix something firmly' and lastly in 1953 the word got the meaning we still use today ΣΤΕΡΕΟΤΥΠΟ/ STEREOTYPETwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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My first job, shortly after I arrived in England, was a stage adaptation of 'Middlemarch', an epic story by George Eliot. The pen name of Mary Ann Evans. As time went by ,I realised that the name I was known for in Greece and had been working for years was too difficult for anyone in this industry to remember so, I decided to keep my first name but officially shorten my surname. In fact if you go to my IMDb you'll see three different versions of my name all of which are versions of my real name. Ψευδές (psevdes) means 'False' and όνομα (onoma) means 'name' . The combined word came to England from France in 1828 and was spelled in Latin characters. It is used only for when a person changes their name for a specific purpose , a pen name or a stage one. ΨΕΥΔΟΝΥΜΟ/PSEUDONYMTwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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The history of this word goes back to those considered to be the first European civilisation. There is truth and there is myth connected to the Minoans. A name we know was given to them by the Greeks but have no evidence that, that's what they called themselves. Archaeological discoveries place them in Crete and their first ruler, according to the Greeks, was King Minos (his story and myth are for another episode). The symbol mostly found in the unearthing of this ancient civilisation is a double axe known as Λάβρυς (Lavris/Labris). Ancient Greek historians would write about the main palace in ancient Κνωσσός (Knossos) The capital city of ancient Crete, as 'The House of Λάβρυς' and surprisingly it's not shaped as a double axe but a ΛΑΒΥΡΙΝΘΟΣ/LABYRINTHTwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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In 3rd century BC there was a biographer of philosophers and author of the history of philosophy, Διογένης Λαέρτιος( Diogenes Laertios) . In his 7th book (out of 10) he begins with a reference to Pythagoras's beliefs on how one should lead their life, one of them being , and I quote: Drunkenness, he considers to be a damage and he disapproves any kind of exaggeration, he says we should have συμμετρία and not overdo it with drinking and eating.
Συν (syn), among other things, means 'with'. Μέτρο (metro) means 'measure' . Whether it's used to describe moderation, proportions or compare measurements, the word has made it through centuries and keeps on going! ΣΥΜΜΕΤΡΙΑ/SYMMETRYTwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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Τάσσω (tasso) in an Ancient Greek verb and it means 'I put things in order' . Something that was studied in Ancient Greece was the technique of how to put things in order, how to strategize and make smart decisions to achieve your goal (I know I'm summarising here but this is a bite-size podcast after all) . That technique was called Τακτική τέχνη (taktiki techne) and the word came to English in the 17th century , quite late if you think about how many successful strategists England had before that. ΤΑΚΤΙΚΗ/TACTICTwitter @yourgreeksunday ,
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